The Impact of Positive Leadership in the Workplace
Written by: Nancy Johnson
The workplace is changing. Employees are demanding more purpose, flexibility, and authenticity. At the same time, organizations are grappling with burnout, disengagement, and technological upheaval. It’s a lot.
But there’s a leadership style that meets this moment. One that doesn’t just react to the pressures of today’s work environment—it transforms them into opportunities for growth.
Welcome to Positive Leadership.
This article is an introduction to a multi-part series exploring the Four Ps of Positive Leadership—People, Purpose, Practices, and Progress. But first, we’re defining what Positive Leadership actually is, and why it’s not just a “nice-to-have,” but a business imperative.
What is Positive Leadership?
At its core, positive leadership is about creating the conditions where individuals and teams can thrive professionally, contribute meaningfully, and move an organization forward. This approach emphasizes cultivating a positive climate, fostering strong relationships, and encouraging open communication.
Is your organization able to say: “We create conditions where individuals and teams can flourish, achieve extraordinary results, and contribute to a greater organizational mission.”?
The Power of Positivity in the Workplace
Positivity is more than just an optimistic viewpoint. It is a culture that fosters employee wellbeing, engagement, and productivity. Positivity has an oversized effect in the workplace and on your employees.
Positive relationships build meaningful, high-quality connections among team members and fosters collaboration and mutual respect.
Positive communication prioritizes constructive and affirming interactions while addressing challenges candidly and respectfully.
Positive meaning helps employees connect their work to a larger purpose and increases engagement, motivation, and satisfaction in their roles.
Facing the Realities of Today’s Workplace
We are seeing evolving workforce expectations with employees demanding greater purpose, flexibility, and fulfillment.
At the same time, burnout and discontent are on the rise, leaving employees disengaged and unmotivated. This fatigue is from the constant forces that are impacting how we work, such as technology advancements like AI and automation.
We’re in the midst of what Gallup calls “The Great Detachment.” Unlike the Great Resignation, this trend is quieter—but more dangerous. Employees aren’t quitting en masse. Instead, they’re checking out emotionally, leading to drops in satisfaction and record-high job-hunting behavior.
What’s driving the detachment?
Gallup’s study points to a few culprits:
- Rapid organizational change
- Hybrid and remote work complexities
- Shifting expectations from both customers and employees
- Outdated performance management practices
Why is this relevant to positive leadership?
Leaders that prioritize clarity, connection, and care helps to reverse employee detachment.
The Critical Link Between Wellbeing and Leadership
Employee wellbeing isn’t a “perk” anymore—it’s a strategic priority. But there’s a wide gap between employer intentions and employee experiences.
According to Gallup, nearly one out of every four CHROs from large companies ranked employee wellbeing as a top priority in 2024. This study also reveals that employees who “strongly agree” that their organizations care about their overall wellbeing hit a record low in 2024. This disconnect between intention and lived experience is leading to employee frustration and disengagement in the workplace.
Instead of deprioritizing wellbeing, HR leaders should be pushing to keep it at the top. Employees who feel their organizations care about them are 4.4 times more likely to be engaged at work, and 73% less likely to experience burnout. Additionally, they’re 53% less likely to actively seek a new job.
Many managers believe they’re delivering the essential leadership behaviors, but employees are feeling differently. Nearly 60% of managers think they provide adequate recognition, but only 35% of employees agree.
Similarly, only 20% of employees report receiving meaningful feedback weekly, even though 50% of managers claim to give it. The most critical feedback for employee engagement is high quality feedback, meaningful recognition, and fostering collaboration. These key elements are proving to be blind spots for managers.
This misalignment between managers’ perceptions and their performance and how employees experience leadership is additional evidence for why a new approach to leadership is critical right now.
AI Is Changing Work—Leadership Has to Change Too
Technology is evolving fast, and leaders are being asked to adapt faster than ever. Tools like AI bring incredible potential for efficiency and innovation, but they also introduce anxiety, fear, and resistance.
