Workplace recognition traditionally takes the form of acknowledging a job well done — a business-first approach. But today's workforce doesn't just want their wins to be celebrated. They want to be seen, heard and appreciated on a daily basis.
Today's workers are less inclined to stay with a job just because it pays well, and more open to a change that means increased freedom, a better work environment, and a healthier work-life balance. To mirror this shift, good leadership is about more than driving revenue; it's about prioritizing employees and recognizing them for who they are, not just the work they do.
A major proponent and expert on this subject is global keynote speaker, author and educator Hamza Khan. His Ted Talks, speeches, and bestselling book, The Burnout Gamble: Achieve More by Beating Burnout and Building Resilience, have guided teams at Microsoft, PepsiCo, LinkedIn and TikTok in the areas of leadership, resilience and productivity. One of things he focuses on is basic human needs, and how prioritizing them helps to lay a great foundation for an organization's success.
The need to be seen is hardly new. In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow named it as one of the basic things we as humans need to feel fulfilled, along with others such as belonging, connection and respect. Now, Khan explains, in a more employee-centric time, these needs are not only a topic of non-committal conversation, but the driving force behind a company's ability to recruit and retain talent.
Khan recently spoke with EBN to share his best insights and actionable tips on how employers can meet these needs, and what it means for the future of work.
How can focusing on employees as individuals produce a better outcome for employers?
There's an idea that has governed the evolution of leadership and organizational development across the last three industrial revolutions: that the needs of the people come at the expense of the needs of the mission, and the needs of the mission come at the expense of the needs of the people. There's a dichotomy of leadership. But we're increasingly seeing that insisting on this dichotomy, and putting the needs of anything before the needs of the people is proving increasingly counterproductive. The burnout epidemic, the great resignation and gross employee disengagement, these seem like mutually exclusive problems, but they're all linked by the same underlying issue. And that is, quite frankly, leaders behaving in ways that are self-serving.
Employees who have partner-like relationships with their leaders, versus authoritarian top-down relationships, tend to report greater work-life balance and greater life satisfaction. Employees who feel like they have relationships with their boss — who feel valued, who have a sustainable workload, who are able to communicate their needs freely in a sphere of psychological safety with their leaders — are more productive on average, they're more loyal on average. They're more committed to their organization.
What are some soft skills that help leaders and employees positively reshape the culture of an organization?
Anything that can be automated is in the process of being automated. The things that can't be easily distilled down to binary code, that can't be reduced down to ones and zeros, are a suite of very human skills: patience, compassion, communication, servitude, diversity, empathy, honesty, openness, transparency, partnership, collaboration, negotiation — things that are undergirded by the randomness and the creativity and the purpose that I don't believe can be coded.
People who are practicing soft skills will naturally develop an orientation toward other people, and serve other people and other interests. When they occupy positions of power and leadership positions, they will put the needs of people, communities and the planet before their own. As long as we can just change the equation of the modern workforce to look past profit and see profit as an outcome of treating people correctly all the way through the value chain, everybody can win.
How does the culture of a company help to fortify it, and why does this start with leadership?
One of the best definitions I've heard about company culture is that which a company rewards, tolerates and punishes. With a focus on empathy, diversity and pro-human, pro-social attributes, an organization will be better equipped to attract and engage and retain top talent. An organization that hasn't embedded pro-social values into their DNA will find themselves hard-pressed to succeed in the future when consumers and their consciousness have evolved to only do business with corporations that are doing right by people, communities and the planet.
It's imperative that organizations invest in developing a healthy culture and one that is defined by people. The current paradigm in which we exist is one in which our human values are beholden to corporate values. That can explain a lot of why we're experiencing such high levels of disengagement, burnout, stress, and physical, mental and emotional degradation in current workplaces. The reinventing of corporate culture should flip that axiom. It's human values that are determining what corporations should be doing.
How do leaders who encourage individual talents within a workforce set their employees up for success?
It comes down to this adage: One leader asks another, "What if we invest in our people, and they leave?" The other responds, "What if we don't, and they stay?"
How do the basic needs of humans translate to the workplace?
There is a tendency to focus on the individual and their shortcomings. But if leaders take the approach of partnering with every individual and asking them questions like, "Are you happy here? How can I help you? How do I support you in this organization?' — they tailor their leadership style to suit the unique needs and idiosyncrasies of each of their direct reports. As difficult as that seems, it is the way forward. By taking a holistic approach, and at the same time a deep approach into an employee's well-being, everybody wins. What's good for people is what's good for the organization.
