Culture and engagement.

According to Deloitte’s most recent Human Capital survey, leaders from both within AND outside of HR in companies around the globe have put culture and engagement ahead of “leadership” as the single most urgent issue they’re facing. 87% of the respondents called culture/engagement “important,” and 50% called it “very important,” which is DOUBLE what they reported last year. The survey went out to more than 3,000 business leaders in 106 countries, including a lot of large companies (53% had more than 1,000 employees).

And where do the authors of the report suggest you start?

• Make engagement a corporate priority. If you want the results here, you need to put in the work, particularly at the top. (contact me if you’re interested in our new culture and engagement coaching program for CEOs)
• Measure. If you don’t evaluate your own culture and assess where it is, you’ll never improve it. (we have a culture diagnostic workshop too)
• Make work meaningful. This one often requires some coaching for managers.
• Listen to Millennials. (um, I think there’s a book you might want to read first)
• Simplify the work environment (Deloitte has a study specifically on simplification).

And whatever you do, do something. The longer you wait on culture, the farther behind you will fall.