Do you ever find yourself just going through the motions at work? Do managers complain that it is increasingly difficult to motivate others? Is morale low and fatigue high in your organization? If your response to any of these questions is positive, it is likely that you are feeling the impact of incessant restructuring, unending workforce re-sizing, and the increasing drive of technology into the workplace. Disenchantment with work is at an all time high.

• Experts report that over 50% of US workers are completely dissatisfied with work or just going through the motions.
• Pollsters estimate that 80% of workers in the UK lack commitment to their jobs; about 25% of these workers are deemed as "actively disengaged."
• Disenchantment is also present in new economies. Experts report that 17% percent of Singapore's workforce feels disconnected from work.

The implications arising from these reports challenge leaders and leadership developers. Workplace cynicism increases demands on managers and leaders. Those who have the abilities to create meaningful and productive organizational cultures will extend their career longevity. Here are four approaches for culture leaders in the new era:

1. Assist employees in managing information. I often ask participants in our leadership development situations this question: "Do you think that you'll get less email next year?" The response is always the same, regardless of organization or geography: a resounding "no." Leaders managing successful cultures discover the means to assist employees in "unplugging" from technology and help others to increase their decision-making skills.
2. Redesign and restructure organization design for meaning. Today's fast-paced global economy often reduces work to bits and bytes. Leaders create organizations that unify employees. Leaders help to coordinate efforts in service of organizational goals.
3. Remember that people leave bosses, not organizations. Very few come to work with the intention of sabotaging productivity. Perceptive leaders work with others to remove barriers to performance. Leaders enable others to live out their dreams and to make a difference. Culture leaders remove toxins and poisons from the organizational environment.
4. Change begins with self-aware leaders. Credentials and experience are no longer sufficient for leading in today's world. Effective leaders adjust to rapidly changing conditions - and to promote organizational learning.

Leadership is essential for renewing organizational cultures and for deepening employee commitment. We have left the world of employee compliance; employers and effective leaders use a variety of styles to create positive and energizing climates. Changing the growing tide of workplace disenchantment requires deepened and renewed commitment to leadership and culture development.

Leadership research consistently demonstrates that interesting and challenging work is essential to gaining employee commitment. Despite decades of evidence in this regard, organizations still perform poorly in talent management. The results of poor performance are evident in an increasingly disengaged workforce. As the economy reignites, organizations will require new talent management strategies if they desire to produce reasonable returns to organizational stakeholders. The days of bonus-to-sign and pay-to-stay are increasingly ineffective as talent management strategies. The key to talent management in the new economic era will be employee development.

Turnover costs are significant on every organization's bottom line. Why then do organizations persist in fueling talent management through acquisition or selection processes? Research reported by Deloitte suggests that US companies spend nearly 50 times more to recruit a $100,000 professional than its investment in the annual training of the employee. Organizations that succeed in the new era will actively create and manage development opportunities for talent management.

The shift from hire-retain to development approaches requires nothing short of total transformation for many organizations. Organizations that succeed in reducing disenchantment and in nurturing growth will establish cultures that enhance individual and organizational learning. Fear, fragmentation, and scarcity fuel resistance to changing talent management strategies. Success requires creation of cultures where all feel recognized as significant stakeholders in important organizational outcomes.

Traditional approaches to talent management have out-survived their utility. We propose new approaches to developing leaders who stay close to business and organizational outcomes. New approaches will vary but will always take form from an organization's values. Values create increased brand identity and facilitate employee commitment. Your vision to combine talent management with stakeholder value can transform talent management practices and provide enhanced shareholder value.

Frances Hesselbein is a foremost commentator on leadership. She is Chairman of the board of governors of the Leader to Leader Institute, former chief executive of Girl Scouts of the USA, and a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Commenting on the topic of culture, she stated, "Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day." As leaders, what can we do to convert our desires and hopes into organizational realities?

• Leadership is both social and personal. Organizational transformation begins with a look in the mirror. If you cannot be direct and forthright with yourself, what can you expect from others? Reliance on old or current skills and experiences may not be enough to carry an organization into the future.
• Build networks and cultivate strong relationships now. Follower-ship requires an ability to bring others to places that they never imagined. This requires a combination of charisma and inspiration. The combination of charisma and inspiration diminishes resistance to change and transformation.
• Invest in multiple approaches. Recently, in remarks I made to the Cayman Islands Society of Human Resources Professionals, I encouraged them to avoid "or" thinking and to celebrate the genius of "and" thinking. Collaborate with others for decision-making and implementation activities.
• Go to the heart-of-the matter. Leaders that fail to engage the hearts of others never last long - nor does employee commitment.
• Remember that your organization is larger than its balance sheet. Great leaders create an impact and effect on their communities and societies. While you are working to ensure the fiscal prosperity of your organization, you can be increasingly effective when you step outside of the traditional boundaries that define organizations.

Acceleration of the global marketplace will continue in the coming years. We will no longer satisfy stakeholder interests with narrowly focused leaders who are sheltered from the realities of a shrinking global landscape. As such, we need leaders focused on the most important issues of our times including public health, housing, and education. The days of "doing your own thing" are rapidly ending - if they ever existed.

Responsible actions at local and global levels foster leadership and organizational success. Those who balance the long-term, near-term, and short term will find success. Achievement requires leaders and organizations who value wider interests over self-interests. What are you doing to convert your ideals to create a desirable future? It is up to us to better our world through our organizations.

Unfortunately, workplace violence is on the increase. In addition to a perceived increase in violence, real costs attributable to violence are mounting. In 1992, costs linked to workplace violence were estimated at $4.2 billion; in 1995, $36 billion; in 2002, $121 billion (Jane's Information Group). What is the relationship of safety to culture, and what can we do about this issue?

First, feelings of well-being and safety arise and form in a social context. Personal safety is more than an individual and independent construct. If you have ever been a crowd situation, you can easily relate to safety as a social construct. To create feelings of safety, organizations can take several actions:

• Create a climate where communication is open and feedback is encouraged. Often, in leadership development work, we relate communication to organizational tasks and processes. The ability to model effective communication in all aspects of organizational life may create conditions that reduce violence.
• Understand and use metrics. Measurement identifies concerns that matter. When organizational leaders cite metrics related to safety, employees understand that safety matters to the organization.
• Foster learning; not blame. Organizations that learn have a competitive advantage and demonstrate responsibility. Review one of our previous newsletters on responsibility matters for additional insight on this topic. Conduct after-action reviews of critical incidents.
• Abandon the notion that you can "hide" or cover-up incidents from others. Often, the cover-up creates intense disloyalty and suspicion. Cover-ups abuse trust. You can foster openness in management activities.
• Pay attention to others. If you believe that others are essential to your performance, treat others with the respect that they deserve.

The creation of safety is, in part, cultural. The best risk management systems can end-up as discarded workbooks and manuals if unsupported by a belief system that values safety and well-being. Uncertainty is a key driver in the management of safety; organizations that fail to plan for safe environments may find themselves reacting when crisis occurs. As organizational leadership and culture experts, we help others to cope with uncertainty.