Current boardroom thinking and Workforce alignment

The last two years has seen corporates and boardrooms operating in an unpredictable world and facing new and unforeseen challenges due to the Pandemic. Now more than ever it’s become important for boards to understand the wants and needs of their employees.

This report is designed to understand the current thinking of board members and senior managers and compare how that aligns with the thinking of their workforce. We also wanted to see, as the Pandemic recedes, what the C-Suite and the workforce think will be important when implementing their company values and strategy.

Board Members, senior executives and younger employees (aged 25-40) from over 2000 of the world’s leading companies were interviewed via an online survey during August 2021.

How corporates are navigating the uncertain world

The last two years has seen corporates and Boardrooms operating in an unpredictable world and facing new and unforeseen challenges due to the Pandemic. We were keen to gain an insight into the current thinking, strategies and priorities not only of Boardroom leaders and management but also employees. Our objective was to see how individuals at all levels viewed their company’s current strategies, culture and purpose, what they saw as needing to be prioritised, what they wanted from their companies and what was important to them personally.

Beyond profit

90% of those surveyed see the focus of their company shifting beyond just profit, either considerably or to some extent. 76% would forgo 5% of salary or pay rise if that money was used by their company for a good cause.

Corporate priorities

The top 3 priorities post-Pandemic are seen as corporate growth, refocus on core areas and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I).

Environmental issues of highest concern

61% say that what worries them most about their business is its impact on the environment.

Senior management and employees are thinking alike

Possibly against expectation, there is close alignment between members of the Boardroom, management and other employees, as well as across age groups.

Workforce aligned to corporate values

87% of those surveyed see their own values aligned closely or very closely to their company’s declared vision

Workforce recognition

68% feel valued and respected at work.

The importance of people issues and a people strategy

An increasingly-volatile employment market, post-Pandemic, is heightening competition for staff and demand for particular skills and is likely to require more focus on investment in people. Engaging with the workforce and understanding the priorities and motivation of existing and prospective employees will be key.

This Part 2 looks at the results of our survey on all people-related matters. We were keen to see what motivates the workforce and how they relate to the vision and values of their companies. In this section we summarise workforce priorities and to what extent those surveyed consider companies are getting it right or identify areas for improvement.

People strategy

43% of those surveyed reported that People Strategy was the element most lacking from their company’s current strategy, with the top 3 people-related priorities seen as being core purpose of the business, professional skills development and training, and career development.

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) and mental health

The majority of those surveyed felt that they were treated as an equal (69%) and respected (68%) at work – of the areas considered as needing further work, social background (41%), religion (41%), age (40%) and ethnicity (37%) ranked the highest – 54% of those surveyed felt unable to be fully open and honest about mental health at work

Investment in people

Just 2% of those surveyed felt that their company’s focus on looking after its people had decreased in the last 12 months.

Compensation and benefits

Holiday entitlement (20%), salary (19%) and financial bonus/ incentive schemes (19%) ranked the highest in the financial factors deemed important to those surveyed.