Competencies for leadership development in hybrid work environments

Abstract

Orientation: The exponential change experienced by organisations, driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and accelerated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has transformed work arrangements and placed new demands on organisations to develop leadership competencies suited to this dynamic environment.
Research purpose: To identify and empirically validate the competencies for leadership development in hybrid work environments within a regulatory institution in South Africa.
Motivation for the study: Understanding the competencies required to lead distributed teams is essential for organisational resilience and employee engagement.
Research approach/design and method: A qualitative case study approach was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with 30 participants across executive and senior leadership, middle management and individual contributors. Thematic analysis, supported by ATLAS.ti, was used to identify key leadership competencies.
Main findings: The research identified nine competencies for leading hybrid teams grouped into three domains: (1) human-centric (empathy, employee well-being, trust and autonomy), (2) strategic and operational (digital proficiency, output-based management, agility and adaptability), and (3) enabling and integrative (communication, collaboration, inclusion and resilience). These formed the leadership competencies for hybrid work environments (LCHWE).
Practical/managerial implications: The findings underscore the need to identify the necessary competencies to inform effective leadership development and strategies for hybrid workforces.
Contribution/value-add: This study advances the discourse on leadership by proposing an LCHWE, providing practical guidance for leadership and talent development professionals and laying a foundation for future research.