Strategy & Organisational Change
As one said: “You’re going to need to have 25-year-olds coming on board, and they will not tolerate an organisation which looks and feels like it’s out of the 1980s.” Of course, recruitment is costly. Regularly finding and training new staff is putting additional strain on already stretched leaders and budgets. Leaders have spent a decade focusing on company culture to overcome workforce challenges, but this can come at the cost of leadership fundamentals and organisational effectiveness. This has left leaders exhausted – 41 per cent of those interviewed felt overwhelmed with their increasing workload. They are also struggling to deliver. It’s not enough to create a strategy and expect people to get on board. The area between strategy formation and implementation is key. This is where leaders build the motivation, engagement, and drive for change.
Generating this momentum is how leaders can propel their organisations forward without exhausting their mental and financial resources or achieving only temporary gains. We identified three strategies to help leaders to do so. Strategy 1 : Lay solid foundations This requires a clear people vision, describing the relationship the organisation wants with its people and the investment it will make to sustain this. Good workplace conditions generally lead to higher job satisfaction, better productivity, and improved employee retention. They’re not just about meeting legal requirements but creating an environment where employees thrive and do their best work.
The leaders we spoke to told us they found it more challenging to keep people focused, foster engagement, and instil a shared sense of purpose regardless of employees’ location. One executive noted that: “The whole notion of responsibility and accountability for the organisation is almost totally abdicated and delegated upwards.” These are not isolated issues. In 2024, a Gallup poll found 62 per cent of global employees are currently disengaged at work. Challenge 3 : Difficulties attracting and retaining talent Given the dip in engagement and ownership, it’s unsurprising that 41 per cent of the executives we interviewed were concerned about attracting and retaining talent.
We call this ʻstabilising momentum’: establishing a steady state from which to operate, which in turn creates the conditions for subsequent stages of strategy execution. Strategy 2 : Prioritise ruthlessly When leaders and their people are expected to do (and be) more, prioritisation is crucial. It starts with the senior executive team deciding what they’re not going to do and where they need to focus their energy. However, it can be hard to stop doing something, especially if it was helpful in the past. That’s why CEOs need effective teams around them with strong interpersonal relationships. Greater clarity at the top helps staff to understand where they need to focus their own efforts. This makes it easier to inspire action and increase engagement. We call this ʻconnecting momentum’. Strategy 3 : Build capability Momentum really builds when leaders focus on creating organisational capability.
Our research shows that complex challenges are placing more demands on already overwhelmed leaders, who are paying the price along with their organisations in the form of reduced effectiveness. Workplace conditions remain an essential part of strategy, but company culture is no longer enough. Dwindling staff engagement and business outputs won’t be solved by more of the same. That culture must be balanced with strongly aligned teams, clear and concise priorities, and organisational structures that help leaders to build strategic momentum and bring their people with them. Starting with our three steps, successful businesses can bridge the gap between strategy formation and implementation. Those who fail to build momentum will be left behind.
This means strengthening individuals and teams by creating organisation-level solutions and structures that support and sustain the newly sharpened focus. We call this ʻembedding momentum’. As one leader said: “We spend a lot of time on creating processes to govern, implement, or direct what we do. “That’s not because we don’t have belief or trust in people, it’s because we want standards of consistency and rigour independent of an individual.” Once leaders balance responsibility through effective structures, they can focus their energy on driving productivity in a more realistic, humane, and sustainable way. “Tellingly, 71% of CEOs said that successful strategy execution has never felt harder”
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Sustainable Development Goals
Warwick Business School | wbs.ac.uk
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