If the past few years tested supply chains and strategy, this year is testing stamina. Our Business & Economic Outlook panel of business leaders agreed that the most significant competitive differentiator right now isn't technology, pricing, or even capital access.
It's people.
However, here's the challenge: approximately 4 million people will turn 65 every year for the next five years. The workforce is aging faster than companies are adapting. The market has shifted from heavily candidate-driven to more balanced, but hiring hasn't gotten easier. People are job-hugging, staying in roles they're unhappy with because uncertainty makes them risk-averse.
When the dam breaks, expect a flood of movement. The question is whether you'll be ready to attract and keep the people who matter most.
Culture as a Performance System
Organizations with steady leadership cultures are thriving despite disruption. They're not immune to turnover or labor shortages. They're just clearer on what great work looks like. The pattern emerging across industries is simple: when people know what matters most, they deliver what counts.
That requires discipline from leadership. A healthy culture isn't a side project or fluffy language in an acquisition letter of intent. It's a performance system. Private equity firms and major acquirers now investigate culture first because everyone has learned how expensive it is to lose top talent.
The companies that are attracting and keeping great people are the ones that define clear priorities and expectations, communicate frequently and transparently, and reinforce consistency in how they lead and recognize effort.
Culture stops being a mystery when it becomes a management practice.
Tony Sorenson from Versique put it directly: employees will work hard for money, but they'll give their lives for meaning. What's the meaning at your organization that keeps people wanting to show up every day?
Every Leader Must Recruit
You cannot rely on HR and recruiting teams alone anymore. Your entire leadership team needs to take ownership of talent acquisition with pipeline meetings, monthly networking commitments, and accountability for maintaining relationships with potential hires.
Laura Moore from Marsh McLennan described how they've reinvigorated accountability: each leader is required to have one to two networking meetings per month, maintaining active pipelines so when openings occur—whether growth or replacement—they have strong candidates ready.
This is a sales function that requires the same discipline and metrics as revenue generation.
Some firms now have entire teams meet candidates after leadership approval, giving existing employees final say on cultural fit. They might miss out on people they didn't hire, but they haven't had misses on the people they did.
Make succession planning a priority now, not when someone gives notice. Build your bench before you need it. The silver tsunami isn't a prediction—it's a certainty.
From Flexibility to Focus
The conversation around remote, hybrid, and in-person work has shifted again. It's no longer about where work happens; it's about whether it's focused. Leaders are discovering that the greatest productivity loss isn't laziness, it's fragmentation. Too many goals, too many meetings, too many tools.
The best antidote? Clarity and rhythm. Teams that operate on predictable cadences outperform those that operate on adrenaline. Weekly check-ins, defined priorities, and measurable outcomes are replacing slogans about hustle.
Brian Eder from Voyage Wealth Architects emphasized fundamentals: stick to what drives growth in your business and don't get spun around like a top on a table by macro noise. Strong culture helps teams want to be together, making return-to-office decisions easier. But even strong culture requires meeting employees halfway on flexibility expectations that didn't exist five years ago.
Energy Is the New KPI
Leaders are realizing that protecting people's energy is now as important as managing output. Fatigue leads to errors, errors to cost, and cost to burnout. The smartest leaders see wellbeing not as a perk, but as risk prevention.
Joe Chybowski from Bridgewater Bank described making the workplace a destination through unconventional engagement like meat raffles, bingo, and lip sync battles. It sounds light, but the strategy is serious: fight for talent by creating experiences that bring people together outside of just banking work.
Great leadership today is about simplifying work by removing noise, sharpening focus, and making it easier for people to win.
What This Means for You
Hold your leaders accountable for recruiting with measurable pipeline activity. Make it as important as sales targets.
Define what meaning looks like in your organization beyond compensation. Have a clear answer when candidates ask why people love working for you.
Implement regular start, stop, continue conversations with leaders and clients. These surface what's working and what needs adjustment before problems become crises.
Create predictable rhythms and cadences for your teams. Weekly check-ins with defined priorities and measurable outcomes beat constant firefighting.
Plan now for Minnesota Paid Leave impacts. Model scenarios for how employees might use this benefit and what staffing adjustments you'll need, especially if you're in manufacturing or have a young team.
Protect your people's energy by simplifying work. Remove unnecessary meetings, tools, and initiatives that fragment focus.
Lesson Learned: You don't buy culture, you build it through clarity and consistency. Focus is the new productivity, and leaders who protect their people's energy protect their results.