Top 5 Leadership Skills Your Company Will Need in 2024

Employers are often too focused on the bottom line and traditional ways of driving business success (sales, marketing performance, operational efficiency) that they overlook the simple and obvious thing that can positively affect business performance: a quality manager. 

People take jobs and leave them based on the manager—ask any employee.   

In fact, experts estimate that at least half of all employees have quit a job at some point because of their supervisor.

That’s because employees interact with their managers daily, often hourly, and collaborate on a regular basis. If managers lack key leadership skills, their direct reports suffer—and suffer often—leading to high turnover, low productivity, and a fractured team culture. 

That’s why leadership development has become important to employers over the years; companies and HR leaders have recognized that the manager-direct report relationship is a numbers game. If they can improve the nature and quality of repeated interactions between the manager and the employee, then the employee is more likely to feel valued, supported, and effective. It’s a small, low-cost intervention that totals up over time. 

Enter: Leadership Development

Leadership development is the process of preparing current and future leaders to perform effectively in their roles. It enables employees to improve their skills in decision-making, project management, strategy, network building, team management, innovation, coaching and developing others, and more. 

It’s a critical investment for companies everywhere for its high returns in areas like: 

• organizational performance
• succession planning
• retention 
• workplace culture 
• engagement 
• productivity 
• continuous learning

But, what’s required of leaders and what it takes for a leader to be successful is constantly changing—and has changed drastically in the last few years between a major shift in employee tastes, attitudes, and behaviors, a record-breaking labor shortage, and a growing recognition of how employee well-being is a key driver of business success. 

Cultivate Emotional Intelligence 

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that leaders in 2024 will need to know how to navigate a work world transformed by global uncertainties, technological advancements (like AI), changing business models, increased regulatory scrutiny, and a renewed focus on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. To lead in this difficult environment, managers need to be tuned into their own emotions and their coworkers’ emotions—and need to manage them both better. 

Emotional intelligence enables leaders to be more effective communicators and team players. It is so powerful that the business’s overall success can improve by 37.2% via managers with high EQ. Coaching and training for emotional intelligence should focus on developing managers’ leadership muscles for introspection, self-reflection, and mindfulness. 

Teach Them How to Adapt and Lead Through Change 

Corporate change has been everywhere in 2023. High-profile layoffs dominated news headlines at the beginning of the year, including big names like Twitter, Amazon, and Deloitte. Mergers and acquisitions were plentiful, including some with multibillion-dollar price tags, especially in IT and tech. Plus, notable companies like Warner Music Group, Penguin Random House, and Adidas all ousted their CEOs in favor of new leadership. 

Due to ongoing economic uncertainty and the rapid integration of new technologies (like AI), the pace of change is expected to continue accelerating in 2024. As such, the modern leader needs to be ready to take on both expected and unexpected disruptions; they need fully fleshed-out change management skills and an adaptable mindset. 

For ideas and insights into training for this critical skill, check out The Change Management Guide for HR Pros, featuring resources, practical tips, and expert insights into how leaders can successfully manage through change. 

Improve Remote Leadership 

Today, over 60% of employers operate on a hybrid model, allowing employees to work remotely from home or, sometimes, in another state. 

Remote and flexible work policies provide employees with greater job satisfaction, better health, increased work-life fit, and less stress, but they also benefit employers through higher productivity levels, decreased turnover, and reduced absenteeism—meaning that remote work is here to stay. 

As such, today’s leaders must get better at managing remote teams, finding ways to boost productivity, maintain team cohesion, and keep employees engaged. 

Get Leaders Comfortable With Managing Multiple Generations

Earlier this week, we sat down with Tina E. Grimes, an experienced and award-winning leadership coach, on another episode of America Back to Work. In the episode, she shares the top attributes she looks for in a leader when conducting leadership assessments: authenticity, trustworthiness, accountability, empowerment, and, most notably, the ability to work with multiple generations. 

That’s because the workforce is getting younger and younger. It’s projected that Gen Z will account for more than 27 percent of the workforce by 2024, bringing unprecedented digital literacy, more diversity, and a greater emphasis on mental health to the workplace—and most companies aren’t ready. 

Click here to watch or listen to the episode to figure out how to upskill leaders to better manage teams of all ages. 

Encourage Self-Care and Well-Being 

Today, we know that workplace stress and burnout have very real negative implications for retention, productivity, and engagement. Last year, 70% of the C-suite considered quitting to find a job that better supported their well-being. Worldwide, 615 million suffer from work-related depression and anxiety, and according to a recent WHO study, it costs the global workforce an estimated $1 trillion in lost productivity each year.

With all the new and numerous demands on leaders in the face of an evolving work environment, leaders need to know how to take care of themselves. HR must provide managers with training and resources that teach them how to prioritize their own well-being, maintain energy, and tap into resilience—and support and encourage those same things in their people.