Major gap between leaders’ traits and employee expectations, finds report

Hogan Assessments explored the role of the leader in the workplace and the importance of aligning goals with the expectations of the modern workforce.

New global research from HR consulting platform Hogan Assessments has shown that the characteristics and behaviours often displayed by leaders in the workplace are out of touch with the qualities many employees say they want and expect from those in a leadership role. 

The ‘Leadership Divide: Global Insights on Who Leads versus Who Should’ report gathered data from more than 21,000 executives and 9,794 full-time employees, across 25 countries. What was discovered is that there is a “clear misalignment between what organisations reward and what employees value”.

To that point, it was found in the report that there is zero overlap between the top five competencies frequently demonstrated by executives and the five characteristics that employees said they wanted for their organisations’ leaders. 

Participating executives were found to better stand out in their company by inspiring others, competing with their peers, presenting their ideas publicly, taking initiative and driving innovation. By comparison, the employees who took part in the research explained that they prioritise an entirely different set of qualities in a leader: communication, integrity, accountability, sound decision-making and the ability to lead effectively.

“Organisations have long tended to reward visibility, confidence and ambition in leaders,” said Allison Howell, the CEO of Hogan Assessments. “But employees are telling us they want something more fundamental: leaders they can trust, leaders who communicate clearly, and leaders who create the conditions for teams to succeed.”

Growing divide

According to Hogan Assessments’ research, and indeed the stance many organisations take, leadership is a resource for teams and should be treated as such. However, the data finds that often executives come in with their own agendas that may not be in line with the viewpoints of the wider workforce. 

The report said, “Today’s leaders often focus on their own individual vision, ambition and careers. These behaviours and characteristics tend to get people promoted. But, in contrast, our survey respondents told us they want leaders who focus on accountability, team achievement and other behaviours that support the team.”

By modelling the competencies most appreciated by employees, the report suggested that those in leadership can create a culture of trust. Because leadership is the ability to build and maintain a high-performing team, trust is foundational to leadership effectiveness; in turn, the report found that “leaders who earn trust create the conditions for teams to perform at their best, giving the organisation a sustainable competitive advantage”. 

Of those who participated, 72pc of respondents confidently said emotional volatility and unpredictability have a negative impact, while passive aggression (62pc), arrogance and entitlement (59pc), and extreme caution (56pc) were also identified as qualities that damage trust, increase disengagement and weaken team performance.

Despite this, executives often stood out for assertiveness and self-assurance, with the report noting that the confidence that can help leaders advance “may, when overused or left unchecked, be experienced by teams as arrogance, weakening trust and contributing to disengagement”.

Ultimately, Hogan Assessments’ report found that many of the behaviours that enable leaders to step out in front have the potential to alienate the wider workforce and create a culture of mistrust. With that in mind, organisations may benefit from looking beyond the more obvious, visible, charismatic attributes that denote leadership ability and instead place a greater emphasis on behaviours that build confidence. 

“That shift should be reflected in how leaders are selected and developed, with greater emphasis on coaching, feedback and performance systems that reward accountability, transparency and follow-through.”

Howell said, “Leadership pipelines are strongest when organisations align how they identify and develop leaders with what employees actually value. These findings show that trust, accountability and sound judgment are not secondary qualities. They are central to team effectiveness and long-term performance.”

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