David Green: The best HR & People Analytics articles of February 20252025年2月的 Data Driven HR Monthly 深入探讨了影响未来HR战略的关键趋势,涵盖了混合办公、AI驱动的技能管理、组织设计以及人力资源分析的最新发展。
麦肯锡提出了一种全新的HR运营模式,强调**“人力资源战略家、数据科学家和技术专家”** 的三位一体架构,以增强HR的战略影响力。同时,世界经济论坛(WEF)发布了**《全球技能分类法工具包》**,推动企业采用通用的技能语言,以提升人才管理能力。
另一个重要议题是任务智能(Task Intelligence),TechWolf的研究表明,企业应关注员工实际执行的任务,而不仅仅是他们具备的技能。这种方法有助于精准规划人才需求、优化招聘和培训,并挖掘自动化机会,以提升企业效能。
此外,混合办公和多样性、公平性、包容性(DEI)等议题正日益被政治化。美国最新数据表明,2025年1月仍有29%的工作日为远程办公,但企业对重返办公室(RTO)的讨论持续升温。随着AI的发展,HR部门如何平衡企业需求与员工期望,将成为未来几年最重要的挑战之一。
本期还关注了HR科技市场的发展,例如Gartner对2025年首席人力官(CHRO)的三大战略优先事项,以及AI在HR转型中的应用案例。对于希望在人力资源管理中充分利用数据和科技的HR领导者来说,本期内容不容错过!
February is supposed to be the shortest month but the 2025 version felt conspicuously long. We may be living in a post-truth world but it is an irrefutable fact that it was Ukraine that was invaded just over three years ago by 150,000 Russian troops. The Ukrainian people - and Volodymyr Zelenskyy - need to be supported not disparaged.
Compiling this month’s edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly proved to be a welcome distraction from geopolitics, even if two hitherto work topics that are increasingly being politicised - hybrid work and diversity, equity and inclusion - feature prominently. Other selections include a fresh take on the HR operating model from McKinsey, which is founded upon a strategic triumvirate of people strategists, people scientists, and people technologists. Look out also for a Global Skills Taxonomy toolkit from the World Economic Forum, as well a list of 20 global people analytics influencers, which was compiled using active ONA data. Enjoy!
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at TechWolf
Are we looking at skills the wrong way?
AI and automation are reshaping work. By 2028, one-third of enterprise software will automate tasks and decisions (Gartner), and McKinsey estimates this could add 1.2% to annual GDP growth.
Yet, 92% of HR leaders say (Gartner) they don’t have reliable data on the skills of their workforce. The challenge is clear:
How do we ensure skills evolve as fast as work itself?
Which skills actually drive business value?
How can companies align business and talent strategies with real work?
Most organizations track skills through self-reports, manager assessments, and outdated frameworks. An AI data layer like TechWolf revolutionizes that issue. But skills alone don’t tell the full story—tasks do.
"Skills tell us what someone càn do, tasks tell us what they actually do" says Jeroen Van Hautte ?, TechWolf’s CTO & Co-Founder, "They explain why those skills are needed and what value they bring."
So to understand skills, we need to understand work itself. That’s where Task Intelligence comes in.
By analyzing real work data—from projects, collaboration tools, and enterprise systems—Task Intelligence connects skills to actual work, giving companies a real-time, unbiased view of workforce capabilities.
Organizations using task intelligence to gain insights in the skills of their workforce can:
Plan workforce needs with confidence
Target learning & development where it matters
Improve hiring by focusing on real skills
Identify automation opportunities to free up time for high-value work
Curious to see how task intelligence and AI-powered skills insights are shaping the future of work? Dive into our latest insights:
? How TechWolf Bridges Skills and Work
? Exploring the Task-Skill Connection
TechWolf helps large enterprises understand the skills they have, the skills they need, and how to manage the gap in between—powered by AI.
To explore how TechWolf’s AI can help your organization, reach out at hello@techwolf.ai or visit techwolf.ai.
To sponsor an edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, and share your brand with more than 140,000 Data Driven HR Monthly subscribers, send an email to dgreen@zandel.org.
FEBRUARY ROAD REPORT
In the last week of February, I had the privilege of chairing the second People Analytics World event in Zürich, which Ralf Buechsenschuss perfectly captures in his key takeaways and learnings. Thanks to Barry Swales and his team for organising a great two days. From Zürich, I am now heading to New York where Jamie Nevshehir and his team at NBC Universal are hosting a peer meeting for members of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®. It promises to be an enthralling two days with more than 70 people analytics professionals attending and a line-up of speakers including: Dawn Klinghoffer, Geetanjali Gamel, Anshul Sheopuri and Jeremy Shapiro. Also in March, I’m looking forward to delivering keynotes at HiBob’s Heartcore HR Live event in London on March 13, as well as the Workhuman Live Forum, also in London on March 19. I hope to see some of you there. February also saw the acquisition of eqtble by Paradox - congrats to Adam Godson, Gabe Horwitz, Joseph Ifiegbu and all concerned.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for February and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on January’s compendium.
If you enjoy a dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is usually published every other Tuesday – subscribe here – and read the latest edition.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
PHIL KIRSCHNER - McKinsey On Return To Office: Leaders Are Focused On The Wrong Thing | AARON DE SMET, BROOKE WEDDLE, BRYAN HANCOCK, MARIN MUGAYAR-BALDOCCHI, AND TAYLOR LAURICELLA - Returning to the office? Focus more on practices and less on the policy | NICK BLOOM - There are lies, damned lies and statistics | NICK BLOOM - The Future of Working from Home
Leaders must stop obsessing over where work gets done and start improving how it gets done.
February’s edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly has to start with this debate on RTO and hybrid. As Phil Kirschner’s article in Forbes explains, McKinsey has been publishing the findings of its ‘talent trends’ research through six studies since 2021. He observes that one clear trend has emerged: “The tension between where employees work and how effectively work gets done has been growing.” The latest McKinsey study finds that there was a surge in RTO from 2023 to 2024, with the proportion of mostly in-person workers (those working in person at least four days a week) doubling to 68 percent, from 34 percent in 2023. In his LinkedIn post citing Mark Twain’s infamous quote, Nick Bloom, who tracks work arrangements and attitudes monthly – see wfhresearch.com – questions the McKinsey data, explaining why he believes it is flawed and has both recall and sample biases. Bloom provides alternative data sources, which find that in January 2025, 29% of paid days in the US were work-from-home days (see FIG 1). Bloom’s supposition is that McKinsey may have felt pressurised by clients that want the narrative that work from home is failing in the media. One hopes that’s not the case, particularly as the main message the authors of the McKinsey article (Aaron De Smet, Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi and Taylor Lauricella) appear to be making is that: “The working model is far less important than the work environment leaders create.” They highlight five core practices to help firms implement a policy that fits their culture: collaboration, connectivity, innovation, mentorship, and skill development (see FIG 2). With the increasing politicisation – and even weaponisation by the new US Administration - of work topics such as flexible working and DEI, expect more debates like this as the year continues to unfurl.
FIG 1: About 29% of Paid Days in the US in January 2025 Were Work-From-Home Days (Source: WFH Research)
FIG 2: Employees’ ratings of their organization’s maturity in five practices by working model (Source: McKinsey)
CALLUM MCRAE AND SAMUEL BAMIDELE - Redefining workplace flexibility: Harmonizing corporate culture and employee satisfaction | KIM PARKER - Many remote workers say they’d be likely to leave their job if they could no longer work from home | BRIAN ELLIOTT, ANNIE DEAN, AND KEVIN OAKES – Navigating the Return-to-Office, Hybrid and Remote Landscape
Three more resources to help readers of the Data Driven HR Monthly navigate the latest research, challenges and discussions on flexible working. (1) Callum McRae and Samuel BAMIDELE present the key findings from WTW’s 2024 Workplace Flexibility Pulse Survey. One finding is that while 50% of 1,200 companies who participated in the study have policies in place requiring employees to be in the office for two to four days per week, the actual number of in-person days per week is lower (see FIG 3). (2) Similar to the WTW study, which also highlights the risk of employee attrition if companies fail to balance employer and employee needs, Kim Parker presents data from the Pew Research Center, which finds that nearly half of workers who currently work from home some of the time would likely leave if they were no longer able to do so (see FIG 4). (3) Finally, I highly recommend tuning into a recent The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) webinar, which saw Brian Elliott, Annie Dean, Kevin Oakes, and host Tom Stone get into the complexities of RTO, hybrid and remote work strategies. Topics covered included workplace design, how AI can augment human potential, and how blanket RTO mandates erode trust and engagement.
