Your biggest barrier to growth in 2027 might be something you've learned to live with
2027 planning is in full swing. Leadership teams have been heads down filling in budgeting templates, discussing next year’s strategic plans, and probably playing hot potato with who takes on the lion’s share of the growth.
Plans will look different between businesses, but they likely have at least two similarities:
Doing more (with less).
Doubling-down on (even more) AI transformation.
But, as financial plans for 2027 reach their near-final iteration, there's one question I think deserves much more attention.
Will the ways people work within your organisation help you achieve those ambitions, or make them harder?
I've worked with a variety of organisations this year, some very large, others small and scaling, and no matter the size, each face familiar challenges which if unaddressed, could scupper even the most watertight growth plan:
😵💫 Overwhelm is our new normal. People are busier than ever, but struggling to find time to think, innovate or focus on what matters.
🔄 Accountability is getting blurry. Decisions take longer, ownership gets passed around and the same people end up picking up the slack.
🤐 Difficult conversations are being avoided. Poor performance or unhelpful behaviours go unchallenged, creating frustration and resentment.
👀 Leadership messages aren't always matching reality. We talk about empowerment, wellbeing and learning, but our systems, habits and rewards often encourage the opposite.
🤝 Connection is getting harder. Teams become more siloed, collaboration suffers and hybrid working becomes another problem to manage rather than an opportunity to rethink how we work.
But here's where things get particularly costly.
These challenges don't exist in isolation. They compound.
When people are overwhelmed, they have less time to collaborate, challenge and solve problems.
When accountability is unclear, decisions slow down and work gets duplicated.
When difficult conversations are avoided, poor performance persists and your best people become frustrated.
When leaders say one thing but reward another, trust erodes. People stop speaking up, taking risks and sharing ideas.
And before long, you've got a business where everyone is working incredibly hard but failing to make progress or sustain results.
The commercial consequences are very real.
Slower execution. Higher costs. Lost productivity. Reduced innovation. Demotivated teams. Unwanted turnover. Missed opportunities.
All quietly eating into the growth and financial performance your strategy and your 2027 budget depends upon.
And the frustrating thing?
You can have brilliant people, a compelling strategy and significant investment in new technology, but still struggle to deliver because of how work actually gets done.
This year, we’ve seen businesses recognise just how costly these everyday conditions can become.
Look at Canva. As the business navigates difficult workforce changes, it's putting considerable emphasis on treating people with care and transparency. Its leadership has also recognised that increasing complexity, layers and fragmented ownership can make it harder for people to do their best work.
Or Starbucks, where the turnaround isn't just about attracting more customers. It's involved redesigning how work gets done, simplifying processes, investing in staffing and removing friction that was affecting employees and customer experience.
Different businesses. Different challenges.
But a common lesson.
The conditions we create for people to work in have very real consequences for business performance.
And the longer we allow unhelpful ways of working to become normal, the harder and more expensive they can be to change.
That's why I believe culture needs a much bigger place in our 2027 business planning conversations.
Not as another HR initiative or engagement target. But as a critical driver of operational effectiveness, performance and sustainable growth.
And we need to get much better at demonstrating that connection in the metrics that matter to boards, investors and leadership teams.
🌱 This is exactly what we're focused on at Make It Human.
We're developing our Growth Culture Snapshot to help organisations turn the employee feedback and people data they already have into a clearer picture of:
🔎 What's helping your people and business perform at their best.
⚠️ Where hidden culture risks and everyday friction may be holding you back.
🎯 Where focused changes could unlock greater productivity, performance and growth.
And importantly, we'll help you connect those insights to the commercial outcomes your stakeholders care about, building a stronger case for where culture investment and change could make a measurable difference.
No need to start with another survey. Just make better use of the evidence you already have.
I'm looking for a small number of leaders in growing organisations who'd like to explore this with us as we develop and test the tool.
If you're planning for growth in 2027, I'd love to help you understand whether your culture is ready to deliver it.
💬 Drop me a message if you'd like to explore a Growth Culture Snapshot for your organisation: sarah@make-it-human.com
Growth doesn't just depend on WHAT you plan to achieve. It depends on HOW your people are enabled to achieve it.
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