Why Your Best Talent Is Ready to Leave—and What Line Managers Can Do About It
Recruiting the talent pipeline of the future should be a priority for any organisation, but recent research indicates that these future leaders are the ones who are most likely to be thinking of leaving their current employer. The reality is concerning. A closer examination reveals a stark and troubling picture of loneliness and disengagement among these young individuals. It appears that today’s workplace is failing to offer meaning, a sense of purpose and social connection.
With remote and hybrid working now the new normal, young people are socialising with their peers less than ever before. Companies should look to the soft skills of their line managers to ensure their employees feel more appreciated and engaged. By doing so, organisations can ensure the retention of their future leaders.
The loneliness epidemic
We are currently facing an epidemic of loneliness among those in their twenties. The proportion of young people who regularly engage in social contact is declining sharply. John Burn-Murdoch recently reported in the FT that in Europe, one in four people don’t even socialise once a week – a sharp rise from one in ten.
This decline in social interaction closely correlates with rising rates of mental distress among this age group. According to Burn-Murdoch, “trends in time spent alone are an almost exact parallel of trends in mental health, where rates of mental distress are mounting among the young, but not the middle-aged or older.”
Notably, the article highlights studies showing that people in their twenties perceive themselves as spending increasingly less time on activities they consider meaningful and more time on those they view as trivial. Activities such as scrolling through social media and watching short-form videos are rated as the least meaningful.
It’s no surprise, then, that this generation spends less time with their line managers in the workplace than any other. This limits their opportunities for meaningful conversations about things that matter to them, such as their career development, personal learning, and growth.
Necessary conversation
This problem is likely to worsen as organisations seek to improve efficiency and reduce costs by outsourcing tasks such as onboarding and career development to AI. However, evidence suggests that this could prove a costly mistake. Human interaction is essential for fostering engagement and retaining talent.
Indeed, this is exactly what we found during the development of our whitepaper, “Growing Tomorrow’s Leaders. How shifting values, technology, and lifestyles are reshaping leadership development”. In our research, one Chief People Officer stressed the importance of soft skills for line managers: “Dissatisfaction with career development opportunities meant we were seriously at risk of losing good people. We need leaders who can have these conversations with people.”
The interpersonal skills of line managers play a crucial role in an organisation’s ability to retain talent, especially Millennials and Gen Z employees. Gallup’s State of the American Workplace emphasises this point, demonstrating that the soft skills of line managers can significantly impact their teams, accounting for up to 70% of the variance in employee engagement.
Looking elsewhere
Millennials and Gen Z prioritise transparency, support, and guidance in the workplace. When these needs are not met, they are likely to seek employment with companies that offer a more supportive environment.
“What Gen Z Employees Expect from Employers”, a 2021 report by McKinsey, shows that Gen Z employees place a high importance on their relationships with their managers. Additionally, a study by Deloitte found that half of Millennials would consider quitting their jobs if they did not feel appreciated by their managers. In fact, Gallup’s report on “How Millennials Want to Work and Live” suggests that Millennials are three times more likely to change jobs than older generations in any given year, often driven by a lack of growth potential.
With themes of empathy and listening consistently emerging in the management of Millennials and Gen Z, these findings suggest that empathetic leadership directly impacts retention rates, especially for younger workers.
Investing in empathetic leadership
At Threshold, our primary focus is on helping our client organisations retain their pipeline of future leaders. This involves enhancing the soft skills of line managers, specifically improving their empathy and emotional intelligence. Our research with the pollsters YouGov shows that, in order to re-engage with future talent, Line managers need to be capable of authentic, deep listening and must be able to communicate clearly while fostering psychological safety.
The evidence we’re seeing shows that even a modest investment in these fundamental human skills yields significant returns in the engagement, retention, and development of today’s talent for tomorrow and beyond.
