The State of Today’s Organization
Present organizations are facing a variety of changes. These changes include an aging and multigenerational workforce, a growing multicultural workforce, a growing skills shortage, growing use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI), a faster demand for organizations to adapt and change, increasing stress at work, and changing expectations from the workforce.
The State of Today’s Workforce
Today’s workforce is looking for purpose, mastery, happiness, to be appreciated, well-being, and wants to increasingly work remotely or in a hybrid environment. Yet they are feeling stressed and believe they lack leaders who are empathetic, compassionate, and listen to them, when only 8% of leaders have been found to be effective listeners and communicators.
It has been found that when the workforce feels trust in their organization and leaders, it leads to less stress, higher productivity, more engagement, less burnout, more energy, and fewer sick days. Some of this is being highlighted in Great Place to Work organizations, where they experience 8x more revenue per employee, and leadership is fundamental.
Today’s workforce is expecting their leaders to care for them, and this is going to require leaders to use their minds. We have learned from those who study neuroscience, neuropsychology, and NeuroLeadership that our brains need a leader to create environments that feel safe and secure.
Today’s workers need leaders who communicate well, facilitate understanding, and create fair and transparent processes, so that our brains do not waste precious effort in guessing or trying to understand what to do next.
Leader’s Roles for Today’s Workforce
In order for leaders to do this, they need to understand that when they step into their role as a supervisor, manager, director, VP, or CEO, they become a:
- Celebrity
- Quasi-psychologist
- Quasi-sociologist
- Quasi-anthropologist
- Conductor of an Orchestra
I say celebrity because the spotlight is always on them. Their workforce is watching what they do and say. Irrespective of level, from front-line supervisor up through the CEO. Are their actions in sync with their words? In other words, are they “walking their talk”? Their emotions are on display and are contagious, hence Emotional Contagion.
I say quasi-psychologist because when they interact with someone on their team, they bring their psychology to the exchange. They show up with their own personal issues, whether this be their insecurities (for example, impostor syndrome), their thoughts on the topic at hand, their opinions or beliefs about who they will be interacting with, or whatever family issues they may be working through, etc. It has been written that a manager has a bigger impact on their employees’ health than their doctor.
The quasi-sociologist role is about the impact on team dynamics. It has been written that a leader has a 70% variance impact, both positive and negative, on their teams. The leader almost creates a subculture within their department and with their team.
The quasi-anthropologist role is because leaders drive, enable, create, and are ultimately responsible for their organization’s culture. Leaders have an opportunity to create an engaged or disengaged workforce environment. They have the opportunity to create a psychologically safe environment. Depending on the organizational culture, they create will help their organization differentiate itself from its competitors.
Last, they are in some ways expected to perform like a Conductor of an Orchestra. This individual is responsible for bringing different musicians with different instruments together to make beautiful music. They are responsible for bringing the diversity of the orchestra musicians and delivering beautiful musical pieces to their audiences.
In summary, a leader has some unique opportunities to make a difference with their workforce. They are responsible for delivering results, and contrary to some opinions, stuff does not roll down, but up to them. Because it will be the leader who will be held accountable or rewarded for their team’s success or failure. Today’s workforce has different expectations, and leaders play a crucial role in making work a great and healthy place. This begins by leaders taking care of themselves and taking care of their work teams. The question to consider is whether you recognize this and are adapting?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edwin Mourin᷁o – Ruiz, Ph.D.
Dr. Edwin Mouriño is an Air Force veteran, author, Human Capital, and DEI practitioner and speaker. As a human capital practitioner, Dr. Mouriño’s focus has been on helping leaders and organizations help themselves. He is an experienced professional with many years of leading and/or supporting key elements of organizational change projects. Dr. Mouriño is an Air Force veteran who began his career in Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as a graduate of the DOD-Defense Equal Opportunity & Management Institute (DEOMI) and has also been a speaker.
He brings broad industry experience that includes Fortune 100 companies. He is the founder and president of Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace, an organization focused on helping leaders help themselves through leadership, team development, and executive coaching. He has been and continues to serve as a college professor. He is also a Senior Fellow with the Conference Board on the DEI and Leadership Steering Committees.
He has extensive experience and thought leadership on Human Capital issues and supported organizational change efforts through Leadership Development, DEI, Executive Coaching, Team Development, Executive Retreats, Personality Assessments, and Organizational Change. He has spoken at numerous professional venues and written numerous articles on human capital trends impacting organizations, specifically addressing DE, and is the author and co-editor of several books.
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