It’s been dubbed ‘Awful April’ as employers face national insurance hikes and an increase in the minimum wage. Investing in changing the mindset of teams can help them become more commercially-minded and drive positive business outcomes, argues Carole Gaskell.

With 83% of business leaders expecting their national insurance bills to rise this month, according to the Institute of Directors, the pressure on already-stretched budgets is mounting.

The IoD also found that almost half of members (47%) surveyed think they will need to reduce headcount, 30% will absorb costs through reduced margins, and 25% are turning to productivity gains to fill the gap. As financial pressures intensify, HR leaders are being asked to deliver more with less.

April cost rises

Most businesses will need to adjust wages in April 

Spring Statement: no relief on employers’ tax hikes

Transformation programmes must continue, but with tighter budgets and smaller teams. In this climate, high-performing teams will no longer be enough. Instead, sustainable business growth needs networks of commercially minded, value-creating teams.

Complex environments

High-performing teams are aspirational: they execute well, operate efficiently, hit targets and deliver results.

But in complex, cost-sensitive environments, we need teams who think strategically, collaborate and innovate across boundaries, and drive value for customers, stakeholders, and the wider business.

High performance is often focused on task completion, short-term KPIs, and individual or siloed team results.

Value-creating teams, by contrast, think holistically. They understand the commercial context, align their work with business priorities, and identify opportunities to innovate, save costs, or enhance customer value – even outside their immediate remit.

This shift from high-performance to value-creation is a game-changer. It elevates people from being delivery-focused to being outcome-driven, aligning daily activity with the strategic levers that power long-term business health.

Here’s how your L&D teams can help to build value-creating and commercially minded teams.

Cultivate commercial awareness: Elevate commercial understanding across all functions, not just in finance or senior leadership. Ensure everyone, from front-line managers to back-office teams, understands how the business makes money, what drives profitability, and where the biggest risks and opportunities lie. Embedding commercial acumen into onboarding, development, and throughout your employee lifecycle ensures people are thinking strategically from day one.

Shift mindsets from ‘do-ers’ to ‘value creators’: Reframe people’s thinking using everyday coaching questions such as, “What value did I create this week – for the customer, the team, or the business?” “How can I improve a process, reduce waste, or enhance our offer?” or “How am I contributing towards our key strategic goals?” Building self-awareness and business alignment helps to unlock innovation, ownership, and accountability – hallmarks of a value-creating culture.

Develop cross-functional collaboration and systems thinking: Value creation happens at the intersection of functions, departments, and diverse viewpoints. Encourage teams to look beyond their immediate objectives and collaborate across silos. Cross-functional projects and peer learning groups help teams think in systems – understanding how changes in one part of the business ripple across others. Empower leaders at every level to embrace a value-creating mindset, linking local initiatives to enterprise-wide priorities.

Value-creating teams in action

We recently partnered with a mid-sized technology firm facing financial pressures due to increased operational costs and a competitive market.

The chief people officer recognised the need to evolve the company’s teams from solely focusing on performance metrics to creating tangible business value.​

Blending one-to-one coaching for the CEO and group sessions with the leadership team, we also facilitated strategic and commercial alignment workshops to help employees understand the company’s financial goals, vision, strategy and how their roles contribute to these objectives.​

We introduced Insights Discovery – a practical framework based on four colour energies that helps people better understand themselves and others – to create a shared language across the organisation.

This shift from high-performance to value-creation is a game-changer. It elevates people from being delivery-focused to being outcome-driven.”

This helped improve communication and collaboration by giving teams a simple way to recognise and work with different communication styles.

Leadership and coaching capabilities were further developed through strategic, cross-department projects, giving teams a broader perspective and strengthening business-wide understanding.

Employee-driven innovations led to the development of new services, contributing to a 10% increase in annual revenue.​

Process improvements resulted in a 15% reduction in operational expenses. ​More involvement in strategic initiatives boosted engagement and reduced staff turnover by 8%.​

The company not only navigated financial constraints but also positioned itself for sustainable growth in a challenging market.​

What to avoid

There are a number of pitfalls to bear in mind when shifting mindsets, however.

Outdated leadership: Command-and-control leadership, siloed thinking, and risk-averse behaviours block value-creation. Encourage leaders to shift from “telling” to “coaching”, from guarding information to sharing it, and from managing performance to empowering potential.

Refresh emotional intelligence, coaching, and complex decision-making skills, all strategic competencies for value-based leadership.

Considering L&D as a cost, not an investment: Learning is often one of the first budgets to be cut. If your people are your most powerful performance drivers, investing in their ability to create value is a commercial imperative.

L&D leaders must track and communicate the return on investment of what they do. Measure impact through behaviour change, productivity gains, customer satisfaction, cost savings, and innovation outcomes.

Misaligned culture: A culture of psychological safety, coaching, experimentation, and continuous improvement is essential. This needs to be role modelled from the top.

Partner with senior leaders and internal comms teams to evolve the narrative. Create champions. Celebrate value-creators publicly. Reinforce the message that thinking commercially and driving business impact is everyone’s job – not just that of the C-suite.

As budgets tighten and the cost of people continues to rise, organisations that thrive will be those that empower every employee and team to create value.

Move beyond performance. Champion value. Empower your people to unlock their full potential – not just for today’s challenges, but for tomorrow’s transformation.

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