Fostering Modern Work Fundamentals

As summer draws to an end, we are laying the foundations for fall that generate and guide growth, building for a successful 2025 despite an unpredictable marketplace.??

Business and work dynamics are both tech-driven and human-centric. We appreciate that evolving within integrated ecosystems requires adaptable frameworks and incorporates core principles of learning, intention, flexibility, and empathy.?

Now, we must address the fundamentals of modern work. Your company’s culture and community are critical foundations to up-level first. They provide the groundwork and environment for adapting to fast-paced, AI-charged conditions and vital workforce innovation enabling your business to ramp up, ready for fall.

Culture & Community: Anchoring, Connection, Belonging

“The foundation of everything we do, in our corporate culture and our business model, is a setup of very strong human values.” “Fundamental belief in human nature then leads to trust in and respect for the individual–that being the customer or the staff.“ – Mikael Sorensen, CEO of Handelsbanken UK.

Employees are having to respond to evolving highly-digitalized operating conditions with changing customer demands that create more complex problems and more non-routine, team-based project work. To adjust to the modern work environment, cultivating a human-centric culture and nurturing a sense of community belonging are essential to ground, connect, and support employees.?

People flourish anchored by a cohesive culture based on timeless values–such as trust, empathy, respect, and honesty. A community that provides safe space, fostered by strong relationships, is fundamental for empowering employees to collaborate openly and innovate confidently, aligned with your company’s purpose and vision.

Your company’s culture and community are collective endeavors these days. Customers, executives, managers, frontline employees, suppliers, and partners across the ecosystem all proactively participate in fostering an enabling environment. Everyone is involved in achieving business goals and supporting human needs while responding to changing conditions.

These late summer days are a perfect time to reflect on how well your culture is experienced daily, fosters belonging, and enables employees to achieving results:

→ Do you involve customers, vendors, and employees in manifesting cultural values?

→ Are employees’ daily experiences well-aligned with your company’s culture?

→ How aware are people of how their efforts contribute to the company mission?

→ Does every employee–wherever they are working–feel connected and included?

→ Are you confident that all employees feel trusted and safe doing their daily tasks?

“We have a small booklet called Our Way that describes at a high level our values, our corporate culture, and our business model and how we use that in our everyday work.” “We really live this small booklet and we have a constant dialogue within the organization.” – Mikael Sorensen.

Culture & Community Data Insights?

Research evidence reveals the strategic importance of culture and community on workforce dynamics and business results, for example:

Trust: High-trust organizations outperform low-trust ones. Employees in high-trust companies report 74% less stress, 50% higher productivity, feel 66% closer to their colleagues and experience 40% less burnout. [Paul Zak, Trust, HBR]

Empathy: 77% of employees are willing to work more hours for a more empathetic workplace, 93% of employees say they're more likely to stay with an empathetic employer [BusinessSolver].

Belonging: Workplace belonging can lead to a 56% increase in job performance and a 50% reduction in turnover risk [BetterUp], and employees are 3.5 times more likely to contribute to their full, innovative potential [Deloitte].

Up-leveling for Modern Work

Proactive emphasis on your culture and community are necessary to develop and sustain the foundation for your workforce to thrive and perform:

CULTURE requires intentional nurturing and ongoing attention to ensure core values are expressed, understood, and appreciated every day, providing foundational support.?

COMMUNITY needs deliberate nourishment to attract top talent, enhance employees’ experiences, engage workers’ energies, keeping the workforce focused and intact.

Framed by a human-centric system and applying L.I.F.E. principles, if you want to launch into fall empowered by the fundamentals of modern work, find out more by booking a consultation call.

• Take advantage of these last days of summer (in the Northern Hemisphere!) to rest and reset to prepare for what’s ahead.?
• In next week’s newsletter, we focus on the next critical modern work fundamentals: Leadership - new mindsets, approaches and actions.?
• We will discuss how leaders must up-level to manage, engage, and retain thriving multigenerational distributed teams.

Thank you for reading! Your insights and feedback are always welcome.?

Try some of my other useful modern work resources:

1. Try my LinkedIn courses including: Engaging & Retaining Gen Z, The Future of Work: The Necessary Skills for the Future Workforce, and Empathy for Sales Professionals.
2. Listen to my podcast: Transforming Work with Sophie Wade. See below for latest episode with Daan van Rossum and Episode 32 with Mikael Sorenson quoted from above.
3. Check out my books: Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work [2022] rated a ‘must-read’ by Kirkus Reviews, and Embracing Progress: Next Steps for the Future of Work [2017] which was leadership course reading for EMBAs.