According to a 2024 poll from Gallup, 42% of employees who voluntarily left their organization in the past year reported that their manager or workplace could have done something to prevent them from vacating their role.With the retention of top talent being a concern for many organisations going into the new year, those in leadership positions must carefully consider how they are approaching their roles in an ever-changing professional landscape.
For some, 2025 will bring with it a need to adapt to these global developments, and a revisitation of their priorities. Advancements in AI, for one, will require attention from leaders as they navigate how best to effectively and ethically integrate these technologies into their organisations. Equally important among a new generation of employees is the growing prominence of work-life balance and of wellness in the workplace; leaders must examine ways to foster an inclusive and engaging environment, often remotely, while keeping their teams performing to their best.
Creating a supportive environment
As societal discussions around mental health and wellness continue to grow, leaders would do well to consider whether they are creating a workplace in which their teams feel supported and satisfied.
Aside from the clear upsides of benefitting their teams’ well-being and retaining high performers, research from Oxford University’s Saïd Business School has shown that happy workers are more productive. For leaders to succeed in 2025 and beyond, they must ensure they are cultivating a working environment in which all their employees feel valued, heard and empowered to contribute their best efforts.
Kalina Michalska Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of California, puts it this way: “Companies should incorporate mechanisms for employee feedback about workplace culture that is going well and others that need improvement. “How can I better support you?” should be a frequent invitation for feedback on the agenda.”
Leaders should look to strengthen their relationships with their teams, as a lack of positive sentiment toward their management is a key factor driving employee turnover. According to the Gallup study cited above, approximately three in ten changes that employees claim could have prevented their departure from a previous role were tied to improving interactions with their manager; 21% cited the need for more positive interactions, such as better listening and communicating, while 8% pointed to the need to reduce negative interactions.
As a younger generation of workers usher in a new wave of employee priorities, empathy, as well as a connection with the daily operations and needs of their staff, will be required to a greater extent from leaders in 2025 and for years to come.
Many leaders are aware of this. 34% of leaders surveyed by the American Management Association (AMA) said that “they could benefit from improving their ability to read others and recognize their strengths and weaknesses in order to help them achieve their goals.”
Digital leadership strategies
Although developing strong relationships remotely certainly has its challenges, if leaders want to keep their key contributors, some may have to find ways to achieve this.
Employees, particularly the younger demographic, continue to place a high value on remote work and the freedom that it provides. These days, according to the American Psychological Association, workers aged 18-25 are more likely to point to a lack of flexibility as detrimental to their work-life balance, while research from McKinsey shows a majority of employees citing the opportunity to work remotely as a top company benefit.
Leaders, therefore, must adapt their style and skill set in order to meet the needs of their remote teams. KC Blonski, Senior VP, North American Sales at AMA, had this to say on the subject: “The old skill set that they may have used in a true office-like environment just isn’t enough now to drive equal levels of satisfaction from their employees.”
Communication remains a cornerstone of effective leadership, and leaders have to maintain open dialogues in digital spheres. Implementing regular team-building activities online – be they virtual happy hours, team challenges or more casual check-ins – can play a crucial role in maintaining a sense of connection between remote teams and their leadership. As such, developing a proficiency with the technologies that facilitate such activities is essential.
Leading technologies
One of the most pressing technological concerns for leaders in 2025 will be, unsurprisingly, AI. According to the Global Workforce 2024 survey from Korn Ferry – a management consulting firm – most CEOs (73%) and senior executives (80%) believe AI will significantly enhance their personal value to their organisation within the next three years. For these new technologies to facilitate this, however, leaders will need to stay adaptable, and well ahead of further advancements. If able to do so, leaders will reap great strategic benefits from AI, leveraging its capabilities to make data-driven decisions.
While it appears that most leaders are looking favourably upon AI, some employees are showing more hesitancy. 61% of US CEOs surveyed by KPMG stated that they were prepared to address employee resistance to AI, while 27% saw employee resistance as a “top” challenge to deploying these burgeoning technologies more fully.
Leaders must address these concerns through transparency, by providing training and education, and highlighting the benefits of AI to their teams. Cultivating trust in this way, and ensuring that employees feel supported during this transition, will be key to overcoming this reluctance and ensuring companies maximise AI’s potential.
To achieve these ends, leaders will need to establish standards and principles around the use of AI, as well as ensuring that their organisations are using these new technologies responsibly. Regular audits and monitoring, consideration for data privacy and third-party reviews will all need to be orchestrated by organisations’ leadership if they wish to build this essential trust – among both employees and external stakeholders – while mitigating potential risks.
For example, Mary E. Post, CEO of the American Academy of Neurology said that their leadership team has been having conversations during board meetings, as well as more broadly at staff gatherings, about AI and its appropriate usage. “We established a cross-functional work group to focus on AI,” she said. “The work group created guiding principles, division-specific use case examples of AI, staff training, and a SharePoint site with information about AI use at the AAN.”
By taking a proactive approach and keeping an open mind to these important developments, leaders can ensure that AI is integrated into their operations in a manner that satisfies their staff, stakeholders and the clients they serve.
Embracing Adaptability
The coming years will be defined by rapid technological and societal change. As such, adaptability is no longer optional for leaders – it is an essential part of leadership. By remaining open and flexible, constantly refining their strategies and continually developing their hard and soft skills, leaders will be able to effectively navigate this uncertainty and set their teams up for success.