Deloitte: Less Than One Quarter of Business Leaders Ready to Evolve Their Workplace Models

A recent Deloitte survey of more than 1,500 C-suite executives and board members has identified a need to re-think the way jobs are organized, where work happens, and who qualifies for specific roles, with 87% reporting that finding the right workplace model is important to their organization’s success, but only 24% reporting that their organizations are prepared to identify the right workplace model.

The survey comes on the heels of Deloitte’s “2023 Global Human Capital Trends” report, “New Fundamentals for a Boundaryless World,” which examines how leaders are managing new challenges and how organizations succeed by evolving along with a constantly evolving business environment.

"Workforce, organizational, and HR priorities remain at the top of board and C-suite agendas. This year's 'Global Human Capital Trends' insights reinforce the continued prioritization that we have seen for over a decade of this research. The opportunities for leaders and their teams across all industries are boundaryless and open new frontiers in the relationships of workers, customers, stakeholders, and leaders," said Art Mazor, Principal and Global Leader of the Human Capital Practice for Deloitte.

The firm challenges companies to re-think the idea of strictly defined jobs, making the case for a skills-based approach that re-structures work along a project and team focus, allowing workers to be more agile and innovate in the face of disruption and providing more career choice, growth, and autonomy. By recognizing worker agency and influence, organizations that commit to a clear purpose or mission can realize benefits such as increased worker well-being and retention. Further, embracing the evolution of digital work to remove the traditional boundaries of the office has increased productivity, lowered churn, and improved worker engagement.

Leadership continues to be a major focus of workers, with 94% of respondents indicating they believed that leadership capabilities and effectiveness are key to their organization’s success, but only 23% expressing the belief that their leaders have the capabilities needed to manage today’s uncertain and disruptive business environment.

Deloitte recommends that organizations should not agonize about finding the perfect place to begin their changes, but instead reframe disruptions as challenges they can use to experiment and learn from, working alongside their employees to place well-being at the heart of their changes. By embracing the chance to evolve and recognizing the key role workers play in driving evolution, businesses will be better equipped to meet the needs of today and the unknown challenges of tomorrow.