How to Strategically Plan a Budget for HR in 2024The article discusses strategies for planning an HR budget for 2024, emphasizing the need for advanced HR technology and digital tools to enhance employee experience. It highlights the importance of focusing on talent retention due to high attrition rates in Asia and adapting to changes in the workforce market. The article stresses compliance with labor law changes and the need for a data-driven approach to budgeting. It outlines key budget components, including recruitment, training, salaries, HR technology, and employee well-being, to ensure a comprehensive plan for organizational growth and success.
As companies brace themselves for 2024, many HR teams are busy preparing comprehensive budgets for the coming year. Fortunately, with a host of cutting-edge HR technology and digital tools available, companies can plan a budget with more resources at their fingertips to better plan for the year ahead, significantly enhancing the overall employee experience.
In terms of a direction for 2024, companies are encouraged to channel more efforts towards talent retention, given the high attrition rates across Asia. In an effort to further empower their workforce and improve organisational culture, having the right HR tech is also a crucial consideration.
On that note, let’s look at how to create your 2024 HR budget and what to include in it.
What’s Most Important in Your 2024 Budget Plan
Keeping up with recent advancements for your workforce:
Understand how the talent market in 2023 will differ from 2024’s and plan for your manpower accordingly.
Consider if there has been a new shift towards or an increased use of AI tools to enhance both employee experience and candidate experience. According to analytics and advisory company Gallup, higher employee engagement translates to increased profitability – 23% more, according to their research.
Compare the workforce flexibility levels in your company with that of the overall job market – bearing in mind that there is a greater inclination towards a more flexible workforce, in terms of temporary and contract vs. permanent staffing.
Consider any increase in costs due to inflation, as salary (and potentially benefit) increments will have to be made accordingly.
A greater focus on talent retention:
To be able to maintain a robust and healthy workforce means to prioritise talent retention. With high employee attrition rates and talent retention being a top HR challenge in 2023, a key focus for businesses should be on how to retain their workforce better in 2024.
After conducting a thorough review internally, consider looking into programmes, practices and systems that can improve employee satisfaction, provide stronger employee assistance programmes and support, as well as streamline the overall HR experience for your employees.
Remaining compliant with labour law changes:
Given that 2023 has been a year with many labour law developments across various countries in APAC – such as Malaysia’s massive overhaul of its Employment Act and Singapore’s introduction of the COMPASS framework for Employment Pass applications – it is highly crucial for companies to remain compliant with upcoming labour law changes in all locations, particularly those with a presence in multiple countries.
Compliance can come in the form of adhering to minimum wage hikes, new tax brackets, increased number of leave, and so on – all of which can incur additional costs and would need to be accounted for in the HR budget. Additionally, remaining compliant with labour laws ensures there are minimal legal and financial repercussions, leading to a more prudent budget.
How Do You Prepare an HR Budget?
When you plan a budget for HR, some crucial pointers to have in mind when listing down what to include are:
Building a Strategy for Smart Expansion: Consider your company’s expansion plans for 2024 – if any. Coming up with a solid plan if you want to expand in 2024 is crucial, and you can consider a low-cost and minimal-risk option such as an employer of record. According to an article by Yahoo! Finance, in 2023, the worldwide EOR market reached a value of USD 1890.29 million and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.07% over the forecast period, ultimately reaching USD 3745.43 million by 2030.
For companies with multiple locations, when revising the budget, HR will look at which locations are now more mature and stable compared to last year to allocate the budget more evenly.
Investing in The Right Software and HR Tech: Get acquainted with the latest AI trends in hiring and find out how the right tools can enhance your journey of finding the right people to join your workforce.
Integration Options for Different Business Sizes: Speaking of knowing what works for your company size, if you’re a regional company, you’d likely work with a payroll outsourcing provider to streamline your regional payroll. Revisit your current service to see if its integration capabilities are still suited to your business – depending on if your headcount has been expanded or downsized recently.
A Data-Driven 2024 budget: A budget that is tailored heavily based on data allows for better foresight, less errors and allows you to make better informed decisions for your businesses. A report by McKinsey Global Institute shows that data-driven organisations are likely to be 19 times more profitable, and 6 times more likely to retain those customers. You can use data from previous budgets to get insights on what to do differently this time.
