Our latest Work Remastered data reinforces a truth many organisations are still catching up with - leadership behaviour is one of the biggest drivers of employee experience.

And while many leaders are getting it right, there are clear signals that expectations are evolving faster than leadership approaches.

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Recognition and Balance: The Things Employees Are Watching Closely

Employees are clear about what they need from leaders today.

• 27% want leaders who actively recognise effort.
• 27% want leaders who support a healthy work-life balance.

These are not nice to have leadership traits anymore. They are fundamental drivers of performance, engagement, and retention.

Recognition tells employees their contribution matters. Work-life balance tells employees their wellbeing matters. Without both, performance quickly becomes unsustainable.

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CommunicationIsn’t Just Information — It’s Inclusion

Close behind recognition and balance, 26% want communication from leaders that is open, honest, and frequent.

But employees don’t want communication to feel one-way, they want dialogue. They want their perspectives to be heard, acknowledged, and considered.

This shift reflects a broader change in leadership expectations. Authority alone no longer builds trust - participation does.

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Feeling Valued - Where Leadership Is Succeeding, and Where It Isn’t

Across the workforce, two-thirds(66%) of employees say they feel valued by leaders and line managers.

However, the data also highlights important gaps:

• US employees are more likely to feel very valued (37%).
• In the UK, 1 in 10 employees say they don’t feel valued at all.
• Employees aged 33–45 report feeling most value, that drops significantly to just 19% among employees over 45.
• Male employees are more likely to report feeling valued than female employees.

These differences matter. When certain groups consistently feel less recognised or supported, organisations risk losing experience, diversity of thinking, and long-term capability.

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Leadership Is Moving from Management to Meaning

The expectations placed on leaders today are fundamentally different from five years ago.

Employees are no longer just evaluating leadership based on direction and delivery. They are evaluating leaders based on:

• How they support wellbeing.
• How they recognise contribution.
• How they create psychological safety.
• How they include employees in conversations.
• How consistently they demonstrate respect.

Leadership is becoming less about managing performance and more about creating environments where good performance just happens.

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The Leadership Opportunity Ahead

Organisations invest heavily in strategy, technology, and transformation. But culture still rises or falls on leadership behaviour.

Employees are not expecting perfection from leaders. They’re expecting authenticity, consistency, and empathy.

The organisations that will build the strongest cultures will be those that equip leaders to:

• Recognise effort in meaningful, personalised ways.
• Model healthy work-life boundaries.
• Communicate transparently and listen actively.
• Support employees across different career stages, and demographics.

Leadership influence has never been stronger or more visible. And in today’s workplace, how leaders make people feel is increasingly determining how people perform, engage, and stay.

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