Deloitte Private recently released its report, Private Company Outlook: Talent Development, which featured insights from 100 private company leaders on their approach to talent development currently and what they expect it to be over the next 12 months. The report found that the top business priority among these leaders for 2025 is increasing productivity and that those surveyed expect technology enhancements to play a major role in increasing collaboration among their workforce. We spoke to Wolfe Tone, U.S. and global leader to take a deeper look inside the report’s findings.
Private Company Director: As it relates to talent development, what did Deloitte’s report on the private company’s outlook on talent development reveal to be the top priorities of business leaders?
Wolfe Tone: Overall, the survey revealed that private companies are widely focusing on talent development in the year ahead, as nearly three quarters of private business leaders plan to increase investment in these programs in the next 12 months. Productivity and leadership succession were the top two business priorities for the coming months at 36% and 33%, respectively, while managing liquidity and pursuing M&A appeared the lowest. The shift of prioritization from raising capital to talent matters may indicate private company leaders having an increasing level of confidence in their respective businesses as well as the overall economy.
Organizations are also adopting innovative approaches to talent development, with reverse mentoring emerging as the most popular approach — suggesting that leaders view early-career employees as having unique capabilities that could be taught to more experienced leaders. Not only may this increase productivity but also it may enhance employee engagement on all levels.
PCD: Is there a difference between what is being prioritized by larger private companies as opposed to their smaller counterparts?
WT: Nearly three quarters of leaders surveyed stated that employee engagement is one of the most important outcomes of development programs, but productivity was especially important among organizations with under $500 million in annual revenue — with 80% of respondents selecting it as a key outcome. More specifically, when asked about ways they are maintaining corporate culture in a hybrid work environment, respondents from larger private companies ($500 million or more in annual revenue) more frequently cited in-office events by 20 percentage points than respondents from smaller organizations (under $500 million in revenue). Meanwhile, we saw a larger percentage of smaller-revenue companies looking to collaboration and productivity technology as tools to maintain corporate culture in a hybrid work environment.
It’s possible that larger enterprises turn to in-office events more because they are more likely to have the resources and real estate to accommodate in-person collaboration. It can also be easier to establish and define company culture with fewer employees — having a larger workforce may require leaders to more proactively facilitate organized in-person events to foster a sense of connectivity. However, the survey revealed a broad emphasis among all respondents on providing resources to enable remote and hybrid work to enhance workforce development.
PCD: It would seem that a majority of private companies plan to increase their investment in talent development despite implementation challenges. What have been some of those implementation challenges thus far?
WT: The potential for low employee engagement and difficulties measuring effectiveness were the top two challenges that emerged at 59% and 57%, respectively.
Organizations with $500 million or more in annual revenue were three times more likely to consider gaining support from other leaders or stakeholders as one of their biggest challenges compared with those with less than $500 million. One explanation for this could be an outcome of scale — with larger private enterprises needing to garner approvals from more stakeholders and leaders, which can pose a logistical challenge.