Guest blog: Creating a cause-based culture to improve wellbeing, engagement, and organisational performance

Guest blog by Deborah Cooper and Derek Wynne, Partners of Miles Advisory

Derek Wynne and Deborah Cooper, Miles AdvisoryCovid had unprecedented impact on the world of work. Post-pandemic, employee-centric focus on wellbeing is prioritised in a candidate driven market and with research reporting 59% of employees would consider a company with improved wellbeing benefits.

With early data indicating no change or uptick in productivity during the home-working phase of the pandemic, flexible work practices became a lynchpin in post-covid wellbeing strategies, with the introduction of hybrid, remote and location agonistic policies becoming a top three promise in the global Employee Value Propositions in 2020, 2021 and 2022. 

In 2023 however, the war for talent is easing and the data is shifting, with research from The Economist suggesting that employees are up to 19% less productive working from home, and over 70% of organisations worldwide planning to mandate a return to the office. 

And wellbeing remains poor. In the UK, the government believes that poor mental health is costing employers between £33bn and £42bn a year, and the UK economy as much as £99bn per year. So the potential shift away from flexible working as a panacea could be an opportunity to identify other effective wellbeing solutions as recognition grows that hybrid working can lead to a declining sense of belonging and purpose. 

The link between engagement and performance outcomes – e.g. retention, productivity, safety, is well documented. Low engagement costs the global economy $7.8 trillion - 11% of GDP globally. Presenteeism - employees not fully functioning in the workplace - costs US employers $150 billion a year in lost productivity. Boredom was cited as a main contributor in 2021/22’s ‘Great Resignation’. 
So, could ‘Purpose’ be the enabler in the hybrid world of work? If leaders can move the dial from people needing to work, to creating an environment where people want to work, they could create an employee experience to attract and energise the brightest and best. 

Purpose driven organisations such as building societies have the competitive advantage - connecting everyone to a meaningful purpose providing the opportunity to do something that matters. Leaders can create a powerful employee value proposition that sets out what they can expect in return for their efforts. Few other sectors are in the same position when it comes to using purpose to paint a picture of how it will feel to be part of a cause and re-ignite a sense of belonging and togetherness. The example set in the ‘tone from the top’ is critical to signpost and trigger wider organisational behaviour. 

It is important to create a shared vision of the beliefs and attitudes and to support this with a clear benchmark of the expectations for their associated behaviours. By defining observable actions, leaders can hold each other to account; help employees understand the aspired culture; reduce misinterpretation of what good looks like in the way people work together and align ways of working with operating priorities. 

Building societies are well placed to optimise this opportunity. The burning platform for change is only trumped by the opportunity that exists to build a compelling “cause-based” culture. The effective delivery of this will improve wellbeing, build engagement, and drive high performance. Regardless of whether the employee is at home at work, or at work at home. 

Find out more: Contact Deborah Cooper, Partner, Deborah.cooper@miles-advisory.com 07464 675444

This article was first published in Society Matters magazine
 

You may also be interested in...

BSA Card
  • BSA.PressRelease Press Release
  • Prudential Regulation

PRA consultation paper proposes the retirement of the Building Societies Sourcebook

The BSA supports the PRA consulting on this important topic

BSA Card
  • BSA.PressRelease Press Release
  • Mortgages & Housing

Bank Rate cut is welcome but more needs to be done to help aspiring first-time buyers

Even though rates are slowly reducing, many first-time buyers will still struggle to achieve homeownership due to the double affordability challenge o...

BSA Card
  • BSA.IndustryPublication Research & Reports
  • Banking & Payments

Building Societies Report 2025

Whitecap Consulting, in collaboration with the Building Societies Association (BSA) and a group of key stakeholders, has published the Building Societ...

BSA Card
  • BSA.PressRelease Press Release
  • Audit & Taxation

New audit policy proposals from trade bodies aim to boost growth, investment, and competition across the UK economy

Leading trade bodies call for proportionate reforms to audit and reporting rules

  • BSA.IndustryPublication Research & Reports
  • Audit & Taxation

Audit for Growth: Proportionality in Audit and Reporting

A new policy paper outlining proposals to modernise the UK’s audit regime.

BSA Card
  • BSA.PressRelease Press Release
  • Mortgages & Housing

Building Societies Association finds that more than two million first-time buyers are missing from the housing market

A new report from the BSA has found that a significant number of potential first-time buyers have failed to get on the property ladder since the finan...

  • BSA.IndustryPublication Research & Reports
  • Mortgages & Housing

First-Time Buyers: The Missing Millions

Update report into the challenges facing first-time buyers

  • BSA.IndustryPublication Research & Reports
  • Thought leadership

Harnessing the mutual sector's potential for growth

Removing the barriers to secure economic, societal and environmental benefits