The organizational advantages of better business leaders
It's easy for organizations to overlook the importance and impact of effective leadership. In fact, HuffPost reports over 75% of workers claimed their bad boss was the worst part of their job, highlighting just how far this impact reaches. And, in the midst of the Great Resignation and the war for workplace talent, implementing practices to improve leadership and management will be essential to achieve organizational success.
Without improved management skills, poor leadership results in low engagement, decreased productivity and high turnover rates, and these consequences are detrimental to the bottom line. However, making an effort to boost leadership within your organization will lead to invaluable benefits that shouldn't be ignored.
The top organizational advantages of more effective leadership in the workplace include:
Increased agility
Agility in the workplace refers to the ability to adapt to changes in the workplace quickly and cohesively to increase productivity and engagement. Especially in today's business sphere, companies are constantly facing the need for swift change. This might be a result of new technology, market demands or new regulations, but improving organizational leadership is a key element in fostering an agile workforce to keep pace with these changes.
Improved efficiency
Poor management is generally associated with poor communication and unclear expectations. A report from the Chicago Tribune found more than 31% of employees experienced stress at work as a result of unclear expectations from supervisors. The combination of high-stress levels and ambiguous expectations hinder employees from optimizing their efficiency in the workplace. Proper management is pivotal to improving overall efficiency and performance at work.
Higher retention rates and decreased turnover
Better corporate leaders are the linchpin to attracting and retaining talent in today's business environment. According to TINYpulse, a lack of appropriate management skills makes employees four times more likely to quit, which highlights the considerable need for enhanced leadership to retain talent long-term.
Improved organizational teamwork
Effective leadership builds better teams. It's nearly impossible for employees to work at their greatest ability or collaborate effectively without the help of proper management. A strong team in the workplace will understand what's expected of them, communicate efficiently and feel motivated and encouraged to succeed. However, these outcomes are only possible at the hands of good management ensuring these teams have the tools and support they need to thrive.
Increased engagement, productivity and loyalty
Both employees and organizations reap the benefits of improved leadership. Proper management results in workers with increased engagement, productivity and overall morale, and these benefits have a sizable impact on the entire organization. According to a workplace report from Gallup, highly engaged workplaces saw 41% lower absenteeism, while Smarp found companies with these levels of high engagement are also 22% more profitable.
It's clear business leaders highly impact the productivity and health of their employees, as well as overall operational efficiency. This means implementing practices to improve leadership and management within your company will be essential to mobilize employees and promote organizational success moving forward.