Market Share In The Maelstrom: How To Accelerate Growth, Performance And Well-Being

For leaders navigating the tariff and market maelstrom, forecasting is nearly impossible, which can cause decisions and growth plans to stall. The stress on leaders is high but could be worse for your workforce because they have even less visibility than you do.

In Q1, increased market share and retaining and engaging existing talent were the top two CEO priorities, according to a Chief Executive poll, which also named rising costs and retaining and motivating employees as the two biggest challenges. Those have been exacerbated by current conditions. It is easy to see why getting the most from your people is both a priority and a concern. What may be less apparent though, is why the efforts you have utilized in the past are not as effective in 2025.

Much like a “superbug” that can become resistant to drug therapies over time, today’s workplace is not as responsive to the curative approaches that have worked in the past to address common barriers to business success, such as: 

•  lack of adaptability and resistance to change

•  burnout and wellbeing

•  poor collaboration, lack of team cohesion, ineffective leadership development

•  difficulty performing under pressure

As with superbugs, ineffectiveness often stems from overused, outdated or reactive treatments. Many organizations unintentionally overlook subtle demographic shifts that demand a more proactive, customized approach.

Here we’ll outline which conditions most put your goals at risk, the red flags to watch for, and solutions delivering real results—with measurable ROI.

What’s Blocking Your Path to Growth?

To capture market share, you need bright, innovative, high-performing people who are committed to your goals and mission. But today’s workforce presents uncomfortable, cross-generational realities:

• 93% of employees are actively seeking new jobs and are prioritizing mental health and wellness (Monster)
• Mental health and wellness are now top-valued perks
• Only 31% are engaged—a 10-year low (Gallup)
• Just 54% clearly understand what’s expected of them at work

When large segments of your workforce are disengaged or flight risks, execution and succession plans rest on a foundation of sand. Burnout, stress, mental health/well being, low-trust, waning motivation and disengagement put you at a disadvantage.  In fact, one new study found that lost productivity from employee burnout can cost companies up to $21,000 per worker, per year.

And this is not HR’s problem alone. HR leaders are unenviably the “sandwich generation” of the workplace—pressured to be the c-suite strategic ally to drive growth, while managing day-to-day people challenges in real-time.

Red Flags That Signal Risk

Discord in the workplace. Societal, political and behavioral divides in the workplace contribute to underperforming teams and attrition. SHRM found a 30% rise in incivility in the workplace last year, and it’s expected to rise in 2025  

Perception gaps. There’s a widening disconnect between leadership and employee perspectives:

• 90% of leaders believe working for their company has a positive effect on workers—but fewer than 60% of the workers agreed.
• 92% of employees believe employers should do more for employee mental health, a sentiment especially strong among Gen Z.

Gen Z is the fastest-growing segment of the workforce—and potentially your greatest asset or biggest liability. Two contrasting profiles have emerged:

One segment is seen as entitled, poor at communication, and lacking core business skills—prompting 1 in 6 companies to avoid hiring Gen Z altogether.

The other segment is business-ready: adaptive, tech-savvy and eager to learn—ideal candidates for future leadership.

Even entry-level roles now demand discernment on potential ROI. Think of hiring like equipping a kitchen—if you could only have one tool, would you rather invest in a versatile steak knife or settle for a dull butter knife?

Why Waiting Will Cost You

While volatile market conditions may last only months, change is accelerating: 82% of CEOs say that an average competitor will be out of business within 10 years if it doesn’t change its current business model. (PWC)

Gaining market share requires momentum, which is impossible to do if you are repeatedly facing the same old challenges along with new ones with your people, or if your staff keeps changing.

Like customers, employees want and expect personalized engagement at work. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to break the bank. Data-driven, AI-supported tools now make personalized engagement scalable—and effective. These approaches work effectively to retain and motivate your people with greater ease, increase alignment, cohesion and performance while helping contain rising costs.

Solutions with Measurable ROI

A Health & Fitness company implemented PI Perform, integrating behavioral data with performance management and were able to achieve the following:

• Saved $2.2M in annual turnover costs
• Increased EBITDA by 12%
• 200% boost in platform adoption
• Nearly 60% reduction in internal emails

A global Fortune 100 tech company leveraged Positive Intelligence (PQ) tools for performance and well-being and saw these results:

• 97% of participants improved emotional intelligence
• 93% said they handled stress more effectively, contributing to a more resilient, less reactive workforce
• Nearly 70% reported stronger workplace relationships, reducing silos and fostering cross-functional collaboration

Reactive measures that worked in the past now often have only short-term impact. With so many unique and conflicting workplace variables now, discerning who and what you are solving for is key. When you can focus more on root causes than symptoms, this is where rapid impact can lead to lasting change, such as:

• Leaders empowered to handle difficult situations more positively with less stress;
• More personalized performance management;
• Greater alignment with individual skills and interests;
• Better adaptability to stress and change;
• Increased self-awareness and emotional intelligence; and
• Stronger teamwork and collaboration.

Finally, especially during times of change or growth, proactive communication strategies designed for clarity of company mission and alignment with employee purpose help staff to embrace rather than resist change. Amid volatility, when leaders have limited clarity, employees have even less. Transparent communication with them instills confidence, whereas silence stokes fear.

While you cannot eliminate all employee pressures and obstacles to results, even slight improvements can strengthen retention and accelerate growth. Organizations that take strategic, preventative steps toward this can gain an advantage over reactively oriented competitors.