FIG 3: In-office-days required vs. actual by country (Source: WTW)
FIG 4: Source: Pew Research Center
HANNAH MAYER, LAREINA YEE, MICHAEL CHUI, AND ROGER ROBERTS - Superagency in the workplace: Empowering people to unlock AI’s full potential
Almost all companies invest in AI, but just 1 percent believe they are at maturity. The biggest barrier to scaling is not employees—who are ready—but leaders, who are not steering fast enough.
Inspired by Reid Hoffman’s book Superagency, this new report from McKinsey asks a similar question: How can companies harness AI to amplify human agency and unlock new levels of creativity and productivity in the workplace? Perhaps the standout conclusion is that employees are ready for AI but that the biggest barrier to success is leadership. The report is presented in five chapters. (1) An analysis of the rapid advancement of technology over the past two years and its implications for business adoption of AI. (2) The attitudes and perceptions of employees and leaders, with the former three times more likely than leaders realise to believe that AI will replace 30 percent of their work in the next year. (3) An examination of the need for speed and safety in AI deployment, with half of employees worrying about AI inaccuracy and cybersecurity risks. (4) A look at how companies risk losing ground in the AI race if leaders do not set bold goals. (5) Guidance on what is required for leaders to set their teams up for success with AI: “The challenge of AI in the workplace is not a technology challenge. It is a business challenge that calls upon leaders to align teams, address AI headwinds, and rewire their companies for change.” Finally, the article poses three questions each for leaders and employees to meet their AI future (see FIG 5). If you enjoy the article, I also recommend diving into AI in Action, an interactive four-part learning journey featuring Reid Hoffman and Lareina Yee, one of the authors of the McKinsey report. (Authors: Hannah M. Mayer, Lareina Yee, Michael Chui, and Roger Roberts).
FIG 5: Questions to shape a company’s AI future (Adapted from McKinsey)
FELIPE JARA - The Reality Check: Making AI in HR Actually Work
While 75% of organisations are still in early stages of AI adoption, those taking a systematic, process-led approach will see remarkable results - from 40% efficiency gains to fundamental transformations in how HR operates.
In his comprehensive and illuminating article, Felipe Jara analyses AI transformation in HR, breaking it down into four sections: (1) The Reality Check, which examines some of the barriers holding HR back: capability, financial constraints, delivery limitations, and technology. (2) The Process Revolution, examining the promise. With cases studies from the likes of Mastercard, IBM and Stanford Health Care, and how AI can augment the employee lifecycle (see FIG 6). (3) The Maturity Journey, which presents a maturity model from Deloitte and provides guidance on how to move forward. (4) The Implementation Framework, presenting a four-step approach to enabling AI in HR.
FIG 6: The AI-Augmented Talent Lifecycle (Source: Felipe Jara)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
ANDREW PITTS, MATTHEW DIABES, RICHARD ROSENOW AND STEPHANIE MURPHY - Top 20 People Analytics Influencers and more from the PANC
Whilst I always appreciate being included on ‘influencer’ lists, most are wholly subjective and compiled using little or no data. This makes the People Analytics Network Census (PANC), all the more interesting. The initiative, which is the brainchild of Andrew Pitts, Matthew Diabes, PhD, Richard Rosenow and Stephanie Murphy, Ph.D., uses active organisational network analysis to map the global people analytics network. The results, which are based on more than 450 participants, are presented in five groups: (1) Top 20 Overall People Analytics Influencers, (2) Top 3 Networking Influencers, (3) Top 3 Mentorship Influencers, (4) Top 3 Technical Influencers (5) Top 10 Influencers from Outside of the United States. It’s a real honour to be included in the first list. Congrats to all those selected – many of whom I count as friends, colleagues and inspirations: Al Adamsen, Alexis Fink, Amit Mohindra, Andrew Pitts, Cole Napper, Dave Ulrich, Dawn Klinghoffer, Heather Whiteman, Ph.D., Ian OKeefe, John Boudreau, Josh Bersin, Mark H. Hanson, Michael Arena, Michael M. Moon, PhD, Patrick Coolen, Richard Rosenow, Rob Cross, Stacia Sherman Garr, Stephanie Murphy, Ph.D., Annika Schultz, Barry Swales, Greg Pryor, Lexy Martin, Michelle Deneau, Kevin Erikson, Kevin S., Michael Walsh, PhD, Adam McKinnon, PhD., David Shontz, Jaap Veldkamp, Kinsey Li, Leopoldo Torres, Ludek Stehlik, Ph.D., Martha Curioni, Rafael Uribe, Sanja Licina, Ph.D.
MCKINSEY - What makes product teams effective?
In episodes of the Digital HR Leaders podcast with leaders such as Ian OKeefe (here) and Aashish Sharma (here), we’ve talked about the importance of productisation in people analytics. Moreover, Insight222’s 2024 People Analytics Ecosystem study found that ‘analytics at scale’ teams (those teams that turn an insight, prediction, or algorithm into a product) have emerged as a core capability in the people analytics function of Leading Companies. As such, this article by Santiago Comella-Dorda, Vik Sohoni, Arun Sunderraj, Dan Gardner, and Lauren Gingerich McCoy for McKinsey is required reading for people analytics leaders. They analysed data from 1,700 teams, to measure how five capabilities (strategy, structure, people, process, and technology) impact four main outcomes (effectiveness, speed, productivity, and quality). This article focuses on the key capabilities required for three sub-outcomes of effectiveness: (1) Delivery predictability, (2) Value realisation (see FIG 7), and (3) Team engagement.
FIG 7: The ten key capabilities of value realisation in product teams (Source: McKinsey)
HELEN FRIEDMAN - Early Trends Influencing People Analytics Agendas In 2025 | BEN BERRY - The Rise of External Talent Intelligence as a Strategic Priority | DAVID BOYLE - Beyond Build-Buy-Borrow: "Blend" Emerges as a Pillar of Workforce Strategy | HESHAM AHMED - The three pillars of competitive advantage in data & analytics
In each edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I feature a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. These are intended to act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Four are highlighted in this month’s edition. (1) Helen Friedman walks through three topics shaping many current people analytics agendas: workforce planning, AI in relation to skills and pay equity, and using data to drive decisions around turnover, pay and managing uncertainty. (2) Ben Berry explains why the use of external talent intelligence data by organisation is rising sharply, how they’re using this data and what we can expect to see in the future. (3) David Boyle writes on the emergence of ‘blend’ as a fourth pillar of workforce planning: “Workforce strategy and AI strategy have the potential to trip over each other if they are not synchronized.” (4) Hesham Ahmed outlines three ways data and analytics can drive competitive advantage: superiority of information, insight and action (see FIG 8): “Superiority of action: it is not sufficient to know something that others don’t. It is the ability to act on that information or insight that leads to an advantage or edge.”
FIG 8: Three pillars of competitive advantage in data and analytics (Source: Hesham Ahmed)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
ASMUS KOMM, FERNANDA MAYOL, NEEL GANDHI, SANDRA DURTH, AND JASMIN KIEFER - A new operating model for people management: More personal, more tech, more human
Organizations that excel in both people development and financial performance are four times as likely as peers to outperform financially and one and a half times as likely as peers to remain top tier year on year.
