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Here's what the Leading Edge team is learning about culture, executives, and boards this month.
Report: State of the Global Workplace 2024
In its "State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report," Gallup reveals a stagnation in engagement levels and a decline in overall wellbeing, resulting in an estimated $8.9 trillion economic loss. There is a critical need for organizations to enhance workplace culture and management practices, and not just with mindfulness and wellbeing apps.
So, what works better? According to research by Oxford University, “organisation-level initiatives such as improvements in scheduling change, management practices, staff resources or tailored job design.” In other words, changing the way people are managed at the organizational level, advocating for strategic measures to improve productivity, and employee satisfaction in an evolving work environment.
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CULTURE
Measuring what matters in nonprofits
Most nonprofits track their performance by metrics such as dollars raised, membership growth, number of visitors, people served, and overhead costs. McKinsey's analysis shows that nonprofits can achieve greater success by actually aligning their performance metrics with their mission. Their research on top-performing organizations underscores the need for tailored metrics that capture the essence of the nonprofit's goals.
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Podcast: Who Really Benefits From the Great Remote-Work Experiment?
The Atlantic staff writer Jerusalem Demsas delves into the nuanced world of remote work in the first episode of the Good on Paper podcast, exploring the findings of economist Natalia Emanuel's study on software engineers and uncovering the uneven effects of remote work on productivity, mentorship, and gender, challenging popular narratives surrounding the remote work debate.
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EXECUTIVES
Leaders: Stay the course on DEI through this storm
Research shows that 19th century whale ships with racially diverse crews, while experiencing some early friction, ultimately achieved greater productivity than homogeneous ones. This data could help leaders get at questions that many modern firms, non-profit organizations, leadership pipelines, and college campuses are wrestling with right now like, “What is the value-add of a racially diverse Jewish community?”
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Can Your Group Stay Neutral on Controversial Topics? 5 Things to Know
In a time of polarization, workplace divisions about diversity, the Israel-Hamas War, and a divisive presidential election, many organizations "stay neutral" on controversial topics. The problem arises when leaders and communications professionals embrace neutrality with unrealistic expectations. Some use it to hide from problems that often find them anyway; others may underrate its value. Here are five principles of neutrality to help make the hard decisions about whether and when to take sides.
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- LifeLabs Learning: 4 Proven Steps for Building a New Manager Training Program
- The Management Center: Four Guiding Principles for Managers During Unionization
- HBR: Long Covid at Work: A Manager’s Guide
BOARDS
Transforming Your Board from Difficult to Dynamic: A Step-by-Step Guide
Every single board has someone who takes up space, has a bad attitude, or causes some kind of tsuris (trouble in Yiddish). Instead of focusing on them, all energy should be directed on leveling up rockstar "Grade A" board members and most importantly investing in the folks in the middle. When you raise the bar for successful board service, the "dead weight" will self-select off, leaving you with more energy for the work that matters.
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A Look at 3 Unconscious Biases That Affect Nonprofit Board Decision-Making
Biases like recency bias, survivorship bias and loss aversion can skew nonprofit boardrooms decisions, leading to short-sightedness, overconfidence in certain strategies, and an aversion to taking necessary risks. We can mitigate their impact by valuing diverse perspectives, considering long-term data alongside recent trends and balancing risks with potential rewards.
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