Despite an uncertain economy and increased pressure to contribute to results, HR professionals are meeting their goals, feeling engaged in their jobs and overseeing stabilizing budgets. At the same time, however, many find it difficult to prove their value to their executive teams.
"Successful people teams and leaders are increasingly those who go beyond just taking a seat at the table to demonstrate the strategic potential of the function, implementing programs that move the needle for employees and drive business results," said Cara Brennan Allamano, chief people officer for the people management platform Lattice.
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Lattice recently surveyed more than 1,000 HR leaders and teams from around the world to check the current pulse of the profession and look ahead to the coming year. The study found several positive trends and a few areas of concern.
Performance and engagement tied as HR's top priorities for 2024. For the third year running, employee engagement topped the list as a leading priority for HR teams, but this year, it tied for first place with performance management, which saw a 40% increase compared to 2022. Likely driven by a newfound focus from business leaders on productivity and performance in the wake of layoffs and a rocky economy, this finding also reflects the shared belief of HR professionals that engagement and performance should be considered and managed in harmony.
There is a troubling disconnect between HR and the C-suite. There are critical gaps in alignment between HR teams and the C-suite, both in executive leadership recognizing the importance of HR programs and initiatives, and understanding the value HR provides to the business. Fewer than half of respondents said their C-suites take data from employee surveys seriously; half said their C-suites recognize that a positive culture leads directly to better business outcomes; and just 27% feel their company leadership believes in HR's impact on revenue.
HR teams show resilience in a difficult year. Despite a challenging year of economic turbulence and mass layoffs across industries, many HR teams remain confident in their job security, budgets, engagement and outlooks for the year ahead. Sixty-four percent of teams feel engaged, with 65% feeling confident about their job security. Eight in 10 said their budgets are the same or increasing, while 86% reported a flat or increasing headcount.
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Research also found that high-performing HR teams also have a better partnership with their C-suite leaders. More than 8 in 10 of these teams are confident in connecting their work to business outcomes, compared to less than 60% of low-performing teams.
"This year's report reveals a missing link for some HR teams in demonstrating those business outcomes," Allamano said. "We hope that by exploring some of the reasons behind this and how teams are overcoming it, we can help more HR practitioners prove the value of their work as absolutely crucial to the business."
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