What are the must-haves in your HR budget?
If you’re wondering what a complete 2024 budget should entail, the following list can serve as a general checklist of what to cover:
Recruitment and hiring
Hiring Agency / Job advertisements
Employee assistance programmes
Interviews, screening candidates and background checks
HCM software management
Onboarding procedures
Employee relocations
Recruitment marketing
Talent retention
Outplacement Services (if required)
Visas and work permits
Training and development
Employee Certifications
Trainer/expert/consultant fees
Addressing skills gaps
Learning systems
Salaries and other benefits
Employee salaries
Overtime pay
Payroll system management and maintenance
Insurance & healthcare
Other statutory contributions
Retirement plans
Paid time off
Employee bonuses
HR Technology
HR Information Systems
Payroll Outsourcing Systems and Integration costs
HR Vendor
HR Team Upskilling
HR Certifications
Workshop and Training budgets for HR team
Diversity and Inclusion
Increase in diversity hiring
Implementation of inclusive hiring practices
Employee safety and well-being
Employee health
Security at work
Physical and mental employee well-being
Others
Employee/employer appraisals and surveys
Upkeep of recreational areas in the office
Company trips
Fitness facilities
Safety trainings
Some resources to use when you plan a budget for HR:
Having a wealth of handy information can help you plan a budget more efficiently. If you’re looking for resources on the latest HR developments across idea, here are a few you might want to look at.
Resources
Guide to Hiring in Asia – A compilation of in-depth guides for various countries across Asia on how to compliantly hire employees in each country.
APAC Labour Law Insider – Quarterly updates on HR legislations across 17 locations in Asia.
China Labour Law Updates – Monthly updates on China’s labour laws.
Labour Law and Compliance Workshop Webinars – Complimentary webinars on labour law updates across various locations in Asia.
Templates and Checklists
HR Onboarding Checklist Template
Payroll Request For Payroll Template (RFP) Template
Handover List Template
Layoff Planning Checklist
China Personal Information Protection Law HR Compliance Checklist
Out of Office Message Template
In conclusion, having an HR budget is essential for companies as it provides a structured financial plan to effectively manage and optimise their most valuable asset – their workforce. It ensures that resources are allocated for hiring, training, and retaining employees, ultimately contributing to organisational success and growth.
Looking for a HR provider that can offer you HR outsourcing, advisory and HR tech services? At Links, we look forward to providing you with complete HR solutions to drive your organisation. Contact us today for more information!
Employee Experience
2023年11月28日
Employee Experience
AIHR:Measuring Employee Experience: A Practical Guide for 2024
Keeping your employees engaged, motivated, and satisfied throughout their journey with your organization is key to business success. Measuring employee experience allows HR professionals to understand how their workforce feels and ensure the team remains fulfilled.
In this article, we’ll explore how to measure employee experience, evaluate the results, and turn them into meaningful action.
Contents
What is employee experience (EX)?
Why measure employee experience?
How to measure employee experience
Best practices for measuring employee experience
FAQ
What is employee experience (EX)?
Employee experience (EX), in its simplest form, is how employees perceive their stay at your organization from when they apply for a job to after they leave.
It encompasses various dimensions – ranging from the physical workspace and technological tools being used to the organizational culture, professional growth opportunities made available, and social interactions they have with colleagues or superiors.
It’s more than just a collection of daily experiences at work; EX profoundly shapes an employee’s perceptions about their employer and impacts their decision to stay or leave.
DIVE DEEPEREmployee Experience vs. Employee Engagement: 4 Differences To Know
Why measure employee experience?
87% of employee experience experts say that a great employee experience helps retain and attract talent. However, only 51% of employees feel that their organization is delivering on the experience they promised.
By measuring employee experience, you can uncover and fix issues and discrepancies to reap the benefits of a satisfied and engaged workforce.
Let’s break down the reasons why you should measure employee experience.
Enhanced productivity and performance
Research shows that superior employee experience (EX) may lead to enhanced productivity.
Employees who feel satisfied, empowered, and valued are more motivated to perform at their highest level. They significantly contribute to organizational goals, which can result in an over 50% increase in revenue.
