In today’s business landscape, particularly in the wake of COVID-19 and the lingering effects of the shift to remote work, employee engagement has emerged as a critical and challenging issue for organizations.
Considerable research has gone into understanding the connections between work engagement and work-life balance, including by consulting firms such as Accenture and McKinsey. Possibly the most extensive research in this area has been conducted by Gallup. Their January 2024 report showed that in 2023, employees in the U.S. continued to feel more detached from their employers, with “less clear expectations, lower levels of satisfaction with their organization and less connection to its mission or purpose…less than they did four years ago.” The report goes on to say, “They are also less likely to feel someone at work cares about them as a person.” The numbers are troubling: In 2023, 34% of U.S. full- and part-time employees were engaged in their work and workplace, from a high of 40% when Gallup began reporting U.S. employee engagement in 2000.
The list of wants from employees is extensive, but hardly surprising. Modern workers desire a clear vision and purpose. They seek meaning in their work and want to understand how their roles contribute to the bigger picture. They crave growth and development opportunities, including chances for learning, skill enhancement, and career progression. They want a sense of autonomy and trust within their roles and an inclusive and collaborative culture that values diversity and encourages different perspectives. The conclusion: “The role of the manager has never been more challenging.”
There is another way to look at this: COVID-19 accelerated what in fact may have been an unavoidable reset. And, in fact, some of the central issues in the discussion — including clarity of vision and purpose, seeing the organization as an integrated whole, and giving employees a sense of how they contribute to its overall mission — should be the continual goal of any well-run organization.
Solving employee satisfaction with Nexus leadership
The connection between Nexus leadership — as articulated in “The Nexus,” the book I wrote with Bruce Mau — and enhanced employee engagement offers a possible solution for this pressing issue.
A Nexus leader synthesizes analytical and creative thought processes, leverages opposing viewpoints, visualizes constraints as a source of creativity, and masters collaborative orchestration. These leaders seamlessly traverse domains, combining analytical and logical thinking (traditionally associated with sciences) and creative, holistic thinking (traditionally associated with arts). They see commonalities that transcend differences and leverage the synergies that arise when domains converge.
A Nexus leader practices what in philosophy is called “dialectical synthesis” and in quantum physics is called complementarity — that is, the capacity to embrace opposites. Nexus leaders can imagine and understand perspectives contrary to their own, a crucial skill for making decisions in complex changing environments. Nexus leaders know also how to adapt and thrive with constraints; they know that creativity emerges from conflict of ideas.
Nexus leaders also know how to form and manage diverse teams, balancing divergent thinkers (for creativity) and convergent thinkers (for implementation). They are connectors, who can manage teams with widely diverse skill sets.
People with Nexus-like abilities don’t just exist at the top. Curious people within organizations and entrepreneurial individuals at all ranks have clear opportunities to display Nexus leadership.
How Nexus leaders can motivate today’s workforce
The key competencies of Nexus leadership map well onto these emergent issues brought by a young workforce.
First: communication. By leveraging intellectual breadth and systems thinking, Nexus leaders can enhance understanding and communication across diverse employee backgrounds. They can provide context for complex organizational issues and clearly communicate intricate ideas, helping employees see their place in the larger organizational ecosystem.
Second, getting a systems view of the organization — the organization as a complex adaptable system — is another key Nexus skill and can help employees see that they are far more valuable than isolated cogs in a massive machine.
Third, Nexus leaders can reframe challenges as opportunities. Innovation and problem-solving thrive under Nexus leadership. The ability to blend analytical and creative thinking styles, encourage diverse perspectives, and reframe challenges as opportunities promotes a positive, forward-thinking culture. This approach not only drives organizational progress but also engages employees by involving them in the process of innovation and improvement.
Fourth, Nexus leaders value education and are well-positioned to cultivate a learning culture within their organizations. By demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning and providing context and meaning to individual roles, they inspire employee development and create a more engaged workforce. Nexus leaders’ skills in navigating conflicting positions should build trust and create an environment where open communication and feedback are encouraged.
All these skills are key in communicating why employees should return to the office, for example. Virtual work has its place, but the advantages of direct communication and growth of creative ideas and innovation should make evident the rewards of face-to-face interaction and collaboration.
I have firsthand experience in this space. While dean of the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, I would routinely welcome 10-15 new staff members who covered a broad range of positions within the school. After they introduced themselves and explained their positions, I would give a brief talk. The core message was always the same: “You enrich the network, and the network enriches you.” I would give an idea of the entire operation, explain how each component was critical to the overall functioning the system, and describe how the pieces reinforced each other. My perception was (and is) that this was critical to the school functioning as an integrated whole.
Creating a new environment where employees feel understood and valued
To be successful in leading this new workforce, Nexus leaders must explicitly state areas of focus:
1. Articulating a clear vision and purpose
2. Fostering personal growth and development
3. Empowering employees in decision-making processes
4. Promoting an adaptive and innovative mindset
5. Building trust and authenticity
6. Creating an inclusive and collaborative culture
Partnerships involving senior and mid-level employees should be responsible for monitoring progress in all these dimensions.
By concentrating on these areas, Nexus leaders can create an environment where employees feel understood, valued, and connected to the organization’s purpose and therefore become more central to the organization itself. By embracing these principles, businesses can navigate the complexities of the modern work environment and foster a culture of high performance, employee commitment, and what will inevitably be a higher performing and sustainable organization.
