Moving towards a people-centric culture at work

Leslie Santos is an executive coach, positive psychologist and Learning & Development (L&D) facilitator. We wanted to know what this trend towards a people-centric culture in the workplace really means and how story is being used to move towards that culture.

As an executive coach and workplace culture expert, what are you seeing as the biggest workplace trends for 2022?

We’re seeing a lot of frustrated and burned out managers who want to better support and lead their teams but who cannot pause to lead strategically. The constant urgency is creating costly mistakes, attrition, over working and is contributing to their languishing and health decline.

We’re also seeing employees demanding a people-centric workplace from senior leaders and when those demands and increasing expectations aren’t met, we’re seeing higher attrition rates that are creating a continual hiring and onboarding deluge for managers.

What does a people-centric workplace or culture mean? What does it look like in practice?

Leslie: A people-centric approach puts people (employees and customers) at the center. This would look like understanding and respecting each employee's perspective, needs and goals. Human-centric leadership focuses first on the person instead of the task to be done. It orients its operations around people. A human centric company believes that when you take care of the people, they will take care of the business. 

Leslie Santos

In practice it would look like building trust and transparency. Through the social movements over the last five years, dwindling trust has become a growing concern for organizations. Customers and employees are demanding more accountability, responsibility and transparency from companies. 

Practically speaking, a people-centric culture requires the infrastructure (processes, values, budget, roles) that enables greater humanity in the way an organization leads, manages and grows employees.

What is the biggest pain point for employers right now, and how are they addressing it?

Organizations today realize the imperative need to address the employee experience. The rate of burnout and attrition is aggressive and concerning senior leaders. They can no longer ignore the demands of the employees. I’m reminded of the government’s response to the high number of veterans returning from WWI with high rates of depression. A large-scale initiative flooded the mental health industry resulting in the diagnosis of post traumatic stress syndrome. 

In 2020 the pace of disruption, uncertainty, volatility and ambiguity fundamentally shifted the business landscape. Organizations are responding reactively and trying to catch up by implementing a more human-centric approach.

What role does storytelling play in your work with employers and employees?

Every new initiative requires people to change. And change is hard. All change instigates a journey, which looks a lot like a story. When we launch a journey of professional transformation, it can be divided into a five-stage venture scape similar to a story frame. At each stage we deliver stories, spur action, validate the traveler, build bonds and entice people toward the outcome of success. Through story, we compel commitment to do the focused work of change.

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