In the last three years, the most popular resource I have shared on LinkedIn, with over 1m views is McKinsey’s 2022 article, HR’s new Operating Model. The sequel is likely to drive just as much interest. In this article, which I was grateful to be invited to contribute to, the McKinsey team of Asmus Komm, Fernanda Mayol, Neel Gandhi, Sandra Durth, and Jasmin Kiefer explore a new vision of people management, centred on hyper-personalising the employee experience. Their findings conclude that that only about 20 percent of the most strategic activities in today’s HR portfolios will remain with two-thirds of current HR tasks being automated to a large degree (see FIG 9). They also outline the core elements of the operating system required to turn their vision into reality encompassing (1) Establishing a strategic triumvirate of people strategists, people scientists, and people technologists, (2) Streamlining the people operating model: more strategic, more fluid, and more tech-enabled (see FIG 10), and (3) Mastering complexity with technology. The authors also set out concrete steps organisations can take to implement a new people operating system. These steps include the need to experiment, a focus on continuous improvement and an onus on scaling what works.
FIG 9: Two-thirds of today’s people management processes can be largely automated (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 10: The future operating model for people management will be more strategic, fluid and tech-enabled (Source: McKinsey)
GARTNER - Top 3 Strategic Priorities for Chief HR Officers
CHROs are navigating a complex landscape shaped by several key trends. CEOs prioritizing growth through transformation, AI deployment challenges and shifting labor market pressures on talent strategies are influencing how the best organizations are leading HR to achieve business goals.
New research from Gartner identifying the three top CHRO focus areas for 2025: (1) Elevating HR’s impact on the organisation’s growth strategy. (2) Building a deep bench of change leaders. (3) Creating a future-ready workforce. The report provides a deep-dive on the three priorities with guidance and methodologies on how to drive success in each, such as the Talent Risk Assessment Heat Map (see FIG 11). The report also contains a powerful section on the new capabilities required by chief people officers (see FIG 12) and HR professionals. A must-read.
FIG 11: Example Talent Risk Assessment Heat Map (Source: Gartner)
FIG 12: Model of a World-Class CHRO (Source: Gartner)
DAVE ULRICH AND ROBERT DAVID - How HR Can Help Deliver Both Market Share and Customer Share through Human Capability
The evidence shows that when HR engages customers in talent, organization, leadership, and HR department initiatives, both market share and customer share improve.
What role can chief human resources officers play in helping their organisations to increase customer share while building market share? In their article, Dave Ulrich and Robert David outline five specific steps CHROs can take, which together demonstrate how HR can move from its traditional support role to help drive customer relationships and business growth: (1) Identify targeted customers – focus human capability investments on these. (2) Track customer share. (3) Define customer connection. (4) Engage with target customers (see FIG 13), and (5) Change HR conversations. For more on why and how HR professionals can increase their engagement with customers, do listen to Dave in discussion with Stacia Garr and me on this episode pf the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How HR Can Create Stakeholder Value and Drive Organisational Growth.
FIG 13: Ways to connect and engage with customers (Source: Dave Ulrich and Robert David)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM - Global Skills Taxonomy Adoption Toolkit: Defining a Common Skills Language for a Future-Ready Workforce
Skills and talent shortages are critical challenges hindering economic growth, limiting business opportunities, and curbing individual potential. As technology rapidly advances and economic landscapes continue to shift, a common skills language is urgently needed to bridge gaps and enable workforce transformation.
The World Economic Forum is spoiling us thus far in 2025. Not content with publishing the barnstorming Future of Jobs 2025 report, they have also released the Global Skills Taxonomy Adoption Toolkit, which will be a boon for workforce planners and people analysts everywhere. The toolkit is designed to equip leaders with actionable steps, evidence-based insights, and real-world case studies to adopt a common skills language and embed skills-first approaches into talent management strategies. Contents include (1) reasons for adopting a common skills taxonomy, (2) a Global Skills Taxonomy roadmap comprised of three phases (see FIG 14), and (3) key insights and methodologies for implementing each phase. Kudos to the authors - Neil Allison, Ximena Játiva, and Aarushi Singhania along with a stellar cast of contributors including Peter Brown MBE, Simon Brown ??, Shannon Custard, Soon Joo Gog, Kelli Jordan, and Jan Meyer.
FIG 14: Global Skills Taxonomy adoption roadmap (Source: World Economic Forum)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
IT SURVEY GROUP - The Future of Feedback: Trends Shaping Employee Listening in 2025
AI and technology advancement are game changers for the listening and survey space. They will allow us to synthesize and interpret data – particularly qualitative data – with unprecedented speed and complexity
What are the key trends shaping the evolution of employee listening? Who better to ask than practitioners at the forefront of this important work. In their article, members of the IT Survey Group – including Megan Sherman, Ph.D., Kristin Saboe, Ph.D., Sophie Horneber, Anthony Ariano, Caitie Jacobson Mikulis, David Koch, Kellie Roberts, M.A., Stephanie Andel, PhD, and Robyn Petree-Guzman, Ph.D. present five trends shaping employee listening in 2025 (see FIG 15): (1) Supercharging sentiment, (2) “Silent” signaling, (3) Synergising surveys, (4) Guiding greatness, and (5) Refining the rhythm.
FIG 15: Top five trends for employee listening (Source: IT Survey Group)
NICK LYNN - Proactive Accountability: Turning Employee Insights into Action
Proactive accountability is more than just a practice — it’s a cultural commitment to transforming insights into meaningful action. It thrives on clear ownership, well-defined goals, and unwavering transparency.
Nick Lynn uses the concept of ‘proactive accountability’, which is commonplace in health and safety work, to solve the habitual challenge of turning insights gathered from employee listening work into meaningful actions (see FIG 16). Nick examines some of the common challenges from moving from insight to action such as the lack of a framework to prioritise feedback, slow decision-making, and poo communication. He explains why proactive accountability matters and how to foster it including developing a structured framework, assigning clear ownership, setting measurable goals, leveraging technology, building a community of change leaders, and celebrating success.
FIG 16: Proactive accountability (Source: Nick Lynn)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND LEARNING
DARRELL RIGBY AND ZACH FIRST – The Power of Strategic Fit
Companies that excel at creating stakeholder value attract and retain the most valuable stakeholders, gaining a competitive advantage.
In their article for Harvard Business Review, Bain partners Darrell Rigby and Zach First how to create a cohesive strategy that unleashes the power of ‘strategic fit’, which they define as: “Strategic fit is the degree of alignment and amount of synergy in a company’s business system.” They identify seven strategic factors: (1) the mental model, (2) purpose and ambitions, (3) stakeholder value creation, (4) macro forces, (5) markets and products, (6) competitive advantages, and (7) the operating model. They explain how aligning them generates beneficial multiplier effects, and – especially relevant for HR and people analytics professionals – demonstrate how creating value for employees and other stakeholders leads to higher returns (see FIG 17).
FIG 17: Strategic Fit Leads to Higher Returns (Source: Bain)
ANNE MCSILVER | LINKEDIN – Workplace Learning Report 2025: The rise of career champions
Learning combined with career development — leadership training, coaching, internal mobility, and more — accelerates the flow of critical skills to keep pace with business needs
The key theme of LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2025 is that the 36% of companies categorised as ‘career development champions’ (those companies with robust programs that yield business results) enjoy positive correlations with profitability outlook, confidence to attract and retain talent, and increased adoption of GAI. The report, with lead author Anne McSilver, features contributions from a host of talent leaders including: Vidya Krishnan (“The companies that outlearn other companies will outperform them.”), Chris Louie, Chris Foltz, Jennifer Shappley, Al Dea and Amanda Nolen (“You must be able to answer at least one of these three questions: How will this initiative help you to make money, save money, or mitigate risk for the company.”). The report also presents five talent foundations designed to accelerate career-driven learning: (1) Build the right skills, faster (see FIG 18). (2) Help people – and skills – move more easily. (3) Measure business impact. (4) Empower managers to support employee careers. (5) Inspire individual career growth. Thanks to Jennifer Gronski for making me aware of the report.
