Set against a backdrop of globalisation and technological change, organisations are increasingly looking for strong leadership to help guide them through this period of disruption. To examine the challenges HR faces in this area, amongst others, Lumesse recently teamed up with Deloitte to ask ‘What are the top issues HR is facing?’. The need for a strong leader was made clear, with 38 percent of those asked labelling leadership as an “urgent” issue.

So what will this leader look like?

The attributes of what make a good leader are a heady mix of the old and new – with the stalwarts of business acumen, creativity, influence, and the ability to build a team. All this mingling with newer expectations such as global cultural agility, an understanding of emerging technologies and how to harness these for business success, and the ability to successfully manage and integrate Millennials into the workplace.

Despite these attributes being known and understood, the research showed that the quality of leadership has declined over the past decade. This suggests that existing talent management systems and procedures are not enabling businesses to keep up with the changing expectations of its current and future leaders.

Deloitte surveyed a wide pool of respondents, mainly senior leaders, all the way up to Board level, with 79 percent at senior manager level or above. 2,500 business and HR leaders took part in the survey with results from 94 countries captured in the survey.

Key findings include that 51 per cent of respondents have little confidence in their ability to maintain clear, consistent succession programmes. Not only are modern-day companies not developing enough leaders, but they are also not equipping the leaders they are recruiting with the essential skills and abilities that they require in order to succeed.