As we know, leadership has become complicated in the post-pandemic age—today’s employees, especially Gen Zers, have higher expectations of their workplace experience, their engagement with leaders, and of the purpose commitments of their companies, among other disconnects. As a result, success as a people leader looks dramatically different in 2024 compared to five years ago. New research from data-driven HR and hiring platform The Predictive Index explores these changes and offers insights on five areas where leaders need substantial improvement.
The firm’s new report, in partnership with HR Dive’s studioID and surveying 220+ management-level leaders, reveals that 86 percent of survey respondents say their views of what makes a successful people leader have changed in the last five years, but their organization’s views of success have not caught up.
The new report highlights this difference in industry perceptions and individual leader perspectives on what makes a successful leader, including insight into five areas of misalignment causing friction:
Undefined roles and responsibilities
More than one-quarter of organizations (26 percent) in our survey do not clearly define roles and responsibilities for people leaders today.
Insufficient training opportunities
Nearly one in four survey respondents (23 percent) say their organizations view insufficient training as one of the most significant challenges impeding people leaders’ success.
Undefined success metrics
Nearly one-third of organizations (30 percent) in our survey do not have a formal way to measure the success of people leaders (e.g., a rubric).
Poor work-life balance
Only 10 percent of organizations in our survey prioritize promoting healthy work-life balance as a key criterion for successful people leadership.
Misaligned goal tracking
People leaders are 50 percent less likely than organizations to say their teams are “always hitting their goals.”
“People want to be good at what they do, but employees can become disengaged for a number of reasons,” said Will Otto, VP of talent optimization at The Predictive Index, in a news release. “Maybe they’ve been sent the message, either implicitly or explicitly, that their work is not important to the organization’s strategic goals, or maybe they’re unclear about what it takes to reach the next stage in their career. Creating a framework that supports roles and responsibilities or defines what success looks like brings greater alignment to your company mission and a greater understanding of future advancement opportunities.”
Discover the critical elements holding back people managers from achieving the newest version of success and what organizations can do to help them get there.
Download the full report here.
The survey report was conducted in partnership between HR Dive’s studioID and The Predictive Index. The findings of this research are based on an online survey conducted from March 25, 2024, to April 3, 2024. A total of 220+ respondents participated in the research, all of whom have manager titles or above. Respondents come from various industries, including Financial Services/Real Estate/Insurance, Technology/Software, Healthcare, and Education, and all participants work for organizations with 100 to 999 employees.
