By Liz Atkin
Making the new reality work
You’re a leader in 2026. Right now – possibly more than ever – you’re faced with pressure on every level, from every direction. The costs and complexity of running a business and making a profit (or merely keeping afloat) while keeping everybody calm enough that they don’t lose focus and keep on doing the work, have reached a peak for many.
Previously, organizations had been making more intentional moves towards employee wellbeing, engagement, flexibility, and retention. Now the focus has shifted back to productivity, performance, efficiency, and AI-driven transformation. Bottomline is, you need your teams to perform and hit targets, but you also need them to not burn out in the process.
Cost-cutting, reductions, rationalisation, streamlining – whatever you want to call it – involves less. Less people, less resource. As far as strategies go, this can certainly give you immediate financial gains by stemming the outflow of cash and adjusting the forecasts to more manageable levels. But there are counter-effects. Like the natural human response of your people, operational strain, and the fear of more change to come. So while cost-cutting is sometimes inevitable, it comes with its own price tag.
After weathering the storm, and in your attempts to steady the boat, you need your people to pull together and make the new reality work. You know that you simply cannot afford for effort to be hindered or negated by misunderstanding, misalignment and division. You need great communication across your operations and willing collaboration – otherwise the savings you were banking on turn out to be rather less than the spreadsheet first suggested.
Most employees are already giving everything they reasonably can, so asking them to work harder is pretty lame. Instead, the opportunity lies in helping people understand so they can make sense of what’s going on. That’s your job as a leader. And if you want this to be truly effective, you need to be able to connect with your people on both an intellectual and emotional level for genuine impact.
That means you need to think seriously about your communication strategy – because people (especially in times of change) need to make sense of every situation we find ourselves in. And a narrative that points to ‘protecting profits’ ain’t going to cut it.
When people actually understand (not have to fill in the blanks) the challenges the organisation is facing, they’re far more likely to care, to become part of the solution. Honest, consistent communication builds trust. It replaces uncertainty with clarity and rumours with reality. People don’t expect leaders to have all the answers, but they do expect openness, direction and a genuine willingness to stop and listen – that’s your role.
It’s smart (or shall we call it common sense) to recognise that in any area of life, performance and wellbeing are not opposing forces, that they’re inextricably connected. When we feel seen, heard, valued and involved, our capacity for resilience during change and uncertainty starts to lock in and deepen. And practically, we can use this to adapt faster, collaborate more readily and be more willing to go the extra mile when it genuinely matters – in those moments when the people working for you can either make or break a situation.
Simply said, leading through difficult times doesn’t mean choosing between business results and looking after people. It’s about accepting that one enables the other.
Get in touch for strategic support, my Bridging Generations programme, tailored workshops and CPD sessions.
liz@refreshingcomms.co.uk