Leadership statistics provide important insights to HR and business leaders so they can create strategies and make informed decisions about developing leaders and employee management challenges. To give you an idea of trends to watch out for, we compiled over a dozen statistics about leadership, leader demographics, and development opportunities.
Key Takeaways
- In the US, millennials are dominating the workforce but many feel they don’t get leadership development opportunities.
- Only a handful of companies have employees who can readily assume key leadership roles.
- While leaders believe that employees will say they care about their staff, many workers think otherwise.
- HR teams should focus on leadership development programs that help create human leaders and build trust between people managers and their employees.
Leadership Challenges
1. Only 12% of companies have confidence in the strength of their leadership bench
Few organizations have a strong bench of future leaders who can readily assume key leadership roles in the company. HR teams will need to increase the implementation of development programs to boost leadership bench strength.
Having a strong leadership bench enables companies to respond easily to organizational changes and business challenges. By training and developing high-performing and high-potential employees into future leaders, you have a ready source of individuals who can assume key leadership roles.
(DDI)
2. Developing future leaders is one of the top challenges among CEOs
Talent-related challenges outrank business transformation and economic concerns, according to the 2023 Global Leadership Forecast report. Chief executive officers (CEOs) who joined the survey ranked developing the next generation of leaders as the second top challenge that keeps them up at night.
Retaining and attracting high-performing employees nabbed the first spot and maintaining an engaged workforce at third place. Other challenges that made it to the top five list include digital business transformation and global recession.
(DDI)
3. Many leaders are not skilled in using technology that can enhance team performance and work output
Only 16% of the organizations that joined the 2023 Global Human Capital Trends survey said that their leaders are “very ready to use” online solutions that can help improve employee productivity and work performance. In addition, only 23% of the survey respondents are confident their leaders can navigate the needs of an evolving workplace and workforce.
Developing people management skills is critical for leaders but enhancing their technical and software skills is equally important. These are essential for managing distributed teams and engaging remote workers.
(Deloitte – Global Human Capital Trends study)
4. Leaders struggle to find their sense of purpose at work
Leaders are nine times more likely to feel engaged in their job roles if they have a strong sense of purpose at work. However, only around half of mid- and senior-level leaders find their work purposeful and engaging.
(DDI)
5. Lack of leadership development for millennial workers
69% of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) feel they don’t receive leadership development opportunities. This needs to be addressed immediately by business and HR leaders given the growing number of working millennials, coupled with more baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) and Gen Xers (employees born between 1965 and 1980) leaving the workplace.
(Zippia)
What Employees Think About Their Leaders
6. Workers aren’t convinced leaders are concerned about their well-being
Leadership stats about worker well-being show a gap between what organizational leaders and employees think. 95% of business leaders believe their workforce would say they are concerned about employee well-being, but only 50% of workers are convinced that leaders care.
(Deloitte – Wellbeing at Work study)
7. Employees’ trust in business leaders fell from 80% to 69% in 2024
While many workers trust that their employers will do the right thing for them, the number has declined significantly over the previous years. In 2022, 80% of employees trusted their business leaders—this fell to 69% in 2024.
The declining number can be attributed to several factors. Below are the top three reasons:
- Failing to meet promised employee promotions, pay raises, and career opportunities
- Lack of a human-centered approach to organizational changes
- Unfair or unequal treatment
(Mercer)
8. Leaders who regularly display vulnerability are more likely to be trusted by employees
Employees are 5.3 times more likely to trust leaders if they willingly and regularly show their vulnerable sides. Moreover, leaders who are self-aware of their imperfections and genuinely acknowledge their shortcomings are 7.5 times more likely to maintain employee trust.
(DDI)
Leadership Development Statistics
9. 83% of businesses agree that developing leaders is very important
Many business leaders think leadership development is an important aspect of running a business and managing employees. To equip your people managers with the skills they need to lead a team, add leadership training to their professional development plans.
(Zippia)
Need tips on how to manage a team? Read our leading a team guide, which tackles the common challenges that leaders face and the strategies for handling these hurdles.
10. Delays in leadership development can cost companies a portion of their annual sales
Statistics about leadership development show that if businesses don’t give their leaders a chance to learn, advance, and grow, they might stand to lose 7% of their annual profits.
(Zippia)
11. 90% of HR leaders think that people managers need to focus on the human elements of managing a workforce
A majority of the HR leaders who joined Gartner’s March 2022 leader survey believe that developing people managers to be more human leaders will help them thrive in today’s workplace. This will reduce turnover, improve worker well-being, and boost employee morale and engagement.
According to the same report, human leadership is comprised of the following components:
- Authentic: Leaders need to act with purpose and allow true self-expression for themselves and their teams.
- Empathy: Leaders should show genuine care, respect, and concern for their workers’ well-being.
- Adaptive: Leaders should be flexible and provide support that fits their employees’ needs.
(Gartner)
12. Trust is an important leadership trait for engaging employees
A Gallup study identified trust as the number one leadership trait that employees look for. This is followed by compassion, stability, and hope. While there isn’t a formal training session for building trust in leadership, leaders can enhance this by treating employees fairly, setting and following clear plans, and involving workers in some of the decision-making processes.
(Gallup)
13. Developing the next generation of internal leaders requires the active involvement of current senior leaders
There are various training methods you can follow to develop high-performing employees into future leaders. Three highly effective learning methods including action learning assignments, 360-degree feedback, and job rotations or on-the-job training all require the involvement of current senior leaders to help mentor emerging leaders and strengthen the leadership bench.
(Training Magazine)
Leadership Demographics Statistics
14. Only a handful of women are in executive leadership roles
In 2023, there were more men in senior leadership and executive board roles than women. Women make up only 12% of these key positions.
(IBM)
15. Men are promoted to manager roles more often than women
Out of every 100 men who were promoted from entry-level to manager positions in 2023, 87 women were promoted. The gap is slightly bigger for women of color—only 73 women of color moved to manager roles for every 100 men, down from 82 in the previous year.
(McKinsey & Company)
16. Companies that plan for future talent needs are likely to have diverse and strong leadership benches
Statistics on leadership diversity show that companies with strong leadership benches have 22% more women leaders. They also have 36% more leader background diversity than businesses that don’t plan for future talent movements.
If diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) are important to you, create policies and initiatives for attracting and retaining a diverse workforce. To spread awareness of DEI in your workplace, develop and run DEI training programs for employees.
(DDI)
Bottom Line
The leadership statistics we presented demonstrate the importance of building trust between leaders and their teams to improve engagement. Leadership stats also showed that investing in training and mentorship programs provides high-performing employees the chance to learn and grow into effective leaders. Not only will this help retain employees, but it will also improve your leadership bench strength, enabling you to create a succession plan in case key employees leave critical leadership roles.
References:
DDI, Deloitte (Global Human Capital Trends study, Wellbeing at Work study), Zippia, Mercer, Gartner, Gallup, Training Magazine, IBM, McKinsey & Company
