Inclusivity is Key to Organizational Performance

Business transformation experts Dare Worldwide, in collaboration with communications and marketing agency GCM, today unveiled research showing company leaders say that 85% of indicators their companies are doing well in are not actually linked to perceived company performance. Purpose, connection and collaboration emerged as the strongest indicators of company performance

The State of Leadership, Culture and Purpose, based on a survey of 1,000 managers and above at midsize to large companies in the US, measured company processes and values that impact productivity, growth and employee experience. These leaders gave their companies lowest ratings on some areas associated with Purpose, Connection, and Collaboration, which are key to achieving long term sustainability.

Commenting on the findings, Rita Trehan, CEO of Dare Worldwide, said: “Businesses find themselves at a hinge point in modern history, with not just a chance, but a need to do things differently. We now have the research we need to create a strategy that enables organizations to evolve, incorporate inclusivity at every level and achieve sustainable growth in the near and long term.”

Employees said their companies do well in seven key performance indicators, but none of those seven areas strongly correlates with employees having a positive outlook for company performance over the next five years. Only one performance indicator strongly correlates with positive employee experience.

Though the research found that improving how a company carries out its purpose has the highest impact on perceived company performance and employee experience, 35% of respondents thought their company was not doing a good job in this regard.

Analysis of the data shows that making efforts to build trust and engagement among all employees and communicating effectively are both highly important for a positive employee experience. However, those items showed a low association with employee forecasts of stronger performance over the next five years.

Analysis showed that trust and engagement and communicating effectively were important for a positive employee experience. Yet trust, engagement and communicating were not drivers of perceived company performance over the next five years.

The research also shows that employees above the director level are 50% more likely to think that people within their organization have the same understanding of their business identity than those below their level.

This suggests there may be a disconnect in the messages sent to the company by the leadership. 45% of those polled think it is very important that their understanding of their company’s identity align with the leadership’s for a positive public perception. Some respondents also doubted their company’s commitment to developing talent or appreciating work.

“This research is raising a red flag for communications leads at medium and large organizations, particularly those with 500 or more employees,” said Zach Giglio, CEO of GCM. “Organizations that are not aligned on their identity internally are limited in their ability to communicate effectively with external stakeholders and, ultimately, drive growth, impact and revenue.”

The State of Leadership, Culture and Purpose was conducted by global public opinion and data company YouGov. The analysis aimed to understand the key drivers of employee perception of company performance. The topics covered were: company performance, predictors of performance, Covid-19 and the workplace and business identity.

To launch this research, Dare Worldwide and GCM are hosting live events to discuss these findings in an open forum with senior leaders from a wide range of industries to identify strategies for dealing with the key disconnects between areas of current company performance and areas companies should focus on to actually improve performance and employee experience.

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