We asked over 300 people leaders what their biggest challenge is and here's what they said.

We are in the midst of hosting our second annual #pandohorizons virtual summit a 2-day event for modern people leaders (check out the agenda and register here ).

As part of registration, we've asked people leaders to share with us the biggest challenge they face today. It was an optional field but more than 300 people leaders shared with us some of the things that keep them up at night.

I personally read through every answer that was submitted and to get a good understanding of what people are looking to learn from the event and our speakers. While reading through the responses, I empathized with all these leaders–feeling both frustrated and overwhelmed but also energized and inspired by everyone's vulnerability, honesty and motivation to build truly great workplaces!?

It is clear that these people really care and are doing everything they can to find ways to enable their organizations and the humans within them to thrive!?

Here are some of the pain points shared:

• "How to measure performance in an agile way, ensure valuable feedback and next growth steps"
• "It's difficult to tell the story of how an employee is actually performing against expectations."
• "What skills to train for maximum learning agility, flexibility and adaptability of abilities in constantly changing workplace where jobs we hired for may not be what's needed in 3 months."
• "Scaling a startup with ambitious and talented people who want opportunities to grow"
• "Change Management in this day and age of information overload, competing priorities, and fast pace of change"
• "Positioning remote-first EX mapping as an essential business need to retain talent and increase profits."
• "How do we keep everyone informed about important topics and how can we ensure a cross-functional exchange between our employees."
• "Totally remote company, with a unique culture which is expanding - how to maintain culture as we expand"
• "Our processes are disconnected from each other and not well documented. In addition our colleagues are fully remote now making it even more complex."
• "Our leadership team not aligned"
• "Lack of empowered decision makers in our individual contributor group"
• "Establishing a healthy culture of giving feedback and visibility on performance for people managers in our globally distributed team."
• "Forming social glue in a fully remote company with no budget and lots of Zoom fatigue"
• "Managing up to a CEO who says he is open to feedback but actually isn't"

Do any of these statements resonate with you? Of all the challenges submitted, there were 5 core themes that emerged. Here's a quick review of those themes, and some sessions at Pando Horizons this week that will help you navigate these challenges.

#1 Employee performance & growth?

From performance management/measurement, to up-skilling staff, to developing new managers, and creating clear career paths–employee growth and performance toped the list. I am happy to see this is a focus for companies considering it’s the number reason folks leave–and supports the challenge that many companies are facing, in spite of layoffs–retaining their talent.

Horizons sessions to check out:

• The Future of Employee Performance: Maximizing Impact Through Continuous Progression with me!
• Super learning: The Most Urgent Skill of Our Time with Brendon Nimphius from LifeLabs Learning for

#2 Alignment & change management?

The second biggest challenge, which is no surprise given the complexity of work today and the rapid shifts that are happening all around us are themes around alignment. From lack of resources, to general change management, influencing leaders, or lacking leadership buy-in, adapting to and driving change is major challenge for people leaders today.?

Horizons sessions to check out:

• Art of Influence: The Chief People Officer's Guide to Impacting the Executive Suite a fireside chat with Tony Jamous
• Influencing leaders: Gaining and Keeping Your Seat at The Table with Misha Bartlett , Niriksha Kannan , Kobi Ampoma , Brandon Woods , and Mirissa Pesapane, M. Psych., LPCC

#3 Remote work?

It seems that everyone is struggling with some aspect of remote work. Even companies that are remote-first have challenges here. More so are the majority of companies who are now trying to adapt their programs, practices and people to remote or hybrid work. From onboarding to recruiting to compensation, everything is being impacted by the nuance and complexity of the rapidly shifting remote or hybrid operating model.

Horizons sessions to check out:

• Employee Journey Mapping: Designing Remote-first Employee Experiences with Stacey Nordwall (she/her) , Alicia Henríquez (she/her/ella) , and Andrew Gobran
• Compensation Philosophies: How to Design Your First Comp Plan with Nathalie McGrath , Melanie Naranjo , Jacqueline (Jac) Meyer , and Alexis McEvoy

#4 Culture & communication?

This remains a major challenge for many people leaders. With the backdrop of remote, distributed and diverse teams, how do you build a culture that works for everyone and communicate regularly, and effectively to ensure alignment, performance and productivity.?Other challenges like lack of alignment or in-ability to drive change are also directly related to company culture.

• Change Tactics: How to Build a Culture of Continuous Feedback with Adam Plachta , Deborah Hanus , Alexis Kavazanjian , Massella Dukuly

#5 Engagement & retention?

So many people leaders flagged retention as a major challenge. I’ve personally talked to a lot of people leaders themselves who are leaving their roles because of burnout, lack of appreciation as well as company leadership prioritizing everything else over their people.?Engagement and retention are inextricably tied together. While, there has been a temporarily power shift as so many companies have done layoffs, this power-balance will shift back to employees and how companies treat people, and what they focus on during these times will lay the foundation for how their businesses do coming out the other side of this.

• How Psychological Safety Unlocks the True Potential of Your Team with Mark Frein and Steve Peralta

If you haven't already signed up, join us next week for our second annual #pandohrozions event. We will be diving into the most pressing challenges for people leaders today, and providing practical, actionable and concrete ways for you to solve these challenges today! Don't miss it.

Can't attend live? No problem. All sessions will be recorded and made available for those who register. Register now .