Volatile Labor Market Drives HR Leaders to Invest in Leadership

The volatile labor market and changing attitudes towards the workplace are having a significant impact on HR leaders’ priorities. 

According to a survey of HR leaders by Gartner, Inc., 60% of respondents cite leader and manager effectiveness as their top priorities for 2023. 

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A combination of factors is driving this shift, including social and political turbulence, work-life fusion, and flexible work arrangements, all of which are redefining the leader-employee dynamic. 

“Rising inflation, scarce expensive talent, and global supply constraints represent a new combination of variables for HR leaders to understand as they consider their 2023 strategies,” said Mark Whittle, vice president of advisory in the Gartner HR practice.  

Gartner defined three key human-centric leadership traits:   

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• Authenticity: Enable true self-expression for themselves and their teams 
• Empathy: Show genuine care, respect, and concern for employee well-being 
• Adaptivity: Enable flexibility and support that fits the unique needs of team members. 

Other top organizational priorities for HR leaders next year include:  

• Organizational and change management (53%) 
• Employee experience (47%) 
• Recruiting (46%) 
• Future of work (42%). 

However, 24% of HR leaders say their leadership development approach does not prepare leaders for the future of work.   

“These shifts are not creating entirely new responsibilities, but they require leaders to achieve their core responsibilities in different ways,” said Whittle. “The new dynamic is not simply a leader-to-employee relationship, but a human-to-human one.” 

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