By focusing on optimizing the employee journey – from end to end – companies can foster a work environment that stimulates both individual and team performance.
LEARN MORE23 Key Employee Experience Statistics You Should Know in 2024
Retaining talent
Monitoring and enhancing EX levels significantly contributes to improving retention rates. Employees who resonate with their company culture and find meaning in their work stay longer in their organizations.
Examining facets like workplace habits or preferences provides employers invaluable insights related to employee experience – which ultimately feeds into long-term staff retention strategies.
Making informed decisions related to HR practices
A robust method of measuring employee experience offers in-depth insights into how employees perceive things such as career development opportunities or even intricate details like office seating arrangements.
This helps HR shape policies and practices strategically and make smarter decisions that maximize the workforce potential while actively minimizing discontentment factors.
Enhanced customer experience
A happier workforce equals happier customers. Companies with great employee experience report 2X as high customer satisfaction levels compared to businesses scoring low on employee experience.
A well-executed EX strategy will aid your organization in delivering higher standards of service, creating a ripple effect that extends far beyond merely measuring employee experience for internal benefit.
Australian Defence Bank collaborated with the employee and customer experience management platform Insync to measure and improve EX and CX.
Investing in their employees has helped them build a motivated workforce and get outstanding business results. Not only are they in the top 10% for employee engagement compared to other financial organizations, but they have also achieved record deposit growth in transaction and savings account balances.
Innovation, growth, and improved organizational performance
As we’ve already alluded to, keeping your finger on the pulse of EX can set the scene for broader innovation and growth within an organization.
Employee experience goes hand in hand with employee engagement, which helps foster an innovative culture and a passionate commitment to ongoing improvement—an infallible recipe to drive the company performance northward.
To sum it up, measuring employee experience isn’t simply good practice, but it can bring numerous strategic benefits that make a profound impact on organizations and their competitive standing in the market.
How to measure employee experience
Employee experience is a multifaceted and intangible concept, which is not easy to quantify at first sight. Successfully measuring it involves defining relevant employee experience metrics and methods of measurement to collect the data.
Let’s take a closer look.
1. Define and track employee experience metrics
Employee experience metrics allow organizations to gain insight into the wellbeing, satisfaction, and productivity of their teams. The following metrics serve as good indicators of the employee experience levels at your organization:
Retention rates
Retention rates signify how many employees remained within the company over a specified period. A high employee retention rate generally implies positive experiences at work, while low rates indicate potential problems or dissatisfactions among staff.
Intent to stay
This metric shows how many employees foresee themselves staying with an organization over a lengthy period. It can provide insights into the workforce’s commitment level and their perception of future opportunities within the company.
Number of employee referrals
The number of referrals from existing staff suggests how highly they rate working within the organization. The higher this figure is, the more positive opinions workers hold about their employee experience, and that’s why they’re willing to recommend you as an employer.
Productivity metrics
Productivity indicators such as performance ratings or meeting project deadlines can reveal a lot about how efficiently an employee works. High productivity levels generally imply a supportive environment that propels the team towards achieving set objectives.
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
The eNPS asks employees on a scale from 0-10 whether they would recommend their place of work to others – typically friends or family members. The data gleaned helps appraise the overall employee experience levels.
Employee Experience Index
The Employee Experience Index score takes into account an array of factors influencing the overall workplace atmosphere, like engagement levels, empowerment feelings, job fulfillment factors, and key performance indicator achievement. It provides a holistic overview of what it might be like working for your organization.
The exact dimensions of the Employee Experience Index depend on how an organization defines it. Two well-known Employee Experience Index systems have been developed by IBM and Forrester.
2. Administer surveys
Once you know what insights you’re hoping to gain, you can start collecting data. Surveys are an indispensable tool for measuring employee experience.
There are a couple of types of surveys that you can utilize.
Employee experience surveys
Employee experience surveys provide an avenue for employees to confidentially share views about their workplace, its leadership practices, and its culture. Organizations typically conduct employee experience surveys annually, bi-annually, or quarterly.
Including both quantitative and qualitative questions in your survey will provide you with comprehensive data on your respondents’ perspectives.
