Your employees don't have faith in your leadership

Over half of employees around the world believe their leaders lack the necessary skills to lead them and their business to success.

According to joint research conducted by SAP and Oxford Economics, just 44% of staff think their bosses have what it takes, and only 34% believe their leaders are prepared to lead a diverse workforce.

The study, which polled more than 5,400 employees and interviewed 29 executives in 27 countries, found lack of adequate leadership was cited by executives as the number two impediment to achieving their goals of building a workforce to meet future business objectives.

“Most companies recognise the importance of managing an increasingly international, diverse and mobile workforce,” SAP’s press release stated.

“However, the majority lack the strategy, culture and solutions to do so.”

READ MORE: Leadership development the top HR priority for 2014

Indeed, 42% of executives also stated their expansion plans for growth were limited unless the right leadership was in place.

Additionally, 64% of employees acknowledged that they don’t believe succession plans and commitment to ensuring continuity in key roles is being addressed by leadership.

“Our research shows that the C-suite is out of touch with HR on business strategy and priorities, and workers are not getting what they want from their employers in terms of incentives, benefits and training,” Edward Cone, managing editor of Thought Leadership at Oxford Economics, said.

Accordingly, while competitive compensation was found to the most important attribute of a job for two-thirds of respondents, only 39% of executives stated their company offered competitive compensation.

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