Why Leadership & Management Training Are Top Priorities in 2025

If it’s been some time since your organization has refreshed its leadership and management training programs, I encourage you to start this year. Even if your business has never deployed formalized development initiatives, 2025 can be an opportunity for you to change the trajectory of your company. 

Headlines continue to swirl around the impact of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. Your leaders and supervisors will be the difference between an organization that thrives through times of transformation and one that stumbles. Advancing the growth and development of these core contributors can ensure they rise to the occasion.  

The Center for Creative Leadership found that nearly 60% of new managers receive no training when promoted into supervisory roles. Others report that it’s closer to 85%. That is a significant number of personnel who are left to their own devices to figure out how to best support an organization’s most important driver of success: its people. Companies cannot afford to let employees flounder.  

The Need for Effective Leadership & Management 

McKinsey found that strong middle managers drive increased financial performance. And, DDI reported that leaders equipped with in-demand skills are 2X more likely to be comfortable operating in ambiguous environments and 3X more likely to engage and retain top talent, which impacts bottom-line outcomes such as profitability. 

However, there are significant gaps in today’s workplace. 50% of supervisors are rated as ineffective, and executives are overestimating the trust of their employees. These discrepancies affect all personnel and prevent teams from performing at their highest level.  

With change as a constant, it’s more important than ever that those in supervisory and leadership roles can work productively and build positive relationships. 53% of global staff believe too much change is happening all at once, and 44% do not understand why the current state must evolve. To adapt, employees need to trust their manager and get the day-to-day support they need to adapt and grow.  

We also know that as new generations enter the workforce the expectations of management and leadership are quickly changing. While executives and supervisors may pick up social cues, it’s often too easy to fall into tried-and-true methodologies that may no longer resonate with personnel. Training can help individuals reset their understanding of guiding and directing today’s top talent.  

5 Steps for Your Learning & Development Refresh 

1. Take an inventory. 

Map out your existing programs by identifying what offerings are available to managers and leaders inside your organization. Note whether the courses are intended to build skills or are more administrative in nature. Be sure to consider any handbooks, guides or on-demand resources that are available, as well as external offerings and coaching that employees may have access to.  

2. Assess feedback. 

Review survey data and performance metrics from individuals who have previously participated in management or leadership training to identify areas of strength and opportunity. Along with this research, evaluate staff feedback surveys and 360 reviews to surface any competency gaps and bright spots that can be tied back to learning programs. If you are not yet collecting holistic feedback, partner with HR to begin in 2025.  

3. Look toward the future.  

Use external research to determine additional in-demand talents that will support your business’s long-term success. Guidance from organizations like the World Economic Forum, Harvard Business School and others demonstrate the importance of soft skills, such as resiliency, empathy and social influence as well as strategic agility, communication and advancing skill-building for staff. A comprehensive analysis, in concert with step #2, will likely reveal several capabilities that are already being built internally and ones that may need further attention. 

4. Align needs to curriculum. 

You may find that certain capabilities clearly map to particular roles. In other instances, talents may be needed for both leaders and managers, yet the applications may look different. As an example, let’s consider skill building for staff. While the capability to develop others is important to both functions, managers may benefit more from receiving training to provide effective one-to-one feedback while leaders might be better served by discovering techniques to embrace and cultivate growth mindsets. 

5. Identify your timeline. 

Improvements will not occur overnight. Be realistic about which initiatives can be shifted in the near term and which ones will be long-term priorities. To make your selections, assess the urgency behind the shifts you want to introduce as well as their potential impact to the broader organization and staff. Also, partner with executives to ensure you clearly understand the vision for the company and what that means for leadership and management inside the organization to shape your next steps.  

To create positive, productive workplaces that will thrive in today’s constantly changing environment, investing in the people who will guide the business and deliver on-the-ground support to employees is essential. When you do so, you’ll create a competitive advantage. After all, many companies leave personnel without a thoughtful path to better performance. You’ll find that these efforts to train your leaders and supervisors will pay off in engagement, retention and productivity. 

Discover more trends shaping Learning & Development in 2025 by downloading our resource. 

Ready to amplify your training initiatives? Connect with our team by filling out the form below. 

 

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