Overcome three barriers to successful strategy

Three years into his CEO role, John was feeling deflated. Not because of the ongoing transformation programme, the new strategy, or the new leadership team, but because nothing seemed to stick.

As he put it: “We don’t seem to achieve what we set out to do. You’re not tired of the change, but you’re tired of the fact that it’s just not working”. 

This “endless treadmill” wasn’t just getting him down. It was seriously compromising the company’s ability to navigate significant post-COVID challenges.  

John was one of 27 CEOs in the UK that we spoke to as part of a wider project to understand how executives are implementing strategy amid current workforce challenges.  

Tellingly, 71 per cent of CEOs said that successful strategy execution has never felt harder. 

Not only are they facing complex new issues, but the tried-and-tested solutions they honed over the previous decade are no longer producing results. 

“Both the external context and the employee context have changed,” said John. 

“The amount of thought, the dexterity needed, and the ability to be nimble and nuanced require very different skills. It’s not transactional, it’s not following a rule book; it is very different.”

Three key workforce challenges facing strategists

As a result, many CEOs like John are feeling overwhelmed and burned out. They are also struggling to achieve organisational growth and success. But there is a way forward. 

We take a closer look at the issues facing organisations today and provide three key strategies to overcome workforce challenges and achieve strategic success.  

The leaders we spoke to told us that today’s workforce challenges centre around three key themes:  

Challenge 1: Shifting working models 

Organisations have been under more pressure to focus on flexibility, with employees increasingly expecting at least some remote work as a norm. 

But two thirds of the CEOS we spoke to described problems associated with the rise in hybrid working. This included falling employee engagement, less collaboration and cohesion, and more inter-staff friction,  

As one CEO put it: “People are a little less integrated; it’s harder to see where things aren’t working the way you want them to.

“Whereas if everyone were in the office all the time talking to one another, we’d probably see that and stop things before they become a problem.”

Challenge 2: Changing employee expectations 

While some might call for a blanket return-to-office policy to boost engagement, many challenges are less about location and more about how people relate to work. 

The leaders we spoke to told us they found it more challenging to keep people focused, foster engagement, and instill a shared sense of purpose regardless of employees’ work location.

One executive noted: “The whole notion of responsibility and accountability for the organisation is almost totally abdicated and delegated upwards.” 

These are not isolated issues. In 2024, a Gallup poll found 62 per cent of global employees are currently disengaged at work. 

Challenge 3: Difficulties attracting and retaining talent 

Given the dip in engagement and ownership, it’s unsurprising that 41 per cent of the executives we interviewed were concerned about attracting and retaining talent.  

As one said: “You’re going to need to have 25-year-olds coming on board, and they will not tolerate an organisation which looks and feels like it’s out of the 80s.” 

Of course, recruitment is costly. Regularly finding and training new staff puts additional strain on already stretched leaders and budgets. 

Why previous strategies are no longer working

Leaders have spent a decade focusing on company culture to overcome workforce challenges, but this can come at the cost of leadership fundamentals and organisational effectiveness. 

As one CEO put it: “I did a lot of amazing work around culture, organisation design, organisation of people. We all had a lovely time, and we had a great set of principles behind us. But you can’t lose sight of what is going to keep the business afloat, you can’t take your eye off the performance focus.”

This has left leaders exhausted and struggling to deliver – 41 per cent of those interviewed feel overwhelmed with their increasing workload. 

Three strategies to build momentum

It’s not enough to create a strategy and expect people to get on board to implement it successfully. 

The area between strategy formation and implementation is key. This is where leaders build the motivation, engagement, and drive for change.  

Generating this momentum is how leaders can propel their organisations forward without exhausting their mental and financial resources or achieving only temporary gains. We identified three strategies to help leaders do this. 

Strategy 1: Lay solid foundations 

This requires a clear people vision, describing the relationship the organisation wants with its people and the investment it will make to sustain this.

One CEO told us: “We’re a business that is actively invested in the relationship with our people. We’ve had a high degree of employee value proposition stability, and it’s the very opposite of complacency that gets you there.”

Good workplace conditions generally lead to higher job satisfaction, better productivity, and improved employee retention. They’re not just about meeting legal requirements but creating an environment where employees thrive and do their best work. 

We call this stabilising momentum: establishing a steady state from which to operate, which in turn creates the conditions for subsequent stages of strategy execution. 

Strategy 2: Prioritise ruthlessly 

When leaders and their people are expected to do (and be) more, prioritisation is crucial.  

It starts with the senior executive team deciding what they’re not going to do and where they need to focus their energy.

As one leader told us: “Stopping things, especially ones that have got you to where you are, is very personal and quite difficult for people, so they hang around, taking up time and energy and reducing your ability to execute effectively on the things that really do matter.”

That’s why senior leadership team alignment is paramount when it comes to prioritisation.

CEOs need effective teams around them with strong interpersonal relationships. Being clear on priorities allows better execution, recognising that both energy and resources are finite.

This is about what we call connecting momentum. With clear priorities, it’s easier to inspire action and increase engagement.

Greater clarity at the top helps staff to understand where they need to focus their own efforts.

Strategy 3: Build capability 

Momentum really builds when leaders focus on creating organisational capability. 

This means strengthening individuals and teams by creating organisation-level solutions and structures that support and sustain the newly sharpened focus. We call this embedding momentum. 

As one leader said: “We spend a lot of time on creating processes to govern, implement or direct what we do. 

“That’s not because we don’t have belief or trust in people, it’s because we want standards of consistency and rigour independent of an individual.” 

Once leaders balance responsibility through effective structures, they can focus their energy on driving productivity in a more realistic, humane and sustainable way.  

Why workplace culture is no longer enough

Our research shows that complex challenges are placing more demands on already overwhelmed leaders, who are paying the price along with their organisations in the form of reduced effectiveness. 

Workplace conditions remain an essential part of strategy, but company culture is no longer enough. Dwindling staff engagement and business outputs won’t be solved by more of the same. 

That culture must be balanced with strongly aligned teams, clear and concise priorities, and organisational structures that help leaders to build strategic momentum and bring their people with them.  

Starting with our three steps to build momentum, successful businesses can bridge the gap between strategy formation and implementation. Those who fail to build momentum will be left behind.

Further reading:

Three steps for firms to achieve strategic agility

Back to the future: Strategy lessons from the 1990s

Four keys to using big data to unlock better strategy

Why imitation can be a successful strategy

Andrea Adams is Founder and Managing Director of Triumpha, corporate culture experts who provide coaching, mentoring, and development for chief executives and directors to help them accelerate strategy implementation, achieve sustainable leadership success and embed change. She has an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Maja Korica is Professor of Strategic Management at IESEG School of Management in Paris and a former Reader at Warwick Business School She specialises in studying the work of senior managers and boards of directors, and the consequences of their actions on workplaces, neighbourhoods and societies.

Develop the agility and resilience you need to thrive in a complex world with the four-day programme The Strategic Mindset of Leadership at WBS London at The Shard.

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