Only 19 Percent of Business Leaders Say They are Ready to Lead the Social Enterprise--Despite Increased Importance: Organizations leading the social enterprise are moving beyond mission statements to help bring meaning back to the workplace and human identity back to the worker.

• Position: Deloitte Study

* NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Amid rapid technological, economic and social change, it is important for organizations to move beyond mission statements and social impact programs to put humans at the center of their business strategies.

In its "2019 Global Human Capital Trends" report, "Leading the social enterprise: Reinvent with a human focus," Deloitte examines ways organizations can reinvent themselves on a broad scale, including interacting, motivating, and personalizing experiences with the workforce to help build identity and meaning for workers.

Completed by nearly 10,000 respondents in 119 countries, Deloitte's ninth annual Global Human Capital Trends report is the largest longitudinal survey of its kind. In the report, respondents said the role of the social enterprise is more important now than ever and noted a positive link between leading the social enterprise and an organization's financial performance. In fact, 73 percent of industry-leading social enterprises expect stronger business growth in 2019 than in 2018, compared to only 55 percent of those where the social enterprise is "not" a priority. However, only 19 percent of respondents reported being "industry leaders" in their organizations maturity as a social enterprise.

Today, more than 4 in 10 (44 percent) of respondents said social enterprise issues are more important to their organization than they were three years ago, and 56 percent expect them to be even more important three years from now.

"There is a lot of discussion about organizational purpose and while I agree that it is important, what's missing for many organizations is the focus on the individual and the day-to-day challenges that workers are facing," said Erica Volini, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, U.S. human capital leader. "The reality is that while technology is helping organizations gain competitive advantage, if not managed appropriately, it can simultaneously mean that workers lose their identity in the workplace. We see a call to action for organizations to reinvent their approach to human capital with the worker in mind to create opportunities for continuous learning, accelerated development, and professional and personal growth."

THE FUTURE OF THE WORKFORCE

As organizations look to effectively lead the social enterprise, they must adapt to the forces restructuring work and the implications to the workforce --both in composition and capability--while embedding a meaningful experience for workers.

This...