Leaders must become guides through change—balancing progress with empathy, and ensuring that people always come first. Positive leadership provides a framework for just that.
The Four Ps of Positive Leadership
To meet the moment, leaders need a new toolkit. That’s where the Four Ps of Positive Leadership come in:
- People
Building strong interpersonal relationships that build trust, respect, and empathy. - Purpose
Helping individuals find purpose in their work, connecting them to their roles in the broader organization. - Practices
Creating sympathetic systems that are fair, transparent, and adaptable that help position teams to thrive at work. - Progress
Celebrating growth, recognizing contributions, and fostering culture around that.
What’s Next
In the weeks ahead, we’ll dive deeper into each of these Four Ps—starting with People. We’ll share actionable strategies, research-backed insights, and real-world examples of how Positive Leadership is reshaping workplaces for the better.
Because at the end of the day, leadership isn’t about being in charge. It’s about creating an environment where people feel seen, supported, and inspired to do their best work.
Jumpstart Your Company Culture
Want more information on the power of positivity? Download our free Thriving Workplace Guide for Leaders to help you nurture a workplace that inspires, motivates, and retains top talent.
Share This Article
Our Most Recent Articles
Last Minute Earned Sick Time Changes Michigan Employers Need to Know
Last-minute legislative changes have altered Michigan’s Earned Sick Time Act (ESTA). Here’s what employers need to know.
Answers to Michigan Employer’s Biggest Questions on ESTA and IWOWA
Questions about Michigan’s ESTA and IWOWA changes? Get answers to the biggest questions about sick leave, minimum wage, tip credit, and more.
The Future of HR Tech: Chatting with Grand Rapids Experts
We brought together a panel of experts to discuss the growth of HR technology and how to leverage it to boost productivity and retention.
How to Use Employee Engagement Survey Results
Employee engagement surveys are more than just a tool for gauging workplace satisfaction—they are a critical resource for improving organizational culture and boosting productivity. These surveys offer valuable insights into…
How to Choose the Right HR Management Solution
HR is the backbone of any organization’s success; if people don’t get paid on time and correctly every time, a company can’t function. In today’s competitive labor market and changing…
7 Things to Look for in an HR Services Company
In today’s business world, talent is what sets companies apart. That’s why a strong HR function is such a strategic differentiator. It ensures that the organization is investing wisely in…
Outsourcing of HR vs. Fractional HR Staffing: What’s the Difference?
Whether you’re a small business looking to streamline operations or a growing company navigating complex workforce needs, managing HR functions efficiently can be a challenge. That’s why many companies turn…
Understanding the Types of HR Consulting Services
Learn about the different types of HR consulting services and how they can help organizations of all sizes attract and retain talent and grow effectively.
Strategic HR Management: Align HR Goals & Business Objectives
Discover how strategic HR management allows your human resources team to streamline and align its goals with your organization’s business objectives.
HR Open Enrollment: A Guide to Getting Started
This guide to HR open enrollment helps human resources experts understand how to navigate open enrollment and the steps you need to take.
Examining the State of Technology in HR
The use of technology in HR is making departments more agile and primed for growth than ever before. Learn about recommended HR software and new trends.
A Guide to HR Staffing Agencies
Streamline hiring with HR staffing agencies! Access top talent, save time, and find the perfect fit for your team. Learn more and contact us today!
The Guide to HR Training for Managers
Learn how and why comprehensive HR training for new managers is necessary to transform your business and add to its overall success.
The Role of HR in Remote Workforce Management
HR plays a key role in remote workforce management, including setting expectations, fostering communication, and acting as leaders.
How to Become an Employer of Choice
Become an employer of choice who stands out in the competitive job market by being a talent magnet for the best and brightest employees.
The Role of HR in Compensation Planning
Adding HR professionals to the compensation planning process will help it go more smoothly and get you a better final result—which will have major benefits for the company. According to…
How the Fractional Staffing Model Helps Businesses
For growing businesses finding the right balance for staffing can be a constant challenge, especially for non-customer-facing roles. You know that strong back-of-the-house operations like IT, Marketing, Finance, and HR…
Benefits of HR Consulting Services for Small Businesses
Working with HR consulting services for small businesses can help you save time and money while also improving retention and productivity.
