How Will You Make People Feel?
As organizations approach year-end, the conversation around operational efficiency intensifies. Leaders assess what worked, what stalled, and where performance gaps are slowing momentum. Budgets tighten, priorities shift, and the pressure to deliver stronger results with fewer resources becomes reality.
But there’s one question that most companies overlook when evaluating opportunities to improve performance:
How will you make people feel?
It may sound soft, but it’s one of the most strategic questions a leader can ask—especially at the end of the year, when burnout, disengagement, and cognitive overload tend to peak. Because no matter how streamlined your processes or systems are, your people are the engine of your operational efficiency. And people who feel energized, supported, and emotionally connected to their work outperform those who are overwhelmed and disengaged.
This is where learning and development (L&D) becomes a powerful year-end lever—not just for skill-building, but for restoring focus, rebuilding morale, and strengthening performance.
Learning Isn’t Just Information—It’s an Emotional Experience
Many organizations approach training as a transaction: deliver information, check the box, repeat. But real behavior change—and real productivity gains—don’t happen in a vacuum of data or directives. They happen when learners feel inspired, motivated, and confident enough to apply what they’ve learned.
That emotional connection is often the missing link between training activity and performance results.
One client came to us last year in a moment of strain. The team was burned out, disengaged, and visibly fatigued from months of rapid change. Traditional skill-based training wasn’t going to solve their performance challenge—it would have made it worse.
Instead, we designed a learning experience that created space for:
Reflection
Connection
Personal growth
Renewed confidence
The outcome? Participants reported a 70% increase in confidence and a renewed sense of purpose. Within weeks, their engagement, quality of work, and productivity improved—right as the organization was closing out the fiscal year.
When employees feel seen and supported, they don’t just learn better—they perform better.
Why Feelings Impact Operational Efficiency
Year-end efficiency is not just about process optimization; it’s about energy optimization.
Here’s why emotion matters:
1. Burnout kills productivity
Half of U.S. workers report moderate to severe levels of burnout, depression, or anxiety.
2. Motivation fuels performance
Learning experiences that spark emotional engagement trigger increases in focus, clarity, and discretionary effort—all essential for operational efficiency.
3. Confidence accelerates skill application
According to LinkedIn Learning, employees engaged in thoughtfully designed training are 92% more likely to apply new skills on the job.
4. Connection boosts collaboration
A supermajority of workers (78%) support the promotion of fairness and inclusion at work, which yields returns in well-being and engagement. Teams that trust one another move faster, make better decisions, and communicate more effectively—all major drivers of efficiency.
Year-end performance depends on more than calendars and KPIs. It depends on the emotional readiness of your workforce.
Choosing the Right L&D Partner: Ask the Harder Questions
Not all training partners understand the emotional side of learning. Many focus solely on curriculum, logistics, and content delivery. But if your goal is improved year-end performance, you need more than content—you need impact.
Start by asking:
How will you make our people feel?
How will your program improve both capability and energy?
How do you design learning that supports busy, overloaded teams?
How do you measure emotional impact, not just completion rates?
These questions reveal whether a partner sees your people as humans, not just employees. And that distinction matters.
Pro Tip: Choose partners who intentionally design for emotion—motivation, confidence, connection, and clarity. These elements drive deeper learning and more sustainable performance gains.
The ROI of Asking Better Questions
Strategic questioning doesn’t just lead to better conversations—it leads to better outcomes.
Research shows 88% of organizations are concerned about employee retention and providing learning is the number one retention strategy.
Emotionally engaging learning experiences produce dramatically higher skill application, retention, and productivity (LinkedIn Learning).
When leaders ask smarter, more human-centered questions, they build partnerships that fuel innovation, efficiency, and long-term growth.
As Year-End Approaches, Don’t Just Focus on What People Do—Focus on How They Feel
Operational efficiency isn’t only about systems and processes. It’s about the human energy that drives them. And year-end is the perfect time to invest in learning experiences that restore that energy.
Because when people feel confident, connected, and supported, they don’t just perform—they excel.
If you want stronger outcomes next quarter, next year, or in your next strategic initiative, start by asking the question that most leaders overlook:
How will you make people feel?
It might be the most important operational efficiency question you ask all year.