It’s that time of year, when Business Link Magazine invites the region’s business leaders to offer up their predictions for the year ahead.
It has become something of a tradition, given that we’ve been doing this now for over 30 years.
Here we speak to leadership expert Kul Mahay, who believes that creating cultures that focus on staff retention and confidence will be critical for most organisations in 2023.
With further industrial action planned across both the public and private sector – and more than one million working days lost to strike action by the end of December, according to the Financial Times – Kul Mahay says that creating healthy cultures will be key to success in 2023 for many industries.
“Organisations are made up of people with varying complexities, and we need to embrace this,” said Kul, who has worked with NHS Trusts, oil companies and the police on making improvements.
“Looking after our people by creating cultures where people feel valued and psychologically safe is probably the number one priority for a lot of organisations right now.
“Yes, we are seeing people taking industrial action across many sectors, including education, rail industry and health – but it isn’t all about pay. People want better working conditions, including leadership styles.
“I have worked with some organisations where staff have repeatedly told me that the organisation’s ‘command and control’ leadership style over the past two years has left them feeling mistrusted and devalued.
“There is a real need for human-centric leaders. Leadership is about building relationships based on trust and that needs to be the focus for 2023.”