FIG 18: Skills-based talent and career development champions (Source: LinkedIn)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
STACIA GARR - Understanding the Impact of Recent DEI Executive Orders | KENJI YOSHINO, DAVID GLASGOW, AND CHRISTINA JOSEPH - The Legal Landscape Around DEI Is Shifting. Your Messaging Should, Too | JOSH BERSIN - Despite Political Firestorm, Diversity Investments Are Alive And Well | JOELLE EMERSON - Continuing the Work of DEI, No Matter What Your Company Calls It |
While DEI the acronym may be on the decline, the work itself will remain vital for organizations that want to thrive today and in the future.
President Trump’s two executive orders (EOs) to “end radical and wasteful” Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility initiatives, and litigate up to nine private companies as examples have set off a hailstorm of amazement and uncertainty. From what I’ve come across to date, here are some resources I recommend consuming: (1) Stacia Sherman Garr of RedThread Research was one of the first out of the blocks with a very helpful summary of the EOs and their implications. (2) Kenji Yoshino, David Glasgow, and Christina Joseph from the NYU School of Law’s Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, set out best practices on communicating about DEI, offer some sample language to avoid legal risk, and share strategies to disseminate these best practices throughout your organisation. (3) Josh Bersin offers a glimmer of hope in his article, first by highlighting organisations like Apple, Microsoft and JP Morgan that have all come out publicly against anti-DEI initiatives, and second by emphasising that rather than turning away from DEI, many companies are instead “embedding DEI into the disciplines of leadership, recruitment, performance management, and rewards.” (4) Joelle Emerson presents findings from a study by Paradigm, The State of Culture and Inclusion: 2024 Trends and a Look Ahead at 2025, which outlines three ways companies should consider shifting their approach to DEI: resetting the narrative, using data more effectively, and moving from siloed efforts to an embedded company-wide focus on creating cultures that work for everyone.
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from February that I recommend readers delve into. In a slight change-up this month, I’ll start with a couple of pieces that analyse the people analytics and wider HR technology market:
FRANZ GILBERT AND MATTHEW SHANNON - How agentic AI is changing HR dynamics in 2025 – Deloitte's Human Capital Forward team of Franz Gilbert and Matthew Shannon unveil six trends that will likely change how humans and technology work together in the year ahead. Their first prediction is that: “Improved macroeconomic factors will drive increased investment and transactions in the HR technology market.”
MERCER - The 2024/2025 Skills Snapshot Survey report – The Mercer team of Brian Fisher, Melba Gant, Katie Jenkins, ?Heather Ryan, and Peter Stevenson unveil the findings from their skills snapshot survey. One of the main findings is that the number of organisations attaining a high or very high level in skills maturity has increased significantly compared to 2023 (see FIG 19).
FIG 19: Skills maturity across organisations in talent practices, 2024 vs 2023 (Source: Mercer)
PHILIP ARKCOLL - How to get people to care about your insights – Philip Arkcoll, CEO at Worklytics, provides a five-step guide to help organisations turn insights from people data into meaningful outcomes.
JOHN GUY AND GARETH FLYNN - Simply Skills Chat: SWP, Tasks, AI, Skills and HR – John Guy and Gareth Flynn explore how HR can take advantage of the latest data, toolsets and mindsets to advance the field and drive business value.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - Remote Companies Grow Twice as Fast – Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD presents analysis by Revelio Labs, which finds that workforce growth in companies offering remote and hybrid work arrangements has outpaced that of in-person firms (see FIG 20).
FIG 20: Remote and hybrid companies have grown twice as fast as in-person companies (Source: Revelio Labs)
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
HEATHER BUSSING – Navigating Trump’s DE&I Executive Orders: Clarity – In a must-listen episode of Workplace Stories, Heather Bussing joins Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson to unpick the recent executive orders on DE&I, what they mean for businesses, and how employers can navigate this complex landscape without overreacting.
JEFFREY PFEFFER – Is Work Killing Us? – “An employer can be a good steward of the human beings whose lives have been entrusted to them — or not,” explains Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Dying for a Paycheck, to host Kevin Cool, in this powerful episode of the if/then podcast from Stanford Business School.
MARC EFFRON - The Science of Talent, 8 Steps to High Performance – Marc Effron joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD of the Directionally Correct podcast for an absorbing discussion covering topics such as why top I/O psychology Ph.D. programs aren’t more practitioner focused, as well as Marc’s two recent articles: “It’s not the mortar, it’s the bricks” and “Is the juice worth the squeeze”.
RICHARD ROSENOW – Reimagining HR: Leveraging AI and Data for Better Outcomes – Richard Rosenow guests on the Capital H podcast with Kyle Forrest to discuss the role of data quality, governance, and AI in enabling HR teams to focus on strategic insights and drive business outcomes.
DEBORAH PERRY PISCIONE - Employment Is Changing Forever – Sharing insights from her new book with Josh Drean, Employment is Dead: How Disruptive Technologies are Revolutionizing the Way We Work, Deborah Perry Piscione joins host Alison Beard on HBR IdeaCast to explain why we’re at a pivot point where old models of employment will be replaced by entirely new ones, and how mindset shifts and upskilling can help us prepare.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
NAOMI VERGHESE, MADHURA CHAKRABARTI, AND DAVID GREEN | INSIGHT22 – People Analytics Trends Webinar
Hopefully, I’ll be excused the mild dose of self-indulgence here, but this month’s ‘Video of the Month’ is the recent webinar I hosted with Naomi Verghese and Madhura Chakrabarti, PhD on the key findings of fifth annual Insight222 People Analytics Trends report. The webinar includes a deep dive on the four main findings of the study, which include insights on the impact of AI on people analytics, how leading companies measure the value of their work, and what we’ve identified as the adoption gap in people analytics.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
SERENA HUANG - The Inclusion Equation: Leveraging Data & AI For Organizational Diversity and Well-being
Serena H. Huang, Ph.D.’s debut book is incredibly well-timed given the current assault on diversity, equity and inclusion. The Inclusion Equation provides a compelling guide to merging DEI and wellbeing initiatives with people analytics and AI to deliver outcomes for employees – and the business. As I wrote in my endorsement of the book: “The Inclusion Equation acts as a guide for chief people officers to harness data, analytics and technology to create a truly inclusive and healthy environment where workers can thrive.”
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
KYLE LAGUNAS - Unlocking AI’s Potential in HR: A Practical Guide for Leaders
This new report from Kyle Lagunas and the team at Aptitude Research is certainly worth a read. It features insights from seasoned HR thinkers and executives like Bob Pulver, Manjuri Sinha, Dustin Cann, and Meghan Rhatigan as well as a practical framework – impact, complexity, and risk - for assessing AI use cases, helping HR and operations professionals cut through the hype and so making smarter technology decisions.
FIG 21: Adoption of AI in HR is slowing, but interest isn’t (Source: Aptitude Research)
BONUS RESOURCES
Some bonus resources to also consume this month:
I don't anyone is writing with more quality or consistency on the impact of AI on work and on HR than Jason Averbook read one of his latest pieces, Thriving, Not Just Surviving, in an AI-First World, and then - if you haven't already - subscribe to his Now to Next Substack.
Adam Bryant’s Strategic CHRO newsletter is always required reading as his recent interviews with Ellyn Shook (CHROs Must Never Forget That They Are The Voice Of The People On The C-Suite Team) and Peter Fasolo, Ph.D. (You Have To Be Curious About How All The Levers Work In Large-Scale Social Systems) ably demonstrate.
Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic asks Can AI Fix Succession Planning? and highlights how passive data can be used to help predict leadership success: “The work of David Stillwell, Sandra Matz and Michal Kosinski demonstrates how AI can infer personality traits and leadership potential from digital footprints, as well as internal company data not historically seen as critical to leadership talent.”
In a recent edition of his This Week, In Recruiting newsletter, Hung Lee asks is Elon Musk an existential threat to HR, and presents six compelling arguments to suggest he might be. After reading Hung’s piece, readers may wish that Musk is handed a one-way ticket to mars.
Thomas Otter is one of my favourite writers, and in The difficult second album: Advice for HR TECH vendors on launching a second product uses The Stone Roses sophomore album, The Second Coming (actually, a very good album) as a warning for HR Tech vendors intent on launching a second product.
Tom Redman and Donna Burbank explain how by mixing together some training, providing an opportunity to speak up, and having better KPIs, leaders can hone a data driven culture: How to Make Everyone Great at Data.
In his article, Laurent Reich provides five learnings to make the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and opportunity for HR: CSRD: HR's Burden or Breakthrough? Turning Compliance into Opportunity: 5 learnings.
FROM MY DESK
February saw the final two episodes of series 44 the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at TalentNeuron (thanks to John Lynch, David Wilkins, Maureen McGinness, and the TalentNeuron team). It also saw a special bonus episode featuring my colleagues from Insight222, and the first episode of series 45, sponsored by our friends at Amazing Workplace, Inc. (thanks to Shon Holyfield).
HENRIK HÅKANSSON - What People Analytics Leaders Need to Know About Scaling Their Function – Henrik Håkansson, who has built people analytics functions at three companies: Sony, Delivery Hero, and now Volvo Cars, joins me to share practical insights from his journey—what worked, what didn’t, and the lessons he’s learned on scaling people analytics along the way.
TOBIAS BARTHOLOMÉ – How Lufthansa Group Combines Operational and Strategic Workforce Planning - Dr. Tobias Bartholomé, Project Lead for Strategic Workforce Planning at Lufthansa Group, joins me to explore why—after nearly a decade—Lufthansa has taken a bold step back to reimagine how it plans for the future of work.
JONATHAN FERRAR AND NAOMI VERGHESE - How Leading Companies Turn People Analytics Into Business Value – In a special bonus episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, I was joined by my Insight222 colleagues Jonathan Ferrar and Naomi Verghese to uncover what truly differentiates leading companies in people analytics, and what research tells us about the evolution of the field over the last five years.
ERIN MEYER - How to Bridge Cultures and Lead Global Teams for Success – Erin Meyer, Professor at INSEAD and author of The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business joins me for a conversation exploring how cultural differences shape the way we work, lead, and collaborate.
DAVID GREEN - How do you leverage People Analytics to inform Strategic Workforce Planning initiatives? – A wrap up of series 44 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, which featured conversations with Stacia Sherman Garr, Dave Ulrich, Prasad Setty, David Wilkins, Henrik Håkansson, and Dr. Tobias Bartholomé, and featured the common question: How do you leverage People Analytics to inform Strategic Workforce Planning initiatives?
LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH?
I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which – as Richard’s latest newsletter reveals - now numbers over 500 roles. Look out too for Richard’s People Analytics Talent Book.
THANK YOU
The team at 365Talents for including me in their Top 50 HR influencers to follow in 2025
Mila Pascual-Nodusso for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in her list of the Top 6 Spotify Podcasts on Human Resources, Talent Management, and Leadership Development.
Neeru Monga for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast on a list of her seven favourite podcasts.
Steve Hunt for concluding after running a ChatGPT summary of the January edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, that my version “is far more informative, interesting, and enjoyable even if it does take more time to read.” I won’t hang up my cap, just yet then ;-)
Hirex for including me as one of 10+ influential experts you need to follow in 2025
Thinkers360 for including me in their list of Top 100 B2B Thought Leaders, Analysts & Influencers You Should Work With In 2025 (EMEA).
Finally, a huge thank you to the following people who either shared the January edition of Data Driven HR Monthly and/or posted about the Digital HR Leaders podcast, conferences or other content. It's much appreciated: Thomas Kohler, Steve Sands, Christian Vetter ??, Ashish Pant, Stela Lupushor, Jo Thackray, Elin Thomasian, Guusje Brummer, Russell Flint, Kevin Le Vaillant, RJ Milnor, Ben Berry, Sewmini Amanda, Malinda Perera, Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR, Nesimi Akgul, Charlotte Copeman, Amardeep Singh, MBA, Diego Miranda, Jeff Wellstead, Dr Philip Gibbs, Amber O'Mahony, David Simmonds FCIPD, Sachin Sangade, Thiago Pimentel Pinto, Robin Haag, Susan Podlogar (she/her), Torin Ellis, Scott Reida, Catriona Lindsay, Kris Saling, Graham Tollit, Aravind Warrier, Jacob Nielsen, Swechha Mohapatra (IHRP-SP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD), Lewis Garrad, Viktoriia Kriukova (Вікторія Крюкова), Ying Li, Marc Steven Ramos, Danielle Farrell, MA, Greg Pryor, Jose Luis Chavez Vasquez, Michel Ciampi, Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN ?️ (née Schouten), Till Alexander Leopold, Richard Bretzger, José Valdivieso, John Golden, Ph.D., Kathleen Kruse, Kyle Forrest, Matthew Hamilton, Asaf Jackoby, David McLean, Dave Millner, Ben Waber, Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA, Federico Bechini, Rebecca Ray, Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP, Tobias W. Goers ツ, Andrew Spence, Michelle Lee ?, Alex Franco, MHRM, Destin Cacioppo, Anisha Aulbach, Megan Reif, Dolapo (Dolly) Oyenuga, Kirsten Edwards, Kimberly Rose, Amanda dos Reis Garcia, Paola Alfaro Alpízar, Anna Kjellberg, Lucie Vottova, Kouros Behzad, Alexis Vergani, Francesca Gabetti, Brandon Roberts, Delia Majarín, Peter Ryan, John Gunawan, Sergio Garcia Mora, Dan George, Gal Mozes, PhD, Chris Long, Ohad Geron, Ryan Wong, Raja Sengupta, Pedro Pereira, Nikita D'Souza, Timo Tischer, Dave Fineman, Monika Manova, Shuang Yueh Pui, PhD, Holly Kortright (she-her), Hanne Hoberg, Andrés García Ayala, Arne-Christian Van Der Tang, Daisy Grewal, Ph.D., Nicolas Quadrelli, Erik Otteson, Bejoy Mathew, Stephen Hickey, Agnes Garaba, Gawain Wang, Emanuele Magrone, Maria Ursu, Marc Caslani, Dan Lapporte, Patrick Coolen, Ian Grant FCIPD, Joonghak Lee, Jaejin Lee, David Balls (FCIPD), Craig Starbuck, PhD, Mariami Lolashvili, Mattijs Mol, David Elkjær, Marie-Hélène Gélinas, MBA (Cand.), Aurélie Crégut, Nick Hudgell, Teodora Staneva, Sonia Mooney, Elizabeth Esarove, Søren Kold, Moïra Taillefer, Monika Mardaus, Tina Peeters, PhD, Ken Clar, Maria Alice Jovinski, Marcela Mury, Toon van der Veer, Madeline Cedeno, Marc Voi Chiuli. (MSc. HRM. Assoc CIPD. MIHRM.), Herbert Burri, Alexander S. Locher, Ava Dossi, Anna Kuzmenko
