In our whitepaper, Transforming New Zealand’s Productivity, we outline three macro challenges reshaping the world every organisation is up against. These forces aren’t theoretical or around the corner.

They’re affecting the way organisations plan, the way their managers lead, and their people’s impact and experience on the ground.

In a nutshell, this is what we’re seeing and why leaders need to keep them front of mind as they look ahead.

1. Unprecedented volatility

We’re no longer operating in a world of (relative) stability. The post-pandemic environment has exposed how fragile global systems can be and how interdependent they are.

• Geopolitical instability is affecting markets and supply chains around the world
• Climate events are exposing risks we’ve long been aware of but hoped we could address when we had the cash to fix them
• Economic uncertainty is undermining planning and investor confidence as well as our organisations’ ability to remain competitive

Global volatility used to be more of a background factor in most people’s thinking. Today, however, it’s front and centre. The organisations that fare best will be those that understand what we’re experiencing is not a phase but the new norm their sector is facing. Building resilience into our businesses demands more than just the ability to manage risk; it requires leaders to transform their organisation’s culture and capacity to perform.

2. Technological disruption

Technological advancements have forever improved the way people work. However, what’s different today is the speed and scale of disruption. As a result:

• Roles are changing faster than people can be reskilled
• Expectations from customers and communities are rising
• Legacy systems are being patched, not replaced
• Investment in tech is often reactive rather than strategic

In many cases, organisations are implementing technology without readying their people or the business to support it. The result? Greater complexity without a lot of improvements to show for it. The fact is, technology is only as transformative as the organisation’s appetite to adopt it. Businesses that leverage technology to empower their workforce, rather than simply trying to replace them, become more adept at unlocking improvements across their business.

3. Disillusioned workforces

This challenge is greater, deeper and more concerning.

Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report shows that:

• Global engagement is now at 21%, down an additional 2 points in the past year
• Manager engagement is falling even faster
• Staff stress, indifference, and dissatisfaction are rising
• And in terms of well-being, it is now the lowest it has ever been, despite organisations doing more than ever to try and address it

While the causes may be complex, the signal is clear: employees are feeling increasingly disconnected and disillusioned. Moreover, an increasing number are not just quietly quitting, they’re becoming resentful of their employer’s efforts to get more out of them. 

What was once an occasional problem is now the single greatest risk facing organisations globally. Not convinced? Did you know that 52% of the World’s Fortune 500 companies from the year 2000 no longer exist? 

Although Vladimer Botsvadze highlights a number of reasons for their demise including economic turmoil and failed mergers, he cites human failures as the predominant issue - leadership failures, failure to adapt, and failure to innovate - cultural issues that prevented over half of the world’s most successful companies by market cap in the year 2000 to disappear within a quarter of a century.

The point is, an organisation’s workforce will determine whether their business exists in the years ahead, not consciously, but as a result of their interest and engagement in the company’s vision. 

As everyone knows, disengaged teams don’t learn, don’t adapt, and don’t innovate. This not only negates their performance as individuals, it stifles the organisation’s ability to succeed as a whole. As a result, leaders need to engage their people in a different conversation about their organisation’s future so they understand their personal contribution is everything.

To achieve this, leaders need to provide a new level of clarity so their people know what success looks like to ensure that wherever they’re based, and whatever they do, they’re committed to lifting the organisation’s performance for the betterment of their stakeholders.

What this means for leaders

Every significant moment in history has been shaped by individuals who, for whatever reason, have chosen to stand up for what they believe in or what their nation or community needed. 

At the same time, every organisation that’s ever succeeded has been driven by an individual or individuals who believed in the cause and strove to make a difference.

For this reason, our precarious position as a nation needs more leaders to think about how their company can advance, to achieve greater things and by doing so, play a bigger role in New Zealand’s future which is why we’re sharing this campaign: not to assume we have all the answers but to remind leaders like you that what you’re doing matters to the country.

Next time, we’ll look at the key drivers of workplace performance and how we can initiate a deeper shift within our organisations to reach new heights in terms of performance and productivity.

Click here to download our whitepaper - Transforming New Zealand's Productivity - and                              Join the conversation ⟶