5 Steps to Hiring Your Next Fractional HR Leader
Working with a fractional HR leader allows your company to accelerate its growth. Here are specific steps you need to take to find the right one.
HR Compliance Checklist
We’ve created a helpful HR Compliance Checklist to serve as a general guide for your business to ensure your policies and processes are compliant (and effective).
The Real Cost of DIY HR (and Why Hire an Expert)
DIY HR may seem like an ideal way for small companies to save, but not hiring the right HR expert costs money, time, and opportunity.
How to Hire HR Professionals
We’ll walk you through how to hire the first HR professionals for your organization and make sure they have a foundation for success.
What is Strategic Human Resource Management?
Discover what strategic human resource management is and how it can help your company and HR department achieve stable, sustainable growth.
What Does an HR Consultant Do?
Ever wondered what an HR consultant does and how they can help your business? We’ve created a guide to HR consultants and how to work with them.
What Is Fractional HR?
Fractional HR can be a significant benefit to small and medium-sized businesses that need HR experience on-demand and within budget.
Employers to Benefit from New Kinexus Group Acquisition of HR Collaborative
The team at Kinexus Group announced today that they have officially acquired HR Collaborative, a west Michigan-based, women-led community of fractional HR professionals, to meet unmet demand and to serve more employers than ever before.
Top 3 HR Trends of 2024
These 3 pivotal trends—recruitment, compliance, and empowered employees—will be on the mind of every HR professional this year.
Leveraging a Fractional CHRO in an Organization Running on EOS™
Marrying the EOS Model® with the expertise of a fractional CHRO offers growing organizations a one-two punch in supercharging their growth.
Building Pay Equity Into Your Culture
A key benefit of pay transparency is that it forces organizations to develop a thought-out and data-driven approach to fair and equitable compensation based on objective work-related criteria, not discriminatory and bias-generated factors.
HR Talent When & Where You Need It
Fractional HR offers small and mid-size organizations the capacity of an enterprise HR division for less than the cost of one HR employee.
Recognizing Burnout and Addressing the Root Cause
If leaders are burned out, their stress can have a cascading effect throughout an organization.
3 Ways to Use AI Recruiting Effectively in Mitigating Bias
As recruiters seek to mitigate bias in hiring practices, here are three strategies for determining if AI is the right solution, and AI best practices.
Maintaining Culture through Purpose and Connection
An employee’s value of efficiency, productivity, and connection drives flexibility in how we approach our work.
We’re Honored to Be Recognized for Our Women Leadership
We’re honored by two recent awards recognizing our efforts to empower women: the Pillar Awards and 50 Most Influential Women in West MI.
Why is Human Resources Important?
The role that HR plays in every organization may look slightly different, but human resources is essential to sustainable, long-term growth.
HR Collaborative Ranked in Inc. 5000 for Second Time
For the second time, Inc. has recognized HR Collaborative as one of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America.
How Leaders Can Start Addressing Mental Health in the Workplace
While many leaders know they can’t ignore the issue of workplace mental health, few know how to approach the topic. Kim LaMontagne shares how.
Thinking Differently About Flexibility in the Post-Pandemic Workplace
For years, HR has discussed the importance of flexibility in the workplace. Now, more than ever, leaders need to join in on the conversation.
Hybrid Work’s Potentially Positive Environmental Impact
With strategic planning, organizations can use new hybrid work arraignments to significantly reduce their overall environmental impact.
The Post-Pandemic Labor Market Paradox
Many employers are struggling to attract workers. The answer to this labor market paradox? Value flexibility as much as job seekers do.
The Impending Talent Surge
Early warning signs are pointing toward a building storm surge of voluntary turnover that will likely hit organizations later this year.
HR Collaborative Brings Flexible HR Talent Solution to Metro Detroit
We’re excited to announce that we are officially expanding our flexible HR talent services to Metro Detroit.
