How companies create an inspiring working environment: our webinar

"What inspires you?" - a question that is rarely asked in traditional employee surveys. Far too often, the focus is on familiar KPIs such as employee satisfaction, engagement or commitment. These KPIs clearly have their place. However, they fall short in some areas, especially in our increasingly dynamic competitive environment. Find out more in our webinar.

One thing is certain: The world of work is changing. Skills shortages, digitalization and cultural change are putting companies in this country under increasing pressure. Employees are now more willing to change their employer. Loyalty is on the decline. Against this backdrop, it is no longer enough to simply measure and improve employee satisfaction. What is needed is a deeper understanding of what really motivates and drives people. In other words, companies should look at what inspires employees as people and what keeps them in the company.

This was precisely the topic of our webinar "Inspiring employees", which Dr. Kathrin Neumüller held together with the provider of the Ahead communication platform.

Answers were provided by the current Employee Study 2025, conducted in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as well as Kathrin's research on employee inspiration at the University of St. Gallen.

What inspiration is (not)

Inspiration is more than just a pleasant feeling. Rather, it describes the experience of meaningfulness in professional activity. Inspired employees develop ideas, question routines and drive innovation.

But be careful: Inspiration is not just something for white-collar employees, i.e. employees sitting at a PC. Our research at the University of St. Gallen shows: Retail employees (at the checkout or stocking shelves) can also be inspired. Inspiration here means, for example, being open to change, recognizing new working methods and, if necessary, passing these on directly to customers, e.g. through a creative "consumer idea" at the meat counter.

Inspiration is therefore not a "soft" feel-good aspect, but a strategic lever for corporate success. It increases the willingness to change, promotes entrepreneurial thinking and has an impact far beyond the immediate workplace. This is because inspiring workplaces have an enormous external impact and are therefore highly attractive to applicants.

• Productivity. Inspired employees work on average around one month more per year. This is shown by our latest study on employee productivity in Swiss companies.
• Well-being. They feel significantly more resilient and experience a higher level of mental and physical well-being.
• willingness to change. They are more open to new processes and think in a more solution-oriented way.
• Employer branding. Inspiring companies are perceived as attractive employers - both internally and externally.

Creating inspiring working environments

One feedback tool that ValueQuest uses to make inspiration more tangible is the Employee Inspirations Journey. This is a reflection tool that employees use to examine their personal sources of inspiration, development potential and development goals. Here, for example, we ask:

• What inspires you in life and in your day-to-day work?
• How meaningful is your employee journey with your current employer?
• What would you like for your professional future?

What is important here is that inspiration is not just about people as workers, but about what inspires and touches people in their everyday lives. It is not about their professional role, but about people as a whole.

Difference between inspiration and inspirational leadership

Inspirational leadership has long been a concept in science. It usually involves a top-down approach: a manager with vision, rhetorical talent and a strong personality who inspires their team and motivates them to perform at their best. This behavior is often asked about in 360-degree feedback.

The catch? This type of measurement measures the behavior of the manager, not the actual experience of the employees. Whether I as an employee really feel inspired is left out of the equation.

Our understanding of inspiration starts right here. We do not (only) ask who is inspiring, but what inspires. It is about the personal experience. The moment of inspiration can be triggered by a manager, but it doesn't have to be.
It can be just as inspiring:

• A supportive team
• An encounter with a colleague during a coffee break
• Further training
• A customer conversation that touches
• Or a vision that goes beyond sales targets and creates added value for society

Inspiration is therefore not a management style. It is a state. And this state is not only created by good leadership, but also by an inspiring environment. So if companies want to understand what really motivates employees, it is not enough to focus on leadership.

What really inspires employees

Many companies believe that inspiration comes primarily from strong leadership, great visions or a clearly formulated value system. But our research shows a very different picture. Traditional factors such as company values or direct superiors are not at the top of the list when it comes to the real sources of inspiration in everyday working life.

The data from the latest research speaks for itself. These are the top sources of inspiration for employees:

And leadership? That comes much later. Just like the corporate strategy, which is often perceived as too abstract or too distant. If visions are only aimed at turnover or efficiency, there is a lack of emotional access.

Inspiring working environment: this is where companies can start

If companies want to create an inspiring environment, it is not enough to tweak the strategy. They have to shape the reality they experience. Our survey clearly shows where the biggest levers lie:

More autonomy and freedom
Only 50 percent of employees experience sufficient freedom to implement their own ideas. But those who are allowed to create feel effective - and are more likely to be inspired.

More appreciation and recognition
Only 44 percent feel that their impulses are taken seriously. The experience of resonance is a key factor for inspiration.

Visions with charisma
Only 34 percent find the corporate vision inspiring. It often remains vague or purely economically oriented. But if you want to convey meaning, you also have to offer meaning.

Short and sweet

• A full 64 % of the employees surveyed feel uninspired. There is still a lot of potential here.
• Don't forget employees over 50: they are more inspired and more willing to transform than anyone else.
• Employee inspiration goes beyond satisfaction, commitment and dedication - it touches us on a human level.
• What really inspires you? (Why game from Design Thinking) - start a conversation with others. The Employee Inspiration Journey is a dialog instrument and development tool for this.
• What gets measured gets done: Establish employee inspiration as a new target value.