The more ‘self-connected’ employees are – more resistant to stress, dare to use their intuition in decision-making, accept the unpredictability of modern business life, are emotionally stable and sincere, with good old-fashioned integrity – the better their performance, shows the latest Krauthammer study.

Employees want their organisations to be more focused on people and social implications, less on shareholders, money and tangible success, the study reveals.

“This research is shouting a message we fail to take seriously enough. We urgently need to reach consensus on a currency which does not measure the wealth but the health of businesses – a currency which is strong enough to compete with money”, says Ronald Meijers, co-chairman of the board of Krauthammer.

“The relentless pressure for quantitative results is wearing employees out. Like Sisyphus from the Greek mythology, we drag our boulder to the top of a mountain day in, day out and many of us no longer see the point. It is time to stop isolating human beings from performance,” said Daniel Eppling, managing partner of Krauthammer.

“The results clearly show that the more self-connected people are, the better their performance and wellbeing,” said Dr Fabienne Fortanier, assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam Business School, which conducted the statistical analysis for the study.

The survey shows that:

  • 64 per cent of employees follow their intuition often, or very often, in the workplace
  • 66 per cent agree they need to connect with themselves to fulfill their potential
  • 33 per cent are not confident they know themselves
  • Around 50 per cent do not generally feel self-connected at work
  • 18 per cent agree that all dimensions of their potential are fulfilled in the workplace
  • 50 per cent believe that their boss will be sympathetic if they admit that they are feeling mentally unwell.