Four in Five HR Chiefs Say Their Leaders Are Running on Empty — and the Fix Isn't Another Training Course

Nearly four out of five HR directors describe their leadership ranks as overloaded, according to research firm Gartner, which used its HR Symposium/Xpo in Orlando to argue that gaps in top-tier capability are fast becoming an existential threat to organisations.

The numbers behind that warning are stark. One in four executives would step away from their management role if given the chance, and leaders are juggling 51 percent more tasks on average than they can realistically handle.

Gartner's prescription centres on two capabilities it considers non-negotiable for future-proofing the executive floor: a strategic command of artificial intelligence, and systematic foresight. The latter, analysts say, means scenario-based planning rather than rigid forecasts, protected time set aside for monitoring external developments, and tying pay models directly to risk preparedness.

Expectations Outpace Results on Technology

Chief executives appear convinced that algorithms will reshape their org charts. Some 56 percent expect to strip out middle-management layers within five years with the help of AI, and 77 percent of supervisory board members anticipate productivity gains and cost reductions from the technology.

Delivery tells a different story. Just 3 percent of companies are beating their savings targets through productivity effects. A 2025 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that around 95 percent of the organisations examined recorded no measurable financial impact from their generative AI initiatives — a shortfall the researchers attribute chiefly to a failure to embed the tools in actual workflows.

A Pipeline That Skips the Training

Industry surveys point to structural holes in how leaders are prepared. According to a Robert Walters poll, 35 percent of European executives have never received management training. The Chartered Management Institute found that 82 percent of the managers it studied had risen through the ranks without any formal leadership education.

For IT leaders specifically, the SIM Research Institute argues that technical knowledge matters less than critical thinking, business acumen, innovative capacity, collaboration and leadership personality.

Those deficits are showing up in how top jobs get filled. Executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles reads a growing volume of confidential searches for chief executive positions as a sign that owners and supervisory boards are losing confidence in their incumbent leaders. Many decision-makers hesitate over radical moves such as job cuts or relocating sites. A poor appointment in a key post slows an organisation visibly, blocks change and drives up staff turnover.

Boardroom Credentials, and a New Seat at Bechtle

Sector bodies are pushing for leadership development to be anchored firmly in corporate strategy. The Institute of Directors points to its own polling on the return from boardroom qualification: companies with a certified director on the board, it found, post a revenue advantage of 16.7 percent over comparable organisations.

Some firms are already restructuring to match. Bechtle AG filled a newly created position heading up HR and people development on 1 November 2026, appointing Nicole Engenhardt-Gillé. She reports to the designated chief executive and holds responsibility for strategic leadership development.

Organisational sociologist Judith Muster offers a caution against pinning failures on individuals. When projects collapse, she stresses, the fault rarely lies with single people but primarily with the structures in which they operate. That argument only strengthens the case for making deliberate capability-building a strategic priority in its own right.