Quantitative questions, usually closed-ended, help gather structured data that you can do a statistical analysis of, revealing patterns and trends in responses.
On the other hand, qualitative questions, typically open-ended, elicit descriptive and narrative responses that dive deeper into the nuances and complexities of participants’ experiences and feelings. These responses shed light on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ behind the numbers, uncovering the underlying motivations, beliefs, and emotions that drive behaviors and opinions.
By incorporating both types of questions, you can capture the breadth of information and the depth of insights.
Employee experience survey questions examples
Next to the eNPS question “On a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our organization as a place to work to your friends and family?”, examples of quantitative employee experience survey questions include:
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being “Not at all” and 10 being “Extremely”:
How satisfied are you with the opportunities for professional development within the company?
How confident do you feel in your current role and responsibilities?
How supported do you feel by your direct supervisor or manager?
Qualitative questions you can consider covering in your survey are:
In your opinion, what 2-3 changes could be made to improve the overall work environment and culture?
What aspects of our company’s culture do you value the most?
If you could recommend one thing to improve team collaboration, what would it be and why?
Pulse surveys
Pulse surveys are short, frequent surveys designed to quickly capture employee feedback and continuously gauge overall sentiment about their workplace experience.
Focusing on a few key questions, they are less burdensome for employees, leading to higher response rates. These surveys can help organizations zoom in on current events or specific workplace issues that impact employee experience.
However, regularly collecting data can lead to an abundance of information. Organizations must have the capacity and tools to analyze and act on this data to prevent it from becoming overwhelming or underutilized.
It’s crucial to use pulse surveys strategically and in combination with other feedback mechanisms to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the employee experience.
New hire surveys
New hire surveys help you capture insights about one of the most crucial “moments that matter” in an employee’s journey: their onboarding. This initial phase sets the tone for an employee’s tenure with the company, shaping their perceptions, expectations, and overall sentiment toward the organization.
You can glean valuable feedback about the effectiveness of your onboarding processes, the clarity of role expectations, and the cultural immersion experience.
This feedback not only provides a snapshot of the new employees’ experience but also offers actionable insights for organizations to refine their onboarding processes so that they create a positive and lasting first impression.
3. Conduct qualitative interviews
One-on-one dialogues with employees afford a deeper understanding of the intricacies at play regarding the overall employee experience.
By conducting employee interviews, you can complement and enrich your survey data. They provide you with an excellent opportunity to ask open-ended questions and give your employees space to express their opinions and perceptions.
Two common types of interviews to gather qualitative data are stay interviews and exit interviews.
Stay interviews
These discussions aim to find out why employees opt to remain with an organization. HR professionals can then identify the positive aspects of their working experiences that should be reinforced or replicated.
Exit interviews
Exit interviews help you assess why employees leave your organization and how they see their time spent working for you. These discussions allow you to better understand the challenges our employees face at work, providing insights into potential corrective measures.
By adopting these varied approaches blending both quantitative and qualitative employee experience measurement methods, businesses can effectively gauge worker sentiments – thereby improving employee experiences and driving organizational success.
Best practices for measuring employee experience
Measuring employee experience effectively goes beyond defining relevant metrics and conducting surveys and interviews.
To get a comprehensive view of employee experience at your organization and put your findings into action, you need to follow these five best practices.
Setting clear objectives
Begin with a set of distinct objectives that align with your company’s overall business strategy. This is crucial for accurately evaluating the employee experience.
Why exactly do you want to assess employee experience? Are you aiming to increase productivity or retention rates or encourage higher creativity levels across teams?
Your end goals play an indispensable role in determining which part of the employee journey needs focus and what type of feedback you need from the employees.
Conducting research across different employee groups
When you’re measuring employee experience, you need to recognize diversity within your workforce. That helps you accurately capture different facets of the work experiences of diverse groups in your organization.
Make sure to survey or interview employees from diverse backgrounds, different job levels, departments, and lengths of service to understand the unique challenges they might face.
Dell Technologies partnered with an employee experience measurement platform Voxxify to design a hybrid work plan for one of their European offices. Over 60% of employees responded to the survey, providing more than 2,100 individual comments.
