Today’s leaders face a number of challenges. The commercial challenges are often clear to see and the responses they demand, such as innovation, efficiency and adaptability, are generally well understood. However, one of the biggest challenges for today’s leaders is managing their people strategies. Unsurprisingly, C-level executives will continue to prioritise the development of next-generation leaders in the years ahead, but attracting and retaining top talent is no mean feat. Engaged leaders need to stay on top of the current trends influencing their individual company, their industry, their employees and attitudes toward the working world in general.
1. Embrace work-life blend.
Have you heard? Balance is out and the blend is in. Instead of viewing work and life as a balancing act, Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos said that it's more productive to view them as two integrated parts. "It actually is a circle. It's not a balance." Bezos said. The relationship between our work life and personal life is reciprocal, and we no longer need to compartmentalize them into two competing time constraints.
2. Promote Continuous Education.
Recently, we’ve seen upskilling and retraining programs emerge in organizations across the globe. Companies are taking the time to help their employees learn new skills as new technologies emerge. As the business landscape continues to grow faster than ever before, it's becoming increasingly important that every team member becomes smarter. Continuous learning should be at the forefront of management's agenda to gain and sustain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, learning will not be confined to formal training and education, but can be anything from micro-learning sessions to conferences and mentoring. At Dropbox employees benefit from a collaborative environment with plenty of opportunities to grow. A fan favorite is Hack Week, which allows everyone to return to their roots by poking around code or pursuing a professional interest. This freedom makes the problem-solving process seem less intimidating—and often generates inspired solutions that make the office (and employees!) even better.
3. Make company culture a priority.
People talk a lot about culture, but often the energy they expend talking about culture far exceed the time they spend actually doing anything about it. Regardless of whether your company has ten or 10,000 employees, making company culture a true business priority for your organization is vital. If you haven't already, take the time this year to make your culture a core part of your business strategy. Your candidates, employees, and investors will thank you for it. At BambooHR, politicking is not allowed. All of their employees are encouraged to lead from where they are by working hard and helping their team improve. Those who do are noticed, celebrated, and given more opportunities to lead.
4. Elevate and retain female leaders.
One of the major leadership and management issues for 2019 should involve efforts to elevate and retain female leaders. At a conference, President Barack Obama took the stage and said, "Companies with a critical mass of women in leadership perform better, are more profitable, have higher stock valuations. If you are on the board of a company and you look around and it is all a bunch of men, you have got a problem. You are not well organized to succeed." An examination of the leadership in the Fortune 500 companies reveals that only 4.8% of CEOs are women. A 2015 McKinsey report revealed that companies with more gender diversity among leadership saw greater financial gains.
5. Lead by actions and example.
In the past, leaders have gotten away with vocally supporting policies and procedures, but their actions have said otherwise. That tide will turn in 2019. With so much light being shed on unacceptable behaviour in all workplaces, leaders will begin to understand they need to not only hold their teams accountable for proper behaviour, but hold themselves accountable as well.
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