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 100 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
MEET ME AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in early 2025:
March 13 - HiBob Heartcore HR LIVE, London
March 19 - Workhuman Live Forum, London
April 10-11 - Wharton People Analytics Conference, Philadelphia
April 29-30 - People Analytics World, London
May 6-8 - UNLEASH America, Las Vegas
June 4-6 - TALREOS (Talent Analytics Leadership Roundtable Economic Mobility Summit), Chicago
July 31 - August 1 - People Matters TechHR India 2025, Delhi
October 21-22 - UNLEASH World, Paris
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
Employee Well-being
2025年03月02日
Employee Well-being
HR and HRIS Trends for 2025: Key Priorities for HR Leaders to Address Today
随着2025年的临近,人力资源(HR)和人力资源信息系统(HRIS)正经历着加速变革的时期。HR流程的数字化、不断变化的员工期望以及新的职场动态,正深刻地重塑组织在人才管理和运营方面的方式。面对这些挑战,HR领导者必须提前洞察趋势并作出调整,以成功推动HR职能的转型。
HR Path作为该领域的领导者,被列入Gartner®《2024年HR转型咨询市场指南》的代表性供应商名单。这一认可彰显了我们在帮助企业进行HR转型方面的专业知识和承诺,使它们能够采用针对未来需求的最佳实践和技术。到2025年,HR领导者不仅需要应对快速变化的环境,还要利用工具和策略,让组织在竞争中保持优势。
本文概述了2025年的关键HR和HRIS趋势,并提供了实用的见解,帮助决策者制定策略并应对未来的挑战。
1. HR职能的数字化转型:至关重要的变革
HR流程的数字化已经成为战略重点。自动化行政任务并利用先进的HRIS工具,使HR领导者能够专注于更高价值的活动,如人才管理和提升员工体验。
人工智能(AI)和机器人流程自动化(RPA)等技术正在重新定义企业在招聘、培训、绩效管理和福利管理方面的方法。到2025年,HR数字化的步伐将因员工期望和业务效率的需要而进一步加快。
2. 员工体验:HR战略的核心
到2025年,员工体验仍将是HR的核心优先事项。员工期望迅速演变,灵活性、自主性、工作场所幸福感和成长机会成为吸引和留住人才的关键因素。
HR领导者需要实施能够为每位员工提供无缝且个性化体验的解决方案,无论他们的工作模式是现场、混合还是远程。HRIS工具通过集中信息、简化行政流程和改进组织内部的沟通,为员工创造一个他们感到被重视和投入的工作环境。
3. 人力资源数据在人才管理中的战略重要性
HR数据在战略决策中变得愈发重要。大数据和HR分析使HR领导者能够更好地理解员工行为、识别关键人才并预测未来技能需求。到2025年,利用HR数据进行战略决策将成为首要任务。
企业必须投资于收集、分析和利用HR数据的工具,以优化招聘、绩效管理和劳动力规划流程。定制的仪表板和报告将帮助HR领导者监控其战略的有效性,并根据实际业务需求进行调整。
4. 远程办公与灵活性:混合模式的演变
到2025年,混合工作模式将继续占主导地位,但会更加细化。许多公司可能会保留完全或部分远程的工作安排,而另一些公司则逐步恢复到更传统的现场模式,或实施符合其业务和员工需求的混合系统。
后疫情时期表明,没有单一方法适合所有组织。有些公司发现远程办公提高了生产力并提供了更大的灵活性,而另一些公司更重视面对面的协作和公司文化的加强。
企业需要找到平衡点:
对一些公司来说,这可能意味着固定的办公室日以维持团队凝聚力和协同工作。
对另一些公司而言,则可能是灵活的混合模式,让员工选择远程或办公室工作时间。
HRIS工具将在管理这种灵活性方面发挥关键作用,包括跟踪考勤、管理缺勤和优化工作日程。这些工具还将衡量这些实践对绩效和员工幸福感的影响。
5. 持续学习与技能发展:战略重点
到2025年,持续学习和技能发展将成为中心议题。企业必须预测岗位角色和技能需求的变化,以应对未来挑战。提升技能和重新培养将成为支持员工职业成长的首要任务。
HR领导者应投资于在线培训解决方案、学习管理系统(LMS)和学习体验平台(LXP),以提供灵活、可访问和个性化的培训路径。这些工具将帮助员工保持技能的更新,同时促进他们在组织中的成长。
6. 多样性与包容性:2025年的关键目标
多样性与包容性(D&I)将在2025年继续成为优先事项。企业必须实施具体的战略,以促进包容性的工作环境。HR领导者需要确保招聘、职业管理和薪酬实践的公平性和透明性。
HRIS工具应包括跟踪D&I计划和衡量进展的功能。目标是创造一个无论性别、背景或经验如何,每位员工都能茁壮成长的工作场所。
7. 员工幸福感:2025年的重点
员工幸福感,特别是心理健康,将成为2025年HR领导者的关键关注点。企业必须引入心理支持计划,促进工作与生活的平衡,并提供更加适应员工需求的工作空间。
HRIS工具可以整合幸福感项目,衡量员工满意度并提供支持服务。到2025年,创造一个健康的工作环境将成为吸引和留住顶尖人才的重要因素。
总结
2025年,HR和HRIS趋势将与组织的演进密不可分。为在这场转型中取得成功,HR领导者必须预测不断变化的员工期望,拥抱数字技术,并专注于灵活性、学习、多样性和幸福感为中心的战略。通过今天做出正确的决策,企业不仅可以应对当前的挑战,还能在未来职场中占据领导地位。
As we approach 2025, human resources (HR) and human resource information systems (HRIS) are undergoing a period of accelerated transformation. The digitalization of HR processes, evolving employee expectations, and new workplace dynamics are profoundly reshaping how organizations manage talent and operations. In light of these challenges, HR leaders must anticipate trends and adapt to drive the transformation of their HR functions successfully.
HR Path, recognized as a leader in this field, was listed as a Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for HR Transformation Consulting 2024. This acknowledgment underscores our expertise and commitment to helping businesses navigate HR transformations, enabling them to adopt best practices and technologies tailored to future demands. By 2025, HR leaders will not only have to manage a rapidly changing environment but also leverage the tools and strategies that will keep their organizations competitive.
This article provides an overview of key HR and HRIS trends for 2025, offering practical insights to help decision-makers structure their strategies and address upcoming challenges.
1. The Digitalization of HR Functions: A Vital Transformation
The digitalization of HR processes is now a strategic imperative. Automating administrative tasks and utilizing sophisticated HRIS tools allow HR leaders to focus on higher-value activities, such as talent management and enhancing employee experiences.
Technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) are redefining how organizations approach recruitment, training, performance management, and benefits administration. In 2025, the pace of HR digitalization will continue to accelerate, driven by employee expectations and the need for overall business efficiency.
2. Employee Experience: The Core of HR Strategy
Employee experience will remain at the heart of HR priorities in 2025. Employee expectations are evolving rapidly, with flexibility, autonomy, workplace well-being, and growth opportunities emerging as essential factors for attracting and retaining talent.
HR leaders must implement solutions that provide a seamless and personalized experience for every employee, regardless of their role or work model (on-site, hybrid, or remote).
HRIS tools play a crucial role in delivering this experience by centralizing information, simplifying administrative processes, and improving communication across the organization. The goal is to create a work environment where every employee feels valued and engaged.
3. The Strategic Importance of HR Data in Talent Management
HR data is becoming increasingly central to strategic decision-making. Big data and HR analytics enable HR leaders to better understand employee behaviors, identify key talent, and predict future skill needs. By 2025, leveraging HR data for strategic decision-making will be a top priority.
Organizations must invest in tools that collect, analyze, and utilize HR data to optimize recruitment, performance management, and workforce planning processes. Custom dashboards and reports will help HR leaders monitor the effectiveness of their strategies and make adjustments based on real business needs.
4. Remote Work and Flexibility: Evolving Hybrid Models
By 2025, the hybrid work model will continue to dominate but with greater nuance. While many companies may maintain fully or partially remote work arrangements, others are gradually returning to more traditional on-site models or implementing hybrid systems tailored to their business and workforce needs.
