The recent back-to-the-office movement, which has seen some high profile leaders deliver blunt, “go back in or be fired” orders to their thousands of employees, sparked some lively discussion about whether there is a bigger shift underway to a more authoritarian leadership style in corporate America.
Despite those headlines, some form of human-centered business leadership is still more common today, and it continues to gain ground and evolve. But both styles exist in significant numbers, so let’s take a look at them.
Traditional autocratic leadership features centralized decision-making, rigid hierarchy and policies, and often values business results over relationships and culture. It tends to thrive during periods of uncertainty, and gained more attention recently as many organizations navigate the tricky waters from remote to hybrid, or back to fully in-office work. While the authoritarian style can enable faster decision-making, faster execution and heightened short-term results, it also brings some significant challenges along. Research has found that 58% of employees feel disengaged, 37% experience lower job satisfaction, and organizations experience up to 30% higher turnover under autocratic leadership.
Human-centered leadership prioritizes team member needs, encourages participation, and builds trust through transparent communication. 90% of US workers report higher job satisfaction under employee-centered leadership models, and leaders adopting this approach see 87% of their employees reporting increased efficiency and innovation. But don’t think it’s all “touchy-feely;” organizations whose teams are engaged generate 19% higher average revenue from their innovation initiatives and a 21% boost in overall profitability.
Employera works with large and mid-sized companies who employ both styles. We’ve found that more authoritative leadership can realize some of the benefits of the employee-centered management approach by seeking more input and collaboration from employees on critical issues that affect the workforce, and by communicating the reasons behind decisions more clearly.
Gaining real input from the workforce and fostering the collaboration required to address sticky challenges takes a bit more time, effort, and patience, but not too much. But it results in far greater employee understanding and acceptance of executive decisions, and the greater engagement, retention, innovation and profit that can result suggest it’s worth it.
human-centered business leadership.
Written by Andy Getsey