A Grim Reality, a New Hope

Many workplace cultures today are weak. Grim, even. Around the globe, today’s businesses have people who do not feel inspired or heard, who feel strained and stretched and insecure. Many workplaces not only deaden the spirit and overwhelm the mind but kill the body too—in some cases through dangerous work conditions but also through job stress that leads to heart disease and other health problems that shave years from our lives.

Business executives may earn more money and even enjoy their jobs, but many pine for a deeper sense of purpose. They also worry about slow growth, an ever-changing business landscape, and how to get more from their people, many of whom are anxious and disengaged.

But there’s hope in Great Places to Work For All.

Our goal in writing this book is to inspire business leaders to wield their power toward greatness: to improve the performance of their businesses, the lives of the people who work there, and the state of the world at large by building Great Places to Work For All. This book is organized into three sections that address these areas and paint the picture of the type of leader who is able to achieve a For All workplace.

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Leaders who commit to building Great Places to Work For All have the power to repair and strengthen social bonds, improve individual lives, and elevate the human spirit.
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Part One, “Better for Business,” is the heftiest section and provides a business case for why leaders should make building a Great Place to Work For All a top strategic priority. Here, we share anecdotes and evidence illustrating the ways high-trust cultures boost revenue and business success. We also explain how Great Places to Work For All foster more agility, making them critical to business survival in an increasingly fast-paced, hypertransparent, technology-driven landscape. We offer a detailed description of the six elements of a Great Place to Work For All. And we round out the section by taking a deep dive into our latest data that identifies the specific gaps in experience reported by different demographic groups in the workplace. We show how when these gaps are closed, human potential is maximized and organizations outpace rivals.

>Part Two, “Better for People, Better for the World,” examines the tremendous impact the workplace has on human beings and on the world at large. Through real examples from great workplaces, we show that when people have a positive experience of work, and are able to bring the best of themselves, they enjoy healthier, more fulfilling lives. In this section, we also take a global view of the workplace as a key lever for building a world defined by shared prosperity, fairness, and individual opportunity. We show how leaders who commit to building Great Places to Work For All have the power to repair and strengthen social bonds, improve individual lives, and elevate the human spirit.

Part Three, “The For All Leadership Call,” shifts attention to the For All Leader profile and the next steps leaders can take after reading the book to accelerate leadership performance for themselves and their teams. Here, we share our new research involving 10,000 managers and 75,000 employees, which has allowed us to identify five leader personas: the Unintentional Leader, the Hit-or-Miss Leader, the Transactional Leader, the Good Leader, and the pinnacle For All Leader. We also share the business performance associated with each level and provide data-backed recommendations for “leveling up” as a leader.