Key points
- Reflect on the ‘soundtrack’ of your leadership over the past year
- Address your employees’ concerns, meet them halfway and find harmony that works for all parties
- Tune back into people and culture activities that may have been neglected
Spotify Wrapped has made reflecting on the songs you loved and listened to an end-of-year tradition — but what would a similar review look like for corporate leaders?
If you thought back on the soundtrack of your people and culture activities in 2024, would you hear the same excuses repeated again and again as to why this or that concern hasn’t been addressed? Would you play the same old song about not having time to mentor, the resources to train or the budget to upskill? Would it be a symphony of engaged employees or a racket from disgruntled team members?
The end of the calendar year marks a good time to think back on what you have heard from your people — and what they have heard from you — and for many organisations, it is a more jarring memory than it should be.
One complaint we hear often from leaders is their frustration and weariness with change. It has been an exhausting couple of years, of course, but the sweeping changes and updates in 2024 around compliance, employment and industrial law have been particularly challenging. Many people have found themselves marching to the beat of the compliance drum rather than stepping back and thinking about how to change the rhythm for their workplace.
If people are agitating to move from casual to permanent, for example, or if you are getting pushback from staff about after-hours requirements, compliance with the law is only part of the issue. Instead, you need to meet your people halfway and find harmony that works for all parties.
Then there’s the chorus of issues raised by employees seeking more money, better flexibility or a broadening of entitlements. With the workforce entering the third year of cost-of-living pressures, many people are frustrated and fearful and seeking salary rises or other benefits is a natural place for them to start. Have you heard and addressed those concerns or just turned down the volume?
And then there are the other signals that might have been lost in the noise of 2024.
We have seen many leaders who have simply tuned out the people and culture activity in their businesses to focus on the more immediate concerns of sales, supply chains and business pressures. Next year it will be time to tune back in, if you are going to avoid the risks that come when culture gets neglected, and people feel unheard.
So, take a moment to think back on the leadership soundtrack that has been your 2024.
Let’s help you find your voice for a more upbeat vibe in the year to come.
