Wiley Workplace Intelligence does ongoing research about the state of our workplaces and here are the top 10 takeaways from their 2023 Annual Report:
1. People are optimistic about the future of their organization. In addition, a large majority of respondents also shared that managing the well-being of their people while achieving results continues to be a priority.
2. Communication is the most important quality in a leader. It's clear that there is a need for more communication and relationship building skills in order to increase psychological safety across all organizational levels.
3. Communication has a direct impact on engagement. The frequency and kind of communication in your organization has a direct impact on the engagement, morale, and productivity of your people.
4. Individual contributors feel less safe than executives taking risks at work. A psychologically safe environment as defined by Amy Edmonson of Harvard B-School, is an environment where we feel comfortable taking risks, expressing ideas and concerns, asking questions, and admitting mistakes without fear of negative consequences.
5. Generations have more in common than not. Surprisingly, respondents largely feel understood by other generations regardless of the generation they belong to.
6. Managers lack training on how to manage conflict. Only 57% of managers reported receiving training around conflict management.
7. Upskilling employees fills the widening skills gap. Most organizations in the study didn't have a clearly identified process for identifying current skills gaps. But, almost half (42%) reported that technical skills were the most critical missing "hard" skills with interpersonal skills following at 36%.
8. Where you work doesn't impact organizational culture. Many organizations made a return-to-office push in 2023. There were concerns about the impacts of remote work on organizational culture and many companies moved from completely remote to hybrid models or required a full return to the office. This research found that location doesn’t have as big of an impact as we might expect when it comes to creating a positive workplace culture. Instead, we found that feeling connected and experiencing a sense of belonging is more critical to creating a positive culture than simply occupying the same physical space.
9. AI is not ready to replace humans when it comes to learning and development. Using AI for administrative tasks increases efficiency but knowing people seek human connection when learning, L & D practitioners should consider ways to continue meeting that need while incorporating technological advances into their practice.
10. Well-being positively impacts performance. Balancing employee satisfaction and productivity ranked the highest, and the increased focus on well-being positively impacted performance throughout these organizations.
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