Always put people first, and the numbers will follow, contends LINUS OKORIE
Every year, companies spend huge money on employee engagement programs yet the ROI is nothing compared to what was expended and still haemorrhage their best people. According to Gallup, nearly 70% of employees are disengaged at work globally. Billions were spent but the engagement still broken.
The crisis is a leadership problem. Most leaders have been handed a flawed operating manual, one that confuses compensation with connection. So, they keep throwing money at a wound that money cannot heal. Meanwhile, the teams that move mountains, weather crises, and genuinely outperform are almost never built on lavish budgets. They are built on something rarer, and far cheaper: leadership that is human, consistent, and intentional.
This is what this article is about; putting people first, and trusting the numbers to follow. Let us be honest about what most “culture-building” actually looks like in practice: a catered lunch here, a team outing there, maybe a company hoodie at Christmas. And while nobody is refusing the free lunch, nobody is staying for it either. Perks attract while culture retains. And they are built from fundamentally different materials.
