About 46% of HR professionals have been in their role for two years or less, indicating a potential area in need of more support, according to a July 9 report from Paycor.
Responding to a survey, C-suite executives said they see HR as the owner of leadership development and cited a “lack of HR support” and “outdated performance management systems” as the top two reasons for ineffective management.
“The findings highlight the critical role of HR as a strategic partner and executives’ increasing dependence on HR for leadership development,” Paaras Parker, CHRO at Paycor, said in a statement. “As businesses look to remain competitive and drive results, investing in leadership training and support makes all the difference.”
In a survey of more than 7,000 professionals, employees with two years or less at a company had the biggest flight risk and were 38% more likely to search for a new job in the next 12 months. In addition, workers at a company for one year or less were 21% less likely to rate their leaders favorably.
The survey findings indicated that effective managers are a key driver of employee engagement and retention, whether the workforce is remote, hybrid or on-site. HR pros play a “mission-critical” strategic role in fostering effective leaders, Paycor said.
Effective leadership also appears to drive business results. Compared to low-performing companies, employees who worked for high-performing companies were 110% more likely to receive productive feedback from their managers and 397% more likely to say their company’s senior leaders are engaged and inspirational.
HR professionals and risk managers see ineffective leadership as the biggest people risk facing U.S. organizations today, according to a report from Mercer and Marsh. They expressed concerns that poor management leads to inadequate succession planning, poor use of worker skills and negative company culture.
Along with that, leaders across a variety of industries tend to overestimate employee engagement and loyalty, which creates a gap between what leaders think and what workers experience, according to a Right Management report. The least engaged employees included mid-career and middle-layer workers, and those who were at their companies for three to five years were most likely to say they were actively looking for a new job.
In today’s ever-evolving workplace environment, disruptive change appears to be hitting managers hard and leading to burnout, according to a Gallup report. Two aspects of leadership — trust and communication — can help speed up the pace of adjustment to change and make a difference in manager engagement and connection to the company, Gallup researchers said.
