For many of us, the last few years have felt like a few decades. The world changed by the minute, and we did our best to keep up. But, while the coming year may be less volatile, we can still expect significant shifts in the business landscape. That means, as leaders, we need to be ready to pivot.
Let’s explore five of the biggest management and leadership trends you can expect to see in 2023. That way, you can be prepared to turn challenges into successes.
1. Employee Retention Tools are More Important Than Ever
Professionals are voting with their feet and leaving organizations that don’t help them achieve their goals or align with their values. Unfortunately, these departures can leave gaping holes in your team, slow productivity, and tank employee morale.
But, while you should partner with the human resources department to replace key players, you must simultaneously address the underlying cause of the turnover. Your primary focus has to shift from recruiting new employees to retaining the ones you already have. Otherwise, you’ll stay stuck in a reactive loop of solving short-term staffing problems instead of being able to take a proactive approach to maintain an engaged workforce built for the long haul.
As you develop your employee retention strategy, be sure to consider the following:
- Compensation and benefits trends in your industry — and how your firm stacks up
- Company culture and values
- Professional development and advancement opportunities
- Feedback from your team members (which should get implemented whenever possible)
Then, be sure to revisit your strategy annually and revise it as needed.
2. Your Development Needs to be a Priority Too
You spend your day attending meetings and putting out fires. But how long has it been since you invested in your career growth? If you can’t remember the last time you read a book, participated in a training, or took a course, you’re due for some professional development. Start with learning the leadership personality types so you have a foundation for creating a plan that aligns with your preferences for learning, growing, and communicating. Leadership Personality Styles | Leadership Development
Keep your existing skills sharp and regularly learn new ones to become and remain an effective leader. That way, you can get the most from your workforce, effectively support your team members, and respond to ever-changing business demands.
3. Employees will Look to You for Support
While you may have always thought of supporting your employees as a natural part of being a leader, be prepared for that part of your role to expand. Many of your workers have endured and continue to endure significant hardship. As a result, they’ll look to you for empathy and guidance as they balance their professional responsibilities with their personal lives.
Ongoing training about communication, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, and diversity, equity, and inclusion can help you provide better support to your team. It also helps to know the personality types on your team. A behavioral assessment for each team member gives you a clear roadmap for effectively supporting each person in a way that will resonate with them as individuals.
4. Your Values Matter
Sure, your employees want to earn a high salary, work from home, climb the corporate ladder, and enjoy other perks. But they also want to work for a leader and organization that operates ethically and in accordance with values similar to theirs.
That means you should get clear on your values and lead by them. You should also hold yourself to the highest ethical standards to model that behavior for your team.
5. Environmental and Social Consciousness is Non-Negotiable
All-star talent and consumers alike now demand that corporations make decisions through an environmentally and socially conscious lens. Companies that don’t will lose employees, customers, and market share faster than you can say, “What happened?”
As a leader, you can help every stakeholder view your firm in a favorable light by implementing sustainability practices, taking time to give back to your community, and treating your team members with respect.
Here are a few specific things you could do:
- Find ways to reduce your energy and resource consumption in the office — and ask employees for their suggestions and cooperation to do the same.
- Volunteer with your team. It helps others and strengthens the bond within your workgroup.
- Run regular training sessions to promote a company culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Of course, just like your employee retention strategy, your environmentally and socially conscious initiatives should get updated often.
How Omnia can Help
While the world changes rapidly, the core of doing business remains the same: helping people. You can help the people on your team by knowing them — and yourself — exceptionally well.
That’s where we come in. Our proven, easy, and fast behavioral assessment reveals practical insights about every test taker, including their communication style and work preferences. You can apply what you learn to develop as a leader and offer customized guidance and support to each worker.
The end result? A more engaged team committed to you and the organization for 2023 and beyond.
