The Great Reshuffle, also known as the Great Resignation, is the ongoing trend present over the last two years in which people have voluntarily quit their jobs to pursue what they believe to be better opportunities – whether they be financial, lifestyle-related, or career development motivated. New factors for job seekers that came out of the pandemic, like the opportunity to work remotely, or concerns around job stability because of economic uncertainty, are driving the Great Reshuffle. This phenomenon has resulted in unique challenges for organizations regarding hiring and retaining top talent. Let’s look at the current employment landscape. The Great Reshuffle is showing no signs of slowing. According to an ADP survey, as many as 70% of global employees have contemplated a major career move this year. People are leaving their jobs for roles that offer better work-life balance, pay, management, or a greater sense of purpose, while employers scramble to replace those who have left. People have more options around where and when they work. New hybrid and remote work options now put a large part of the workforce in a position of power. Many job seekers are no longer limited by their geographic location or proximity to an office. For this reason, organizations are seeing increased pressure on human capital and now have to compete globally to attract and retain talent. Employees want opportunities for advancement. The lack of career growth and development opportunities was one of the top reasons employees gave for leaving their roles in 2021. It’s critical for organizations to prioritize ongoing learning and career development opportunities for their employees in order to keep them satisfied in their roles and prevent them from looking for a new one elsewhere. There’s widespread economic uncertainty. The Washington Post reported earlier this year that, “Big Tech is bracing for an economic recession and an uncertain future,” citing news of layoffs, slowing venture capital investments, and hiring freezes in Silicon Valley. This economic uncertainty means it will likely be more difficult to acquire top talent and skilled leaders who can help companies meet the challenges that may arise. The importance of developing strong leaders during unprecedented times One thing that can make or break an organization’s hiring success during this time is whether or not they have skilled, developed leaders. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, managers need to be better listeners, coaches, and collaborators. Great managers help colleagues learn and grow, recognize their colleagues for doing great work, and make them truly feel cared about. However, because the talent market is so competitive and uncertain right now, hiring skilled leaders is especially difficult. Developing the skills and effectiveness of existing leaders within a company is now taking on new urgency. Here are important things to consider when it comes to leadership development programs: Ease hiring burdens with talent mobility programs. “Build” rather than “buy” the talent your organization will need. Research from SmartRecruiters found that giving an employee a different role or new responsibilities improved the “likelihood of retaining a top performer over a three-year period by around 20%.” Leaders require different skills today than they did before. According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2021, these are the must-have skills for today’s leaders: Leading virtual teams Empathy and emotional intelligence Digital acumen Leading change All of these skills can be learned through structured leadership development programs. By developing the high-performing employees you already have into skilled leaders, you build a consistent leadership pipeline, reduce the risk and cost of hiring new employees who are poor culture fits, and expedite onboarding times. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face unique challenges. Milton Corsey, Director of Human Capital Solutions at AchieveNEXT, writes in Harvard Business Review that when it comes to leadership development, SMBs can take steps like designing a program to address urgent challenges, focusing on scaling and not just growing, and training leaders in the real world as well as the classroom. Companies that make it a priority to invest in their leaders achieve significant benefits. This is especially true during the great reshuffle. Download the ebook Leadership Development as a Strategic Advantage to discover best practices for effective leadership development programs.

A good leader isn’t just someone with a strong strategic vision or ability to drive results. Yes, these traits matter, but authenticity is the key to becoming a successful leader and cultivating a high-performing team. What exactly is authenticity, and how can you integrate it into your leadership style? Author, speaker, and Udemy instructor Dr. Todd Dewett shares five tips for becoming an authentic leader in his course Show Your Ink: Embracing Authentic Leadership. Discover a few highlights here. 1. Live your values Being authentic requires a high degree of self-awareness. Are you the type of person who values transparency? Giving and receiving feedback? Being open to mistakes? Todd recommends taking time to reflect regularly. Get focused and clear on what matters most to you. And remember that there’s often a difference between talking the talk and walking the walk — are you prepared to stick to these values when times get tough? Once you have a clearer idea of your values, it’s time to start sharing them with others. Be careful not to come across as preachy or condescending. Instead, engage your team in conversations about your values and why you believe they matter. And when you see a behavior or are asked to behave in a way that’s inconsistent with your values, make sure you speak up. 2. Get over yourself (to make room to connect with others) As a leader, you’re only as successful as the rest of your team. This means you need to be focused on and attentive to their needs. Todd says it’s critical to listen more than you speak. Listening to your team members will help you develop empathy (another key leadership skill) and better understand where they’re coming from. Your team members are likely already showing you what matters to them in subtle ways — through the photos on their desk or in their chat avatar, or how they spend their non-work hours. Find moments to learn more about their values and interests. And when it comes time to make decisions that impact your team, try to involve others as collaborators rather than acting alone. 3. Lead for learning Authenticity isn’t just about celebrating wins — it also involves acknowledging misses and failures. One of the ways you can put this into practice as a leader is to encourage a learning culture amongst your employees. When your teammates feel comfortable taking smart risks, they’re much more likely to learn. Todd says it’s important to model the way by being open about your personal learning journey. Tell your team about your own errors, mistakes, and failures. Recognize and reward both efforts and outcomes. And, of course, you can empower your team to embrace learning by providing learning resources, training opportunities, and budget to attend conferences or gain certifications. 4. Show gratitude and appreciation While you don’t need to distribute trophies for everything your team members do, taking time to show gratitude and appreciation can go a long way toward creating feelings of goodwill on your team. Regularly thank your team members for making a good effort, delivering solid work products, or displaying effective work behavior. Strive to be kind — define your interactions with positivity and fairness. And try to be as clear as possible. When you’re transparent about your expectations, you remove stress and make room for more creativity. 5. Earn positive respect Some leaders earn respect by establishing an atmosphere of fear. While this can work in the short term, Todd says that positive respect is much more effective for building trust and long-term working relationships. Positive respect includes how people feel about your decisions and how they feel about you. Your team members want to feel that your decision-making process has integrity, and they want a clear explanation of any major decisions. Similarly, they want to see you treat others respectfully and maintain a positive attitude and demeanor. Develop authentic leaders in your organization If you’re looking to develop more authentic leaders at your organization, consider how cohort-based learning might be able to help you accomplish this. When leaders learn together, they can challenge ideas and learn from each other — outcomes that are especially important when exploring a topic like authentic leadership. Plus, cohort-based learning can create a virtuous cycle where leaders encourage each other to practice and adopt positive change. Discover how Udemy’s cohort learning offerings can help you develop authentic leaders at your organization.