The post-pandemic period has demonstrated that no single approach works for everyone. Some organizations have seen telework boost productivity and offer greater flexibility, while others value physical presence for strengthening company culture and face-to-face collaboration.
Businesses will need to strike a balance:
For some, this might mean fixed in-office days to maintain team cohesion and synergy.
For others, it may involve flexible hybrid models, allowing employees to choose when to work remotely or in-office.
HRIS tools will play a key role in managing this flexibility by tracking attendance, managing absences, and optimizing work schedules. These tools will also measure the impact of these practices on performance and employee well-being.
5. Continuous Learning and Skills Development: A Strategic Priority
In 2025, continuous learning and skill development will take center stage. Companies must anticipate changes in job roles and required skills to address future challenges. Upskilling and reskilling will become priorities for supporting employees in their professional growth.
HR leaders should invest in online training solutions, learning management systems (LMS), and learning experience platforms (LXP) to provide flexible, accessible, and personalized training pathways. These tools will help keep employees’ skills up to date while fostering their growth within the organization.
6. Diversity and Inclusion: Achieving Key Objectives in 2025
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) will remain top priorities in 2025. Companies must implement concrete strategies to foster an inclusive work environment. HR leaders will need to ensure that recruitment, career management, and compensation practices are equitable and transparent.
HRIS tools should include features to track D&I initiatives and measure progress. The goal is to create a workplace where every employee, regardless of gender, background, or experience, can thrive.
7. Employee Well-being: A 2025 Priority
Employee well-being, particularly mental health, will be a key focus for HR leaders in 2025. Businesses must introduce psychological support initiatives, promote work-life balance, and provide more adaptable workspaces.
HRIS tools can integrate well-being programs to measure employee satisfaction and offer support services. By 2025, creating a healthy work environment will be a critical factor in attracting and retaining top talent.
In 2025, HR and HRIS trends will be inseparable from organizational evolution. To succeed in this transformation, HR leaders must anticipate changing employee expectations, embrace digital technologies, and focus on strategies centered around flexibility, learning, diversity, and well-being. By making the right decisions today, companies can not only address current challenges but also position themselves as leaders in the future of work.
Happy Easter!祝大家复活节快乐!
Happy Easter to all our dear friends at NACSHR! As we step into this beautiful season of renewal and hope, accompanied by the delightful presence of chocolate bunnies and colorful eggs, we're sending a heartfelt bouquet of wishes your way. May this Easter not only fill your homes with laughter and warmth but also ignite your professional spaces with innovative ideas and vibrant growth. Let's allow the rejuvenating spirit of Easter to inspire us to hatch groundbreaking strategies and nurture our aspirations.
This Easter, let's cherish the incredible power of connection and the beauty of our community. It's the perfect occasion to strengthen our bonds and celebrate the diverse tapestry of talents and perspectives that each of us contributes. To all our HR friends, let's take this moment to deepen our dedication to creating workplaces where every individual feels valued, supported, and empowered to flourish. Wishing you an Easter that overflows with joy and presents new opportunities to make meaningful impacts.
As we indulge in Easter treats and gather with our loved ones, let us also gaze ahead with hope and anticipation for what the future unfolds. May the essence of Easter inspire us to approach challenges with bravery and embrace opportunities with open arms. Here's to a magnificent Easter, abundant in peace, prosperity, and progress for everyone. May it rejuvenate our spirits and rekindle our enthusiasm for making every workplace a beacon of positivity and growth.
Happy Easter, dear friends at NACSHR! May this season bring everlasting happiness and success to you and your families.
亲爱的NACSHR的朋友们,祝大家复活节快乐!当我们迈入这个充满更新与希望的美好季节,同时享受着巧克力兔和彩蛋带来的乐趣,我们向你们发送最真挚的祝福。愿这个复活节不仅让你们的家充满笑声和温暖,也在你们的职场中点燃创新的思维和活力的增长。让复活节的复兴精神激励我们孵化出创新的策略,培养我们的志向。
在这个复活节,让我们珍视连接的力量和我们社群的美好。这是完美的时刻来加强我们的联系,庆祝我们每个人贡献的多样化才能和视角。对于我们所有HR的朋友们,让这成为一个深化我们致力于创造每个人都感到被重视、支持和有力量成长的工作环境的时刻。祝愿你们的复活节充满欢乐,开启新的机会,让我们做出有意义的影响。
当我们享受复活节的美食并与我们所爱的人聚集时,让我们也满怀希望和期待地看向未来。愿复活节的精神鼓励我们勇敢面对挑战,开放心扉迎接机会。祝大家有一个辉煌的复活节,充满和平、繁荣和进步。愿它重新点燃我们的精神,重新激发我们为让每一个工作场所成为积极成长的灯塔的热情。
亲爱的NACSHR的朋友们,复活节快乐!愿这个季节为你们及你们的家人带来永恒的幸福和成功。
Employee Well-being
2024年03月31日
Employee Well-being
应对心理健康危机:42%的公司计划推出新的员工福利
根据The Conference Board的最新报告,尽管HR领导们对劳动力市场的乐观程度略有上升,但员工保留和参与度的预期与去年相比有所下降,显示出劳动力短缺的持续问题。报告揭示,随着员工心理健康问题的加剧,42%的公司计划今年提供新的福祉福利。企业承认对员工福祉负有责任,并在增加对健康项目的关注和支出方面取得了显著进展。报告强调,全面考虑员工福祉不仅可以提高员工参与度和生产力,还能保留人才。
Tackling the Mental Health Crisis: 42% of Companies Plan to Offer New Employee Well-Being Benefits
NEW YORK, March 22, 2024 -- Corporate America's HR leaders continue to be more optimistic than pessimistic about the state of the workforce.
The Conference Board CHRO Confidence Index ticked up to 54 in Q1, from 53 last quarter. (A reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses.) While retention and engagement expectations improved from last quarter, the survey reveals they are down compared to this time last year, signaling ongoing concerns about labor shortages. Hiring expectations remained stable.
The survey also reveals that businesses are stepping up as mental health concerns continue taking a toll on workers throughout the nation: 42% of surveyed companies plan to offer new well-being benefits this year.
Indeed, 36% say businesses are responsible for the well-being of their employees, with another 62% saying they are somewhat responsible. As a result, they are ramping up their focus on employee wellness: In addition to those offering new well-being benefits, a quarter plan to increase spending on well-being initiatives.
"Taking a holistic view of worker well-being can not only improve employee engagement and productivity but also retain your talent—a top focus of both CEOs and CHROs this year," said Diana Scott, Leader of The Conference Board US Human Capital Center.
The Index, conducted quarterly, was launched in Q1 2023 and is comprised of three components—hiring, retention, and engagement—as well as special questions included in each survey. Nearly 150 CHROs participated in the Q1 survey, which included additional questions on employee well-being. Key findings include:
Hiring The CHRO Confidence Index: Hiring component remained the same as both last quarter and YoY, at 55.
CHROs' workforce expansion plans remained stable in Q1, with fewer CHROs expecting to increase or decrease hiring in the next six months:
36% of CHROs expect to increase their hiring over the next six months—down from 44% in Q4.
13% expect to decrease their hiring over the next six months—down from 19% in Q4.
Retention The CHRO Confidence Index: Retention component rose to 53 in Q1 2024 from 51 in Q4 2023. But retention expectations are down YoY from 57 in Q1 2023.
CHRO expectations regarding employee retention ticked up slightly in Q1:
29% of CHROs expect their employee retention levels to improve over the next six months—up slightly from 28% in Q4.
19% of CHROs expect employee retention to decrease over the next six months, down from 22% in Q4.
Engagement The CHRO Confidence Index: Engagement component rose to 54 in Q1 2024 from 52 in Q4 2023. But engagement expectations are down YoY from 58 in Q1 2023.
Fewer CHROs expect declines in employee engagement in Q1:
35% expect engagement levels to increase—down slightly from 37% in Q4.
