The Best of This Week in Leadership

In 2023, inflation slowed down, but so did economic growth. More workers found themselves back at the office. And everywhere, people fretted over what AI will mean and do to the business world. Each week, Korn Ferry’s experts delved into all of those topics, and more. Here are nine of our biggest and most-talked about articles of the year.

A Changing of the CEO Guard

Some were asked to step down, but an unusually large number just got fed up and left. Many experts remain puzzled about why so many CEOS left the supreme job in the corporate-business world in 2023.

ChatGPT Invades the Workplace

Nearly half of professionals are already relying on the new AI tool (or one of its competitors) for daily work tasks, a Korn Ferry survey shows. But leaders are still figuring out how to govern the technology’s use.

Back to Work… for What?

This was the year companies got truly serious about insisting that employees come to the office. It also was the year some meaningful data came out on the pros and cons of remote versus office work.

The Breaking Point for Middle Managers

In a tough year for restructurings, particularly in technology and finance, the main target was corporate midsections. But experts warn that removing too many middle managers—and putting too much pressure on those that remain—can jeopardize many corporate priorities, such as innovation and diversity initiatives.

5 Ways to Ask for a Raise in a Performance Review

With the labor marketing tightening in 2023, employees lost a lot of power over employers. But they’ve still got some leverage, if they use the right tactics.

Pay Attention* (Because Nobody Else Is)

Call it a crisis of concentration. Today, workers spend an average of 47 seconds per task—less than a minute!—before shifting focus. There are plenty of reasons why our attention spans are diminishing. What can organizations and individual workers do to rebuild their mental fitness?

Thanks for the Promotion: I’m Leaving

It was one of the year’s head-turning stats: Nearly one-third of employees who got a promotion quit within the next month. Why would people even think about leaving—let alone jump ship—just as their employer is rewarding them?

Pay Ranges in Postings: A Range of Troubles

A slew of state laws, and some pending legislation in the EU, made many companies realize that revealing salary ranges for jobs has become a fact of life. But it has also opened a whole can of worms (think: employees’ salary questions) that many leaders didn’t seem ready for in 2023.

A Three-Day Workweek?

The headline sure sounds enticing, until you read the details. As the year drew to a close, anxiety over what AI means to workforces only grew. Will the new technology make some jobs obsolete—or will it merely make workweeks shorter and potentially less well paid?

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