The surprising obstacle to improving organizational performance

Research from Eagle Hill Consulting finds that a whopping 68% of employees regularly spend time on low value, inefficient tasks. This is especially troubling given the importance of operating effectively and efficiently. Minimizing waste, optimizing resource use, and lowering costs—while preserving quality—generates more revenue with less investment. That’s a critical win in today’s wildly uncertain business environment.

Why are employees working so inefficiently? Our research shows that four of the top five perceived barriers to improving organizational efficiency are leadership-driven, including: management resistance to change, difficulty getting resources, lack of incentives and lack of leadership support. See Figure 1. On the other hand, employees cite employee-driven efficiency blockers less often, including insufficient skills to execute efficiency improvements (20%) and fear of failure to do so (18%).

Four of the five top perceived barriers to efficiency gains are leadership-related.

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting Efficiency Survey, 2025

Whether or not our survey results are perception or reality, there’s an opportunity for leaders to shift this perception and unlock new sources of efficiency at a time when their organizations desperately need more of it.

Resourcing barriers: Employees want to improve organizational performance but feel that leaders are not providing resources for them to act.

Employees know how they could work more efficiently, and they want to share their ideas. In fact, 78% regularly exchange ideas with colleagues about how they can work more efficiently. The problem comes in getting those ideas off the drawing board, with employees reporting resource limitations as a leading barrier to improving organizational efficiency. Digging deeper, our research shows that leaders aren’t developing processes or providing resources that make it easy for employees to share their ideas—or act on them. Just 38% of employees report that their organizations have a process for employees to submit ideas to improve the workplace, and 42% say they are not empowered to act on ideas that would improve the workplace. See Figure 2.

The absence of these processes doesn’t just mean that employees’ ideas aren’t widely shared or implemented. When employees aren’t empowered to contribute or act on their ideas, it often stifles their creativity and motivation, which can have a ripple effect across the organization. While providing ways to share feedback is key, leaders can do even more to support employees’ ideas. By providing time, training, mentors, and assistance with business case development, leaders send a clear signal that they value employees’ ideas for improving the workplace.

Figure 2: Organizations aren’t providing the foundation for submitting and acting on efficiency improvement ideas

42%

of employees are not empowered to act on ideas to improve operational efficiency.

Only 38%

of organizations have a process for employees to submit ideas to improve operational efficiency.

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting Efficiency Survey, 2025

Incentive and support barriers: Without support and incentives from leaders, employees are not as motivated to improve organizational performance.

Whether incentives provide recognition, financial benefits, or a sense of ownership, employees value them. That’s by design. When employees are incentivized to share ideas and encouraged to make improvements, they’re far more likely to rise to a challenge, think outside the box, and continue to contribute their thinking moving forward.

On the other hand, the absence of incentives can unintentionally message to employees that their organization doesn’t care enough—that it doesn’t want to improve efficiency, or that leaders don’t value employee ideas. This alone stifles employee motivation. Only 44% of employees say their organization incentivizes them to find ways to be more efficient. What’s more, 44% say that their organization does not encourage and support employee initiatives to improve operational efficiency. See Figure 3.

Resistance barriers: Organizational structures reflect management’s resistance to change.

To support operational efficiency initiatives, leaders must embrace change in how they think and in how the organization operates. Many employees say this simply isn’t happening where they work. Our research finds that 48% of employees report that it’s challenging to make change happen in their organization. Additionally, 39% say it is difficult to get approvals for change. See Figure 4.

Leaders may resist change because it is hard. It’s much easier to cling to the familiarity of the status quo and make decisions based on how things have always been done instead. But that’s no way to improve organizational performance. Whether the skill is innate or learned, leaders must be disruption-ready and flexible. By accepting, managing, and welcoming change, their leadership communicates this perspective clearly to all employees and in turn, fosters a change-ready mindset throughout the organization.

Closing the gap: How leaders can supercharge efficiency and overall organizational performance.

This research highlights an important gap. Employees are ready to share ideas and implement changes to improve efficiency, but they perceive leadership as an obstacle to getting there. The good news? Organizations can shift this perception and unlock new sources to drive organizational performance. Here’s how to get started.

Embrace change by fostering a culture that isn’t afraid of risk. It’s no surprise that leaders are often risk averse. Business environments are complex. Failures can have sweeping consequences. Scrutiny from stakeholders is intense. But too much risk aversion stifles ideas for improving organizational performance. And leadership’s risk posture sets the tone for the entire organization. Begin to reframe risk mindsets and culture from the top by getting curious. Foster a culture of curiosity in which the first response to new ideas—even the most unconventional ones—isn’t fear and uncertainty, but rather excitement and genuine interest. Cultivate an environment of trust, open communication, and psychological safety. Celebrate successes and failures—fully embracing taking informed risks as a non-negotiable part of moving the business forward.

Get intentional about incentives and recognition. Organizations with a culture of ideas prioritize incentives and recognition. After all, recognition is a basic human need. When employees are recognized, they say they are more likely to go above and beyond their responsibilities, stay with the organization, be motivated to support teams, and go above and beyond for customers. Recognition doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive to be effective. Praise employees publicly. Consider small gestures like a handwritten thank you note, gift card, or invitation to lunch. The more personalized, the better. And when it comes to incentives, explore incentivizing employees to share ideas with career growth opportunities such as learning and development programs or rotational programs that expand their skills and network. Such incentives send a clear message that employees’ ideas are important and valued.

Tap into and act on employees’ ideas. Frontline employees are the closest to daily operations, and they have unique insights for enhancing efficiency that no one else has. So, while employee ideas won’t always be immediately viable, it’s invaluable to get intentional about uncovering hidden gems and best practices. Create a systematic way to collect and evaluate employees’ ideas and feedback for improving organizational performance. Put an efficient triage process in place that filters out impractical suggestions while fostering a culture of ideas. Follow through on the best ideas and recognize all employees’ engagement, keeping an ongoing dialogue around continually improving ways of working. Position middle managers as connectors between senior leadership and frontline employees who provide day-to-day encouragement and support for employees.

Use data to validate employees’ ideas and measure success. Data insight provides an objective lens for evaluating employee ideas. It is an important tool for understanding the full context of ideas and identifying those with the most potential benefit for the business. Connect employee feedback with data analysis to understand the “why” behind employee perspectives and uncover broader performance trends that need addressing. Lean into data to prioritize efficiency improvements, guide resource allocation, and measure outcomes after ideas are implemented.

Improving organizational performance requires changes across people, processes, technology, and culture. As leaders evaluate how to implement these changes, an honest self-assessment will ensure that their actions are part of the solution, not the problem.