How Does an Influencer’s Reputation Affect a Brand’s Reputation?
Influencer marketing is not only about follower numbers and creative content, but also about the credibility and reputation of both parties involved in the collaboration.
Leadership in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Employees are no longer looking for more content, but for greater presence.
—
4 min to read
Written by:
Nataša Blagojević
A recent study by the global agency network Golin & Ketchum explored employees’ perceptions of leadership, in other words, what they expect from leaders today, particularly in the context of the significant changes brought by the development of artificial intelligence. While considerable attention has been devoted over the years to understanding different demographic groups, the findings of this study shed new light on some of those assumptions. Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers may, after all, have more similarities than differences in the workplace.
More presence, less screen time
Across all generations, staying connected with employees (50%) was identified as the single most important leadership quality, followed by accountability (47%). Transparency, experience and competence also ranked among the top five qualities. However, what appears at the bottom of the list is equally interesting. Charisma and communication strongly focused on an organisation’s purpose are not among employees’ most important expectations. An immaculately polished leadership image matters even less.
These findings are also reflected in employees’ communication preferences. They favour a simple, direct approach over scripted messages and highly produced content. As many as 72% prefer communication with a conversational tone, while 70% choose a straightforward style over polished production. Another 65% favour a direct approach over entertainment. Perhaps most notably, across all generations, in-person meetings (40–47%) and face-to-face conversations (39–43%) rank high among employees’ priorities.
While AI enables us to produce more content quickly and efficiently, that is not necessarily what employees truly expect from their leaders. Quite the opposite: they are looking for more in-person interaction and less communication through screens.
The communication gap on the frontline
Another important finding emerged from a deeper analysis of expectations among employees in different roles within organisations. People who work outside the office and are closest to day-to-day operations, so-called frontline employees, place greater value on leaders staying connected with employees than their office-based colleagues do (54% vs. 44%). The gap is even wider when it comes to face-to-face communication, preferred by 48% of frontline employees compared with 37% of office-based employees. Most importantly, today’s leaders should take note that as many as 26% of frontline employees believe they receive too little communication from their leaders, compared with 17% of office-based employees.
Viewed in the context of current labour market trends, these findings offer important insights. Many industries are already facing labour shortages, while demand is growing for employees and professions that combine practical, hands-on skills with AI expertise. In this environment, placing greater emphasis on in-person contact and direct communication with employees can become a significant competitive advantage for organisations seeking to attract and retain these increasingly valuable profiles.
How to Address These Challenges in Practice
There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has made it significantly easier to prepare emails, intranet announcements, presentations, LinkedIn posts and other employee communications. Yet it seems that the more AI-generated content we produce, the more valuable human contact and the effort and time leaders invest in face-to-face communication becomes.
Still, this does not mean organisations should abandon AI-generated content, or the digital channels and formats that have proven effective so far. After all, their role remains particularly important in large, complex and geographically dispersed organisations. However, for leaders and internal communications teams alike, the key to success will increasingly lie in finding the right balance between the benefits AI brings to content creation and genuine in-person communication.
More frequent visits to workplaces, in-person town hall meetings for all employees, meetings with smaller operational teams, internal training sessions and even more informal opportunities to connect with colleagues can be a good starting point. In a way, the traditional open-door policy increasingly needs to be complemented by a closed-laptop policy, recognising when it is time to do exactly that: put the screen down and talk to people face to face.