The analysis results helped identify four areas of focus. These included updating the handbook for managers and employees for hybrid work considerations, defining the value of coming into the office, supporting employees’ mental wellness, and optimizing facilities and technology to enhance the work environment.
The office now sees occupancy rates of 60% or more on Tuesdays through Thursdays, and the success of the measurement effort has led to plans to repeat it annually.
Overcoming survey fatigue and ensuring participation
It may be tempting to send surveys left and right for comprehensive data collection when measuring employee experience. However, you should really avoid doing so. Survey fatigue can quickly pile up, draining previously enthusiastic participants’ eagerness to provide valuable insights.
To keep engagement high and maximize response rates, make sure your surveys are succinct yet thorough. Carefully plan your survey schedule to not overwhelm your team. For example, you can send out a comprehensive survey quarterly or bi-annually, with a couple of shorter pulse surveys in between.
It also helps to effectively communicate the purpose behind these assessments, so employees see them not as tasks but as avenues towards improving their work lives. You can, for instance, share examples of initiatives you implemented based on employee feedback.
Guaranteeing confidentiality
Nothing squashes honesty quicker than a sense of insecurity surrounding responses’ anonymity, which makes maintaining confidentiality critical to effective employee experience measurement.
If you use external applications for gathering feedback, emphasize their confidentiality features.
You should also invest in fostering an environment where employees feel they can honestly express thoughts and concerns without fear of retribution. Doing so will not only amplify trust but also provide you with more authentic data to work on.
Acting on employee feedback
Once you’ve gathered and analyzed employee feedback, it’s time to take action. Prioritize high-impact initiatives and create a plan for how to implement these.
Employees need to believe that their input sparks real change; otherwise, they might lose engagement in such processes altogether. Recognize employee contributions and communicate plans about future improvements based on their input clearly. Transparency here fosters a sense of responsibility among the staff and improves morale during periods of change.
Ultimately, measuring employee experience is a cyclical process. It starts from setting clear objectives leading up each step to enacting feedback-led changes and then identifying newer areas for improvement continuously.
Key takeaway
Staying on top of your employees’ experiences at work allows companies to detect dissatisfaction early enough and tackle issues before they develop into bigger problems. It’s a great way to improve HR practices and design employee experience that promotes productivity, talent retention rates, and ultimately a better workplace environment.
Relevant employee experience metrics help you quantify the concept and solidify your measurement process. Surveys and qualitative interviews give voice to your employees, offering rich insights into the workers’ perceptions of the workplace.
However, it’s the organization’s responsiveness to feedback that significantly impacts the effectiveness of measuring employee experience. It is key to not just listen but also take action based on employees’ feedback for positive changes.
FAQ
What are the most important employee experience metrics to measure?
When it comes to measuring employee experience, key metrics that organizations use include:
– Retention rates: Your business’s retention rates can reveal much about employees’ willingness to commit long-term to an organization.
– Intent to stay: Beyond just assessing current employee tenure, discerning whether staff members aspire to stay with the company for the foreseeable future is a valuable indicator of how they perceive their journey at your organization.
– Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): This quantifies how likely employees would recommend their workplace to others – a telling sign of overall satisfaction and positive employee experience.
A combination of several employee experience metrics paints a nuanced picture of overall employee experience in any organization.
Are surveys the best way to measure employee experience?
Surveys play an instrumental role in gauging overall employee experience levels—all thanks to their ability for large-scale data collection and sentiment analysis. They also provide insights into potential pain points and highlight areas for improvement according to actual employee sentiments.
However, while valuable, relying solely on surveys can lead to limited insights. Conducting different types of interviews, like stay and exit interviews, helps complement the survey data with deeper insights.
What is the Employee Experience Index?
The Employee Experience Index is a metric that aims to give a comprehensive view of employees’ experience. Essentially, it helps you gauge the overall ‘health’ of organizational culture and environment.
IBM’s Employee Experience Index assesses employee experience on five core dimensions: Belonging, Purpose, Achievement, Happiness, and Vigor.
The Employee Experience Index from Forrester evaluates three elements of EX: Empower, Inspire, and Enable.
Employee Experience
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