How can leaders retain and grow the best talent in 2023? Katya Kim, leadership consultant and founder of WhizzMind, investigates

Last year, three in four employers reported difficulty finding the talent they need and this trend seems set to continue in 2023. According to a study from Korn Ferry, there will be a global human talent shortage of more than 85 million people by 2030. So, what can we do as leaders to ensure our talent is strong in 2023? 

People managers are vital

The ‘people manager’ (PM) role has increased exponentially over the past few years. The first responder of the organisation, PMs are responsible for upskilling and enabling managers to do their best work, make decisions and feel empowered. PMs are a vital resource in any organisation. Good people management relies on excellent, reliable communication, trust and a culture of embracing problem-solving and constant learning. As remote people management becomes increasingly relevant, ensure you are working as an organisation to strengthen your leadership team’s people management skills. 

Adapting to new ways of working 

Companies are still facing challenges created by the pandemic and it’s important to acknowledge this. One of the biggest challenges, hands down, is remote working, team building and engagement. It’s much harder for leaders to know what’s driving engagement or how to benchmark it. Hybrid working has become the new normal and it’s becoming more difficult for employees’ work to be seen by leaders and people with influence. 

Enabling employees to adapt to new ways of working is essential and organisations need to make sure they are monitoring and assessing these strategies to be the best leaders for their teams. Below are some key areas to consider:

• An integrated wellbeing strategy to help identify mental health issues
• Set programmes and policies to enable employees to adapt to new ways of working
• Redesigning learning and development processes to suit the remote/blended work experience
• Transforming operating models to be more agile

Early awareness of mental health

Good mental health is extremely important for leaders of all levels and responsibilities. As ways of working change and the external environment continues to be challenging (politically, economically, cost of living and so on) more pressure is put on employees. 

All leaders should be able to identify signs of poor mental wellbeing within their teams. They need to know how to support all employees and ensure everyone feels safe at work. Having worked with colleagues who have experienced stress, anxiety and even depression, I have seen that the earlier employees get support, the better. 

Developing trust and resilience within your team

During hard times, strong connections within a team and a strong culture of trust will help organisations to stay resilient. For example, Gousto and Chester Zoo have both adapted to the new reality quickly and managed to maintain a fantastic team spirit and fed into an excellent level of customer service through a positive attitude and online workshops.

Addressing gender inequality 

Leaders need to be fair. When it comes to recruitment and employee promotions, opportunities should be offered across the board, to both men and women. When it comes to gender equality, men still seem to work in more senior roles than women overall. 77% of tech director roles are fulfilled by men and only 23% women, and in the wider economy 71% of directors are men while only 29% are women. Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.

It’s important that business leaders don’t take their people for granted and commit to doing the work needed to ensure the success of the whole team. The businesses that invest time, energy and resources into their people will be the best situated as the talent shortage continues and companies become increasingly competitive when it comes to securing and retaining great talent. 

Katya Kim is a leadership consultant and founder of WhizzMind