20% expect engagement levels to decrease—down significantly from 31% in Q4.
Special Questions for Q4: Employee Well-Being For Q1 2024, the Index also surveyed CHROs on employee well-being.
CHROs overwhelmingly agree that organizations share responsibility for their employees' well-being.
62% said organizations are somewhat responsible.
36% said organizations are responsible.
Only 2% said organizations are not responsible for employee well-being.
A quarter of CHROs increased spending on employee well-being in 2024.
26% said their well-being budget increased for FY2024.
69% said it remained the same.
Only 5% decreased spending on well-being.
Nearly half of CHROs plan to offer new well-being benefits, despite most keeping spending the same.
42% plan to offer new benefits this year.
39% do not plan to offer new benefits.
19% are discussing offering new benefits.
Mental and physical health are the top priorities for new well-being initiatives.
Of those offering new benefits:
20% are offering mental health initiatives.
15% are offering physical health and fitness initiatives.
12% are offering financial well-being initiatives.
10% are offering work-life balance initiatives.
About The Conference BoardThe Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what's ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org
SOURCE The Conference Board
Employee Well-being
2024年03月24日
Employee Well-being
根据美世 2024 年全球人才趋势研究,高管认为人工智能是提高生产力的关键,但大多数员工尚未做好转型的准备Mercer's 2024 Global Talent Trends Study unveils critical insights from over 12,000 global leaders and employees, highlighting the increasing importance of AI in productivity, discrepancies between executive and HR perceptions, the necessity of human-centric work design, and the growing challenges in trust, diversity, and resilience within the workforce. The study emphasizes the urgency of adapting talent strategies to foster greater agility and employee well-being amidst technological advances and shifting workforce dynamics.
美世今天发布了2024年全球人才趋势研究。该研究借鉴了全球 12,000 多名高管、人力资源主管、员工和投资者的见解,揭示了雇主为在这个新时代蓬勃发展而采取的行动。
“今年的调查结果突显了工作中的惊人转变,”美世总裁帕特·汤姆林森 (Pat Tomlinson) 表示。“他们指出,高管层和人力资源部门对于 2024 年业务发展的看法存在显着分歧,而且员工对于技术影响的看法也存在滞后。随着我们迎来人机团队的时代,组织需要将人置于转型的核心。”
生成式人工智能 (AI) 被视为提高生产力的关键
生成式人工智能能力的快速增长引发了人们对劳动力生产力提升的希望,40% 的高管预测人工智能将带来超过 30% 的收益。然而,五分之三 (58%) 的人认为科技进步的速度超过了公司对员工进行再培训的速度,不到一半 (47%) 的人认为他们可以通过当前的人才模式满足今年的需求。
“通过人工智能提高生产力是高管们最关心的问题,但答案不仅仅在于技术。提高员工生产力需要有意识的、以人为本的工作设计。”美世全球人才咨询主管兼该研究的作者 Kate Bravery 说道。“领先的公司认识到人工智能只是其中的一部分。他们正在从整体的角度来解决生产力下降的问题,并通过新的人机协作模式提供更大的敏捷性。”
寻找通向未来工作的可持续道路面临着挑战。四分之三 (74%) 的高管担心他们的人才的转变能力,不到三分之一 (28%) 的人力资源领导者非常有信心他们能够使人机团队取得成功。提高敏捷性的关键是采用技能驱动的人才模型,这是高增长公司已经掌握的。
员工信任度全面下降
2023 年,对雇主的信任度从 2022 年的历史最高水平下降,这是一个危险信号,因为研究表明信任对员工的精力、蓬勃发展感和留下来的意愿产生重大影响。那些相信雇主会为他们和社会做正确事情的人,表示自己正在蓬勃发展、具有强烈的使命感、归属感和被重视感的可能性是其他人的两倍。
近一半的员工表示,他们希望为一个令他们感到自豪的组织工作,一些公司的回应是优先考虑可持续发展工作和“良好工作”原则。鉴于公平薪酬(34%)和发展机会(28%)是员工今年留下来的主要驱动力,雇主有动力在未来一年在薪酬公平、透明度和公平获得职业机会方面取得更快进展。
在全球范围内,员工都清楚,归属感有助于他们成长,但只有 39% 的人力资源领导者表示,女性和少数族裔在其组织的领导团队中拥有良好的代表,只有 18% 的人表示,最近的多元化、公平性和包容性努力提高了员工保留率关键多元化群体。四分之三的员工 (76%) 目睹过年龄歧视。由于这些挑战加上持续的技能短缺,更多地关注包容性和满足员工的需求将有助于所有员工蓬勃发展。
未来几年,韧性将至关重要
最近在风险缓解方面的投资已获得回报,64% 的高管表示他们的业务能够承受不可预见的挑战,而两年前这一比例为 40%。通货膨胀等近期担忧严重影响高管的三年计划,但网络和气候等长期风险可能没有得到应有的必要关注。
建立个人韧性与企业韧性同样重要,五分之四 (82%) 的员工担心自己今年会精疲力竭。为员工福祉重新设计工作对于缓解这一风险至关重要,51% 的高增长公司(2023 年收入增长 10% 或以上)已经这样做了,而低增长同行中只有 39% 这样做了。
员工体验是重中之重
超过一半的高管 (58%) 担心他们的公司在激励员工采用新技术方面做得不够,三分之二 (67%) 的人力资源领导者也担心他们在没有改变工作方式的情况下实施了新技术解决方案。员工体验是今年HR的首要任务;这是一个值得关注的问题,因为蓬勃发展的员工表示雇主设计的工作体验能够发挥他们的最佳水平的可能性是普通员工的 2.6 倍。
人力资源部门在改善所有人的工作方面发挥着关键作用,但人力资源部门越来越有必要与风险和数字化领导者合作,以按要求的速度引入必要的变革。为了满足组织和员工的期望,96% 的公司计划今年对人力资源职能进行一些重新设计,重点是跨部门交付和领先的数字化工作方式。
投资者重视敬业的员工队伍
今年,美世首次收集资产管理公司关于组织的人才战略如何影响其投资决策的意见。近十分之九 (89%) 的人将员工敬业度视为公司绩效的关键驱动力,84% 的人认为“流失和燃烧”方法会损害商业价值。投资者还表示,营造信任和公平的氛围是未来五年建立真正、可持续价值的最重要因素。
单击此处了解更多信息并下载今年的研究。
关于美世 2024 年全球人才趋势研究
美世全球人才趋势目前已进入第九个年头,汇集了来自 17 个地区和 16 个行业的 12,200 多名高管、人力资源领导者、员工和投资者的见解,该研究重点介绍了当今领先组织为确保人员长期可持续发展所采取的措施。在此过程中走得更远的组织在四个领域取得了长足的进步。(1) 他们认识到,以人为本的生产力需要关注工作的演变以及工作人员的技能和动机。(2) 他们认识到信任是真正的工作对话,通过透明度和公平的工作实践得到加强。(3) 随着风险变得更加关联且难以预测,他们认识到,提高风险意识和缓解水平对于建立一支准备就绪、有复原力的员工队伍至关重要。(4) 他们承认,随着工作变得越来越复杂,简化、吸引和激励员工走向数字化的未来至关重要。
关于美世
美世坚信,可以通过重新定义工作世界、重塑退休和投资成果以及释放真正的健康和福祉来建设更光明的未来。美世在 43 个国家/地区拥有约 25,000 名员工,公司业务遍及 130 多个国家/地区。美世是Marsh McLennan (纽约证券交易所股票代码:MMC)旗下的企业,Marsh McLennan 是风险、战略和人才领域全球领先的专业服务公司,拥有超过 85,000 名同事,年收入达 230 亿美元。通过其市场领先的业务(包括达信、Guy Carpenter和奥纬咨询),达信帮助客户应对日益动态和复杂的环境。
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 Well-being
2023年11月28日
Employee Well-being
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.