Agile Recruiting Strategies for Small Businesses
Speed wins in a competitive labor market. By adopting these Agile recruiting strategies, small businesses can compete even with corporations.
Why Employee Wellness Is Well Worth the Investment
Leaders that embrace employee wellness, not as a perk, but as critical to the bottom line, are poised to see a high return on investment.
How Employers and HR Can Help Drive Talent Parity for Black Employees
Recently published research shines a light on the ways employers and HR can change the trajectory of talent parity for black employees.
The Workforce Crisis of Working Mothers
How is the pandemic affecting working mothers and what can employers do to help mitigate its long-term effects?
To Win the Race for Talent, Think Differently About Compensation
The organizations that are winning the race for talent are the ones that think bigger about compensation. Here is what they do differently.
Is Your Business Ready to Take Advantage of The Great Talent Migration?
The Great Talent Migration has begun. Remote work has freed up workers from superstar metros to look for new opportunities in lower-priced markets. As an employer, are you ready to…
Managing Expectations for Returning to the Office
The option to return to the office is getting closer and closer. How do employers and employees feel about a potential return?
3 Keys to Effective Executive Director Performance Reviews
Executive director performance reviews are a critical part of a board’s role. Make sure yours are as effective as possible with these tips.
Technology’s Impact on the Employee Experience
Technology now plays a central role in the employee experience. The sudden digital changes in 2020 may be pushing employees over the edge.
Our Prediction for 2021’s Top Business Buzzword? Hybrid.
Move over “new normal,” “unprecedented,” and “you’re on/not on mute.” Our way too early pick for 2021’s buzziest business is “Hybrid.”
11 Strategies for Streamlining Your Recruiting
Hiring has a lot of moving parts. Here are 11 tips for streamlining your recruitment process to find the right fit for your organization.
How to Develop a Work-From-Home Expense Policy
There’s a lot to consider when creating a fair and equitable work-from-home expense policy. Use these five questions to help you get started.
How to Keep Your HR Running after Reducing Staff
Many leaders have been forced to make tough decisions recently. If you’ve had to reduce staff in HR, you’re not alone. But now that the responsibilities fall on you, how…
How Tailgating Responsibilities Accelerates Your Efforts
Human Resources regularly takes on (or is given) projects or tasks that fall outside of its core strengths and primary focus — people management. Instead of allocating your limited staff time…
How to Permanently Eliminate Your Busy Work
Simply erasing to-dos from your list only creates space for new ones. To shorten your list for good requires a proactive approach to task management. In this article, we outline…
The 3 Simple Reasons Why Delegation Is So Powerful
We tend to want to do things ourselves. It’s easier. It’s faster. We know how it’s going to get done. But in trying to do it all, we limit ourselves…
How to Get Back Your Time With HR Automation
We often discuss the importance of strategic HR. But it can be hard to carve out the time and space needed for high-level thinking when your to-do list keeps growing.…
How to Manage Change During Digital Transformation
In this post, we’re wrapping up our discussion of HR’s role in Digital Transformation by discussing how to manage change as new technology disrupts the way we work. Watch Our…
Integrating Asynchronous Video Interviews Into Your Recruitment Tech Stack
In previous posts, we’ve looked at Digital Transformation and why HR should lead it. In this post, we’re looking at a recent addition we’ve made to our recruiting tech stack…
How to Lead an Ethical Digital Transformation
Recently, we discussed how Digital Transformation presents HR an opportunity to be a strategic differentiator. But with this opportunity also comes a responsibility to ensure the change leads to a…
What is HR’s Role in Digital Transformation?
