Harnessing The Human Factor for Business Success

If you spent time over the last five years reviewing Gallup data on the health of the global workforce, it will have told you that engagement is still low, challenges with mental health continue to grow and the percentage of people thinking about moving to a new organization is now in the majority at over 50%. Even with the most rose-tinted of spectacles, the data is concerning.

It is a perennial challenge to measure the connection and engagement of a human being to their organization. Our measure of success is quite simple; an employee going home each day having had a good day, and hopefully feeling the same every day. For some that will be the case. For many, however, it won’t be. This is not about attributing blame or pointing fingers, it is simply highlighting that achieving that goal is not easy. Its complex, multifaceted and is a challenge faced by every organization, every day. We call this “The Human Factor”.

What is “The Human Factor”?

“The Human Factor” is an interconnected web of many dependencies. It is not just one thing. We have broken the challenge into three simple parts: strategy, execution and engagement. We have sought to better understand what “The Human Factor” really means to them. It has provided us with countless insights and conclusions to share.

There have been thousands of books written about human beings, full of countless theories, frameworks, models and insights. All hugely relevant but, from our experience, the issue is not in the thinking or research. The biggest issues lie in the quality and consistency of execution, particularly in the basic fundamentals and the cultural habit of making assumptions about someone’s knowledge, skills or ability.

Starting with the individual

Every day organizations will be attracting, onboarding, developing, managing and coaching their teams with a view to creating that engagement and enabling all individuals to perform to their best, to be their best self and to go home and say, “I had a good day”. But what does a human being need on a day-to-day basis to be their best and perform to their best?

There is a plethora of research on what a human being requires to feel motivated and connected, but how good are we at designing and delivering these processes consistently?

The general assumption is that most people know what a goal or objective is. Yet, even in 2025, there is plenty of evidence of organizations not setting goals for all employees or indeed making it a compulsory process. Therefore, one of the most important basic fundamentals of providing clarity is often missing for a lot of people. The impact on the individual can be seismic. How soul destroying must it be turn up to work, execute tasks that may or may not have strategic relevance? A pretty thankless and disengaging scenario.

The importance of feedback

It is commonly assumed that most people know how to give and receive feedback. This is arguably one of the most important and valuable basic fundamentals as it provides individuals with clarity on progress, knowledge to close gaps and recognition for a job well done.

Yet we have observed countless organizations that are devoid of a feedback culture. Why is this? There is an assumption that everyone knows what to do but are just not doing it. The reality, however, is often that people find it very difficult to do, or don’t feel the culture is conducive to do it effectively.

The benefits of performance reviews

Feedback and recognition are critical to the growth and prosperity of a human being. We want to know where we stand, we would like to be recognized for our contributions, be aware of development gaps and feel that our contribution from a reward perspective has been differentiated from others. It doesn’t matter if the performance is reviewed monthly, quarterly or annually – it’s the importance of the dialogue, the clarity, the connection, the care and demonstrating a commitment to the individual. Nobody likes being involved in a poorly executed review or series of conversations, but a broad assumption that people don’t like them when they are essential is one of the biggest assumptions that we see, and we believe one of the reasons why many organizations have no programme or framework in place to support or underpin this crucial process. Why wouldn’t an organization want to provide clarity, feedback and purpose to its employees?

Switching focus to the organization

If we switch gears and look at the organization, we still find examples whereby an organization doesn’t know the skills and talent available within the organization, the ability to do a talent search is not possible and succession processes often reside in people’s heads.

Designing an employee experience is a philosophical decision. There is no right or wrong, but the individual coming into an organization today expects clarity, meaning and purpose in what they are being asked to do. Organizations must have a clear strategy aligned to business goals, a culture that is supportive, psychologically safe, inclusive and enables individuals to be their best self. The belief and hope that the basic fundamentals are executed brilliantly, and feeling like a way of life and not an event. Every human being is different, we live in era of greater autonomy due to the advancements of technology, but much of what drives our motivation is anchored in research from the previous century – much of this is not new, yet our day-to-day execution is still not where it should be and the data backs this up.

Implementing the best human experience

The world in which we live and work doesn’t stand still. It is constantly moving on its axis and therefore, organizations need to keep up and be clear on what their human experience is, what their critical human factors are and then execute brilliantly against them recognizing that we are all different. Failure to do so will result in people moving onto pastures new and a search for an experience and culture that does result in them going home each day and saying, “I had a good day”.