From Influence to Impact – How India’s CEOs are Architecting the Future of Work and Business

Reading Time: 4 minutes

India’s business dynamic is undergoing swift progression, where CEOs are not only defining the market trends but also structuring an impactful corporate landscape. As CEOs, our roles have a measurable impact on leadership, experience, culture, and performance. Leaders of Best Workplaces are consistently navigating a cultural direction from Influence to Impact, leveraging the globally acknowledged Great Place To Work Effect framework that is noteworthy:

The Great Place To Work Effect:

The Great Place To Work Effect is the positive transformation that occurs when leaders prioritize and create great workplace experiences for employees. Structuring a workplace culture fuelled by the Great Place to Work Effect yields pronounced outcomes, including enhanced employee productivity, business performance, customer satisfaction, and social impact. The roadmap begins with the 9 leadership behaviors, which pivot to creating a great employee experience, thereby shaping workplace culture and ultimately driving performance. Traits of great leadership cultivate trust, pride, and camaraderie For All, which boosts the employee experience throughout their journey. According to the latest Great Place To Work® Data, 62% of employees at Best Workplaces across industries demonstrate greater confidence in their leaders compared to 53% at other workplaces. This asserts the crucial role of trustworthy, transparent leadership in a high-trust culture.

Purpose-driven leadership for sustainable impact:

Leaders who consistently practice and embody organizational values play a key role in establishing trust within their organizations. The Great Place To Work Effect is a research-based framework that substantiates how trust-based leadership influences various aspects of business performance, specifically profitability, efficiency, social impact, market resilience, talent acquisition, and retention.

Trusting in Best Workplaces delivers 3X returns

The latest RSM study reveals that the Best Workplaces outperform the stock market by 3 times. The study measures the stock market returns calculated from FY 2007-2008 to 2024, highlighting that the shareholders’ investment in India’s Best Companies To Work For has yielded 14X returns on the initial investment, outperforming the bullion and major stock indices by a factor of more than 3. This is the power of culture that shapes profitability, all of which is strengthened by 9 leadership behaviors.

Nine Leadership behaviors architecting the future:

Whether the outcome is to increase utilization, boost productivity, or enhance shareholder returns, our Best Workplaces leaders define what success looks like. Great Place To Work® research defines nine key leadership behaviors that create a high-trust culture. Leaders play a crucial role in shaping the employee experience, everyday interactions, and collaboration throughout the organization. Best Workplaces is where employees feel heard, belong, valued, inspired, and empowered. The nine leadership behaviors ensure:

1. Listening: Great leaders are proactive listeners. They encourage feedback and are all ears to their team’s concerns and ideas. This conveys humility and empathy, radiating a sense of psychological safety where employees feel comfortable sharing their perspectives.
   
2. Inspiring: Inspiration is a driving force that motivates everybody towards a common goal. Leaders can inspire others by becoming compelling storytellers, active listeners, and astute observers. Your vision can inspire your workforce. Set clarity in the objectives of the work and share the mission behind it. Align your employees’ work with the company’s higher purposes.
   
3. Speaking: Speaking with clarity and having mindful communication builds trust. Regular connects, town halls, Q&A sessions, and one-on-one interactions are all forms of two-way communication that create a sense of accessibility and reliability.
   
4. Caring: People care for their work when they receive the same care from the workplace. Showing genuine care for your team’s well-being builds trust and loyalty. Assisting during challenging times, promoting work-life balance, and being flexible when required highlight that the company values its employees as people.
   
5. Developing: It is the responsibility of leaders to help employees grow as people and not just performers. Employees must feel that they matter. Relevant opportunities for upskilling, a comprehensive approach to development and training, constructive and regular feedback, and individualized learning plans – all while being empathetic – make way for a prolonged culture of development.
   
6. Thanking: Small acts of gratitude nurture a culture of appreciation. Being thankful is the lasting gesture leaders of Great Workplaces create upon others. Sending personal notes, giving rewards, acknowledging the efforts of their team, and even appreciating mistakes as a part of learning – work wonders.
   
7. Celebrating: Celebrating milestones and achievements sends a clear message to all the employees that their work and time are valued and appreciated. This further motivates them to cater to more milestones. Best Workplace leaders always make time to celebrate, reward, acknowledge, and recognize everyone’s efforts.
   
8. Sharing: The equitable distribution of profits, compensation, bonuses, and resources fosters a sense of inclusion and belonging. However, it starts with a clear and shared understanding of the compensation and rewards philosophy and establishing a fair and equitable experience within the organization.
   
9. Hiring: As leaders, it is important that we hire for attitude and value alignment, and not just skills. It is equally important to create a welcoming environment for people joining the organization. Most organizations are struggling with early attrition of new joiners. Creating the right environment and proving support will help enhance the overall experience of employees.

The future of corporate dynamics and business belongs to Best Workplace leaders who can assuredly and responsibly create a lasting impact, from a worthwhile influence. The purpose-driven Great Place To Work Effect, which spans leadership, experience, and cultural experience, ultimately leads to greater performance – where each aspect complements and shapes the others. And that’s how the architecture is framed with leadership behaviors, the right direction, and the Great Place To Work Effect.