In our previous post, we looked at where HR currently invests its resources and the importance of reallocating its time and money toward activities that create competitive advantages. In this post,…
Rethinking How HR Invests Its Resources
HR practitioners want to make a difference in their organization. They want to help attract new talent, develop current employees, and strategically manage the impact of their company’s people. But…
Quickly Align Your Team Priorities
Teams aligned on the same priorities accomplish much more than those that aren’t. The idea is simple. Imagine how much further a team pulling a cart from one direction will…
Real Life Agile HR: A Sprint Case Study
In our last post, we provided an introduction to the Agile Methodology for HR professionals. This time, we’re taking a look at Agile HR in real life with a short…
An Introduction to Agile for HR
As more and more industries and business units adopt the Agile Methodology, it’s critical that Human Resources understands this lightweight development method. So today, we’re providing a quick introduction to…
Rethinking the Employee Experience
Today, we are talking about experiences that influence our perception and how it can help us rethink the employee experience. Watch Today’s Topic If you’re having trouble viewing the video…
Recruiting Tip: 6 Questions to Avoid asking in an Interview
A CareerBuilder Survey from 2015 found that 20% of employers have unknowingly asked an illegal question in an interview. Sometimes basic questions that might seem like a friendly way to…
Beth Kelly’s Top 6 Take-Aways from SxSW
I spent the last four days basking in the buzz of creativity and innovation at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas as a sponsor of Michigan House. The festival venue,…
What Is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO)?
Discover the pros and cons of professional employer organizations (PEOs) and learn which businesses benefit from them and which don’t.
5 Ways to Survive Open Enrollment in HR
You guys—it’s almost here! That one time of year when the wheels come off a bit and you’re fighting an uphill battle with deadline after deadline. Open enrollment (OE) is…
How to Choose a Hiring Assessment
Hiring assessments have become a critical part of the hiring process for many organizations–so much so that there’s no lack of options on the market. The right assessment can help…
How to Improve Employee Retention and Motivation
Creating and implementing effective employee retention strategies will save your organization both time and money. Check out these employee retention ideas.
8 Types of Company Culture to Inspire Your Own
A company’s culture can be hard to define, and most employees can exist in their company’s culture without ever giving any thought to what it actually means. But culture is…
How Do You Measure Employee Satisfaction?
Have you ever had a job where you counted the minutes until the end of the day from the moment you walked through the door? How about one where you…
5 Ways to Get Different Personalities to Work Together
Conflict is difficult. It can slow down projects, drain enthusiasm, and even damage relationships, but there’s no real way to completely avoid it when two or more people are working…
What Are the Hiring Process Steps?
Without a structured hiring process, finding and retaining top talent can be challenging and time-consuming. We’ll go through the different steps in the hiring process and explain how you can…
The Importance of the Team
What is a team? It seems like a simple question, almost to the point of ridiculousness. But what are the qualities that define a great team? Trust? Chemistry? Ability? Everyone’s…
How HR Onboarding Can Help the Whole Company
You don’t get a second chance at a first impression – it’s an old adage, but one that still rings true. When it comes to hiring new employees, they’ll only…
Should Your Business Leverage an HR Partner for Recruitment?
Hiring has long been seen as the responsibility of the human resources department, but more often than not, managing hiring strategies is only one of many hats worn by HR…
HR Tips: How to Write a Job Description
Recruiting and hiring new employees is a process that’s full of hard work. In comparison to interviews, job offers, and onboarding, writing a job description and posting may seem trivial…
Why Onboarding is Critical in Talent Acquisition
Imagine this: a company recently hired a new employee. On her first day, she comes in, receives some paperwork and meets her manager, and gets started. Her performance is shaky…
How Human Resources Development Can Prepare Tomorrow’s Leaders
Six years ago, the oldest members of the Baby Boomer generation began reaching the traditional retirement age of 65. Due to many factors, people have been choosing to defer their…
Should Your Small Business Partner with an HR Provider?
The entrepreneurial spirit is an admirable thing: small business leaders are adaptive, they’re fast on their feet, open to innovation, and think critically. But even when they’re passionate about their…
5 Reasons Growing Companies Need HR Help
Small business growth is every entrepreneur’s dream, but with all the extra work to put in and logistics to consider, it can feel like a nightmare. When a company reaches…
Working in HR? Trends to Watch For in 2018
To say that this past year has been interesting for the field of human resources would be vastly understating it. For people working in HR, the events of 2017 have…
On the Heels of Harvey
The best way to prevent harassment from happening in your organization is by understanding, leading, and asking.
