DIRECTOR’S DESPATCH
A TIME TO REFLECT AND REINVENT? AMBA & BGA membership director Victor Hedenberg delves into widespread wellbeing concerns in companies and society as a whole, before asking if business schools can do more
A t the start of a new year, many of us take the time to reflect on our personal lives, relationships and careers, assessing which aspects contribute to our wellbeing and which might be standing in the way of it. In a poll conducted by Gallup right expressed a feeling of disengagement or unhappiness in their jobs. While I believe that you should always take polls with a pinch of salt, they can be useful in giving a broad overview and these results certainly seem to indicate a serious problem in today’s society. What’s driving these feelings of discontent? Intriguingly, it often boils before the Covid-19 pandemic, a staggering 85 per cent of people down to three key components: employee engagement, company culture and work-life balance. We know that employee engagement is a common concern and something that tends to relate to managers and leaders who lack the necessary skills to motivate and inspire their colleagues. This, in turn, affects the culture of a company. For example, micro- behaviours among managers and senior directors – many of which are
What does this mean for business schools? As the institutions educating the next generation of leaders and senior managers, schools play an important role in imbuing the concept of wellbeing and demonstrating how graduates can ensure it remains a priority when they lead a team or company. After all, a company’s most important resource is the people working there. If they feel overlooked, disrespected or not properly compensated for their efforts and commitment, they will leave and the company will be forced to use further resources on finding and often training a replacement. It’s curious, then, to think that there are not so many business schools that actively prioritise people management with a focus on wellbeing in their programmes. We tend to think very strategically about managing finances, but I’ve found that there’s much less emphasis on thinking strategically about personnel, specifically around the question of retaining high performers, while at the same time upgrading those performing at a lower level. This may be a good time to review the programmes at your school and examine whether all aspects of both employee and student wellbeing are prominently featured and strongly supported.
subconscious – can have a dramatic impact on organisational culture. Work/life balance has also become a heated topic for discussion since the pandemic, with many employees now seeking out companies that prioritise this. We know an unhealthy work/life balance can mean missing out on important moments in one’s personal life, such as celebrating the birthday of someone you care about, going to your daughter’s recital, or visiting one’s grandparents. While this consequence may once have been an expectation for those pursuing certain career paths, in the present day it is likely that an inability to attend important personal engagements will lead to high levels of unhappiness before too long. “There are not so many business schools that actively prioritise people management with a focus on wellbeing”
38 Business Impact • ISSUE 1 • 2025
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