A recent report revealed that although 85 percent of HR leaders impact specific areas, only 33 per cent are acknowledged as crucial drivers of business success. With HR needing to show alignment with broader business goals (including productivity, retention, and decreased turnover), what trends are likely to be ahead?
1. AI-enhanced HR digitisation
For years, HR digitisation has been a hot topic that comes in many different flavours, taking many forms before landing on AI in 2024.
The evolved tech can support HR, and the help spans from bias-free hiring to simple task assistance, automating surveys and planning, distilling onboarding information into easy-to-understand guidance, and more.
According to Gartner, 38% of HR leaders have explored or implemented AI solutions to improve process efficiency within their organisation. The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) sees payroll leveraging AI to combat fraud, identify anomalies and for employee queries and ready use it. But before we leap, we should look closely where we might land.
The CIPD has found little evidence of formalised training in this area. As AI grows in businesses, guardrails must be in place to protect sensitive data, something HR has access to. With outsourced suppliers, this is also a question to raise here.
As an HR professional, you will likely use AI and advise on it within your organization in the future, but the conversations are fast, and the decisions to make are vast!
2. True employee engagement and a focus on purpose
A CIPD 2024 survey has shown that increasing numbers say a job is just about the money—up from 38% in 2019 to 47% in 2024. People were also less likely to say they would work harder than they needed to help their employer, down from 57% to 51%. Neither trend is helpful in terms of improving workforce productivity.
The Good Work Index has revealed that while most people have a positive work experience with high rates of job satisfaction, fewer feel inspired by the organisation or their work than last year. They were also less likely to think their work was useful and valuable to society or served a wider purpose.
For HR leaders, that's a challenge, we think needs addressing. Team activities like volunteering are a surefire way to get the group feeling fulfilled while helping a wider community. In fact, than nine in ten calling employees call on their bosses to do more to promote volunteering opportunities.
3. Beating burnout
The Burnout Report 2024 by Mental Health UK warned that the UK was on the verge of becoming a "burnt-out nation", as nine in 10 adults (91 per cent) said they experienced high or extreme levels of pressure and stress at some point in the past year.
We all know people who work through holidays into the evenings or are available on any device at any time, and the right to disconnect is a hot topic.
For HR leaders, beating burnout requires intervention within policy. Senior managers may be the cause of bad behaviour, setting poor examples.
Spill has a fantastic guide on how to set up and apply policies to help avoid burnout through disconnecting. It includes the language to use, status messages to set, and more.
4. Enhanced employee care
Caring for employees seems like perfectly sensible business sense and a good thing for a nice human to advocate for as we sit here in 2024, but we must remember that even back in 2000, which feels just a short moment away, no one really mentioned or considered employee onboarding. It wasn't a thing. (We checked the Google searches, there were literally zero.) Now, employee care is a huge industry sitting alongside HR.
These happy souls are also far more likely to stay put, aiding retention and eliminating the enormous costs associated with employee churn.
The sector is supported by a wave of suppliers focused on employee care in many flavours.
There are now over 290 types of onboarding software available on G2
Figures from the UK's Employee Assistance Professionals Association suggest that average usage is over 12%, up from 10% pre-COVID-19, with EAPs now available to 18 million employees.
Google data reveals that employee events have had a 50% increase in searches in the last decade.
5. Tangible financial support
The cost-of-living crisis has caused hardship for many employees, and employers can help by signposting to debt support, providing advice through employee assistance programmes, clearly communicating the support available from the government, and offering hardship grants.
We’ve noticed a trend in HR pros turning to tangible assistance in the form of gift cards and ongoing initiatives within employee benefits packages.
Lifestyle Gift Cards for everyday essentials and food shopping support have considerably increased. In 2022, sales of the card rose by 520% YOY.
For HR professionals, adjusting the gap and building financial support will remain key concerns. This might also be evident in a new approach to flexible contracts.