How an Executive Search is Different for Nonprofits
Leadership changes can be frightening and stressful times for any organization, but for nonprofits, finding a new executive director can be especially difficult. With different budgets and governance structures than…
HR Factors to Consider When a Merger is at Stake
Mergers and acquisitions can generate very strong and very mixed feelings for everyone in a company. Excitement, anxiety, resistance, and enthusiasm are all valid, and could be felt to varying…
The Right Leader for Non-profits
Managing the Leader’s Transition Picture this. You’ve just been appointed the Board Chair for a respected and beloved non-profit organization in your community. You’ve envisioned a year worth of comfortable…
What to Look For in a Grand Rapids Human Resources Provider
For businesses, it’s a good time to be in Grand Rapids. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Grand Rapids metropolitan area was the fastest growing…
How Executive Search Consultants can Help Find Your Next Leader
One of the most important and daunting responsibilities of nonprofit governing boards is finding a new leader for the nonprofit organization. Your board must build consensus on what they need…
HR Tips for Office Social Media Management
As of September 2017, a jaw-dropping 30% of time spent online for all digital consumers is spent on social media websites. For employers, that number may be worrying. While social…
HR Training Tips: 4 Danger Signs to Address in Employees
When you have a great team of employees, work is easier and more fun. Everything gets done a little faster, and the work environment feels fresh and exciting. Of course,…
How is Your Bench Strength?
Leading organizations, just like leading athletic teams, have solid depth of talent in their ranks. Be it a corner office or an offensive line, if you don’t have well-prepared team…
3 Questions Business Leaders Should Ask About HR
Business owners often don’t know what goes on behind the door to the human resources department. But the actions of your human resources team can have a huge effect on…
The Difference Between Talent Management Services and Talent Acquisition
The phrases “Talent Acquisition” and “Talent Management” are often used interchangeably, despite the fact that they serve different purposes with regard to hiring and developing employees. It’s a shame these…
6 Tips to Help Improve Company Culture
In any company, a clearly defined business culture is crucial to the productivity of its employees. Without an easy-to-understand set of expectations, it can be difficult for people to work…
The Top 4 HR Department Myths, Busted
You might hear a lot of things about what human resources is as well as what it isn’t, but how do you separate fact from fiction? What are HR professionals…
Why Your Entire Team Should Be Involved in the Hiring Process
For many years, the human resources team and the hiring manager managed the entire process of hiring new employees. It makes sense because they have to hire, train, and monitor…
The Employee Handbook’s Impact on Culture
We tend to look at employee handbooks as a book of rules. But it doesn’t have to be all about compliance. A handbook should be the tool that explains everything…
How to Encourage Job Retention With Today’s Millennial Workforce
Recent studies show that millennial workers of today are moving jobs more than ever, causing challenges for those invested in the future business planning and growth initiatives of an organization.…
Performance Reviews Aren’t Dead
We’ve heard it all before: “Performance Evaluations are dead.” There are a lot of valid reasons; they take too long, they don’t actually change performance, and so on. But there…
How a Commitment to Lifelong Learning Impacts Performance
If you log onto Facebook around the country in the coming days, you’ll see picture after picture of elementary to high school students heading off for their first day of…
Leadership in a VUCA World
Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity, or VUCA, is an idea introduced by the U.S. Army War College in 1987 to describe and prepare for the post-Cold War world. Since then,…
5 Tips to Help Motivate Your Leadership Team
You have a leadership team with tremendous potential, but maybe you’ve noticed they may have gone a bit stagnant in growing and developing as leaders. You might be thinking you…
If HR Is the Magic Pill, Why Aren’t More Businesses Swallowing It?
The role of HR in business has never gotten as much attention as it does today. Oh sure, business researchers and consultants have been touting the importance of management since…
