Top 5 Trends Impacting Senior Leaders Half Way Through 2023

July 19, 2023 – Organizations around the world are facing historic disruption that hasn’t been seen in generations. With continuous shifts in the economic and employment outlook, the rapid rise of technological advancements, and other unprecedented factors that are helping to define today’s workplaces, it’s imperative that organizations grasp these trends and harness them to their advantage.

“As we enter the second half of 2023, these movements continue to be top of mind for business leaders,” says a recent report from real estate-focused executive search firm 20/20 Foresight. In its study, the firm provided the top five trends they see as shaping where the future of work is heading:

1. Understand the New Rules Of Engagement for Winning the War for Talent

It is critical for organizations to recognize exactly what employees want today when considering how to attract, retain, and engage talent, said 20/20 Foresight. The study pointed to Gartner research, which says that asking yourself some hard questions can help determine your talent objectives and identify a clear-cut path to moving forward in volatile times.  Among those questions: How many of your employees are actively looking for a new job? How can you mitigate that attrition with an effective hiring strategy?

A recent McKinsey report said that the highest performing organizations regularly assess their ability to attract top talent to fill skills gaps, build institutional capabilities, and drive continued innovation to stay ahead of an increasingly competitive curve.

2. Hybrid/Remote Work Arrangements Continue to Take Shape 

In our post-pandemic world, employees expect flexibility in their work as much as they do other, more standard, benefits. “To meet this demand while also acknowledging your organization’s needs for collaboration and connection among employees, regularly assess what is needed regarding adaptable work schedules and pivot as necessary,” said 20/ 20 Foresight. “Building your company’s strategic agility will foster resiliency during these uncertain times.”

It is also important, said the firm, to keep in mind that organizations can see real benefits from adopting an open-minded approach to hybrid and remote work, such as attracting a wider and deeper talent pool, increasing employee morale and productivity, and decreasing costs.

3. The Rapid Emergence of Evolving Technology

“If you feel like you can’t avoid news of artificial intelligence and other technologies reshaping how we work, you’re not alone,” the 20/20 Foresight report said. “It’s impossible to avoid these advancements, so it’s up to business leaders to figure out how they can help them, their employees, and their organizations.”

Related: What’s Different About Hiring Leaders Today

The firm notes that we are living in a perpetual learning culture. “With the pace and proliferation of technologies pushing innovation to the edge of the organization, businesses need to be ready to incorporate the most promising options,” 20/20 Foresight said. “This will create huge opportunities, but only for those companies that develop true tech intelligence through a culture of learning and adoption from frontline employees to the C-suite.”

4. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives that Make a Real Difference

Fairness should be the guiding principle of all organizational decisions. In the past several years, various reports have pointed to how corporate DEI efforts have gained ground, but in many instances haven’t added up to real changes to the workplace, the community, or society at large, said 20/20 Foresight.

A Look at Emerging Trends Affecting Leadership Teams Today
The post-pandemic technology boom has only increased the demand for great tech leaders, says a new report from Riviera Partners. Valuation skepticism, “noise in the system” from Big Tech layoffs, and under-resourced internal talent teams have all played a part. Compensation, meanwhile, has been stable since markets corrected mid-2022, the study says, and a net 15 percent of respondents report rising guaranteed compensation.

The firm cited a report from Reference for Business that says the advantages of creating more diversity within the workforce are varied and multifaceted: Organizations with greater diversity can better understand and penetrate global markets; by embracing a diverse workforce internally, companies are better suited to serve a diverse external clientele. Organizations with greater diversity also display higher creativity and innovation by more successfully avoiding the consequences of conformity of thought.

“Therefore, companies that implement DEI strategies need to make sure that these initiatives are authentic to their values as well as the communities where they operate to make them meaningful and successful in the long term,” the 20/20 Foresight report said.

5. Leadership Development that Inspires Teams and Drives Organizations Forward

With equity at the center of all business outcomes, leadership has taken on new meaning in today’s workplaces, says 20/20 Foresight. It is no longer enough for leaders to merely meet organizational objectives and exceed earnings:

“Forward-thinking leaders need to consider fairness in addressing issues that result from an increasingly varied employee experience,” said the report. “How do we ensure that remote workers feel as connected and valuable as those who are present in the office five days a week? How do we offer programs and benefits that address individual employee’s needs? How do we ensure that ideas can come from anywhere within the organization and will be acted upon? Intentional, empathetic leadership makes everyone feel seen, heard and valued equally.”

How Organizations Can Stay Ahead of the Curve 

Organizations have entered a new era characterized by rapid, dramatic, and constant change. “The accelerated pace of transformation has upended how work is performed by employees and necessitated new ideas and actions from business leaders,” the 20/20 Foresight report said. “The best approach to navigating these ever-changing times is to build your organization’s most impactful leadership team.”

Founded in 1994, 20/20 Foresight Executive Search specializes in real estate, financial, and professional services. The team features 50+ career consultants who are industry experts as well as a data-driven process, a technology platform, and an extensive database, resulting in a 95 percent success rate in placements. 20/20 Foresight has completed more than 7,000 searches through its 13 offices around the U.S.

Beyond executive search, 20/20 Foresight also offers a variety of services to help clients cultivate and manage their leadership teams. These include compensation consulting, succession planning, leadership assessments, executive coaching, and board advisory services.

With more than 25 years of executive search experience, Mr. Cavoto built 20/20 Foresight from the ground up. He has completed more than 500 searches for his clients in the U.S. and globally for renowned executives in the real estate, financial, and service industries. Before founding the firm, Mr. Cavoto served as CFO of a $1 billion entertainment, finance, and real estate company.

Related: Four Trends That Will Shape the Future

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media