managers hold key to RTO success

• Key insight: Discover how managers, not technology, will determine retention in the age of AI.
• What’s at stake: Weak management and burnout threaten productivity and talent retention in industries.
• Looking ahead: Prepare for AI adoption that requires transparency, training, and manager-led cultural change.
  Source: AI generated bullets with editorial review

As AI reshapes the future of middle management, a new survey from hotel giant Hilton highlights a workplace reality that hasn’t changed: Employees still place a high value on their relationship with their managers.

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Half of employees cite feeling valued as the main reason they stay in their job, and 92% say a good relationship with their manager is critical to their happiness, according to Hilton’s first Workplace Culture Trends Report.

Burnout (41%) and weak managers (33%) are the two main barriers to employee performance. 77 percent of employees say they are more likely to stay in their workplace when leaders listen and foster community.

“In an increasingly digital, fast-paced and disconnected world, people want something fundamentally human: connection, trust, stability and opportunity for growth,” said Christine Maginnis, Hilton’s senior vice president of global talent. “The report shows that when employees experience these things, they are more engaged, more likely to stay and ultimately deliver stronger business results.”

Read more: Managers play a key role in employee mental health, benefit utilization

Maginnis recently spoke with Employee Benefit News about these survey findings and more, including how employers can strengthen workplace connections, navigate the rise of AI, and build cultures that encourage employee retention. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Your report says that employees still see value in the office. Does this mean the RTO debate is starting to change?
The report highlights an evolutionary approach back to the office interview, Many organizations are looking at how to reframe their office assistance offering. Workers, especially the younger generation, are not looking for productivity from the office, but rather a space for connection, relationships and community as they enter the early years of their careers. For example, 94% of employees see purpose in the office – and a striking 96% of Gen Z workers – The value of entering the office. That desire is driven in part by the finding that nearly half of early-career workers feel lonely at work, and Gen Z are twice as likely as Gen X to experience it.

So it’s not asking for presence, but creating magnet environments, not a mandate. It means creating opportunities for team members to gather, connect and build the trust and relationships essential to a thriving culture and innovation.

More than half of employees are concerned about AI. What should employers be doing differently right now?
It’s understandable that people feel nervous. Whenever there is significant technological change, there is uncertainty. The role of business leaders is to replace uncertainty with clarity. That starts with being transparent how AI will be used, investing in training so employees feel confident using it, and reinforcing that AI is there to augment people, not replace what makes them uniquely valuable.

At Hilton, we see AI as a tool that helps our team members work more efficiently, so they can spend more time doing what only people can do: building relationships, solving problems and providing genuine hospitality. When organizations invest as much in training their people as they do in technology, they build trust, which is what enables successful adoption.

How should employers balance AI investments with investments in people and capabilities?
Success requires a hybrid model where technology blends with human feedback, keeping people engaged and enabling technology to be used. enhance their work, not replace it. If you can do that, then you can empower them and enable them to thrive in their roles.

Technology can create scale, but it cannot create culture. Creating opportunities for groups to learn Experiment with AI, we can promote a sense of community and shared growth. This approach ensures that AI is a tool that enhances our capabilities, not a limitation to human connection.

Your research shows that managers have a huge impact on happiness. How should employers better support and train managers?
A critical focus should be training managers to provide “empathetic flexibility,” as 71% of employees say they are more likely to stay at a company if their manager offers flexibility for personal needs. Ultimately, it’s about making sure your teams have a people-first approach to leadership. This is how you build engagement, loyalty and performance.

As leaders, it belongs to us the role of empowering managers to build everyday moments where people feel seen and valued. To do this effectively, we need to equip them with the practical tools and decision-making autonomy needed to support their teams in unique real-life situations. By changing our training from compliance to strict policies to human-centered leadership, With the tools and autonomy they need to succeed, we empower managers to build deeper trust and long-term loyalty.

If budgets are tight, which cultural investments provide the greatest return on retention?
You don’t need expensive, flashy perks to keep your team engaged and loyal. Our research has found that human-centric elements, such as feeling valued and having clear career growth, trump perks as the main drivers of retention. Mentoring is also a massive and profitable driver, with 77% of employees reporting that mentoring has an impact on their happiness at work.

Which of these trends do you think companies are still getting wrong?
In my opinion, too many organizations still think of culture as a program instead of an everyday experience. They invest in benefits, initiatives, or new technology, but underestimate the impact that managers, team dynamics, and day-to-day interactions have on the way people actually experience work.

Our research shows that Whether we’re talking about AI or not, career growth, flexibility or connection, the common thread is trust. Employees want to feel supported, heard and confident that their organization is invested in their success. The organizations that get this right won’t be the ones with the most programs, they’ll be the ones that consistently create an environment where people are connected, empowered and able to do their best work.