Strategic HR goals and data-driven human resources took over in 2024 and will continue to do so in the future. HR transformation is a way to adapt to these new changes. When looking at an HR transformation and your current HR practices, it is essential to understand the benefits it will have for an organization. Here are some statistics demonstrating the diverse benefits of an HR transformation.

Overall Stats on HR Transformation Employee Experience

Enhancing the employee experience for an organization's current workforce has become a staple of modern HR. HR professionals now work to improve the employee experience for current and new employees, which will benefit the organization in many ways.

Many organizations struggle to fulfill their promises concerning employee experience, highlighting the need to enhance their HR goals, company goals, and overall business strategy to solve this. According to Kincentric, only 51% of employees feel their organization delivers the promised experience. It is essential to follow through on promises to employees. Many employees want to work at a place that values the employee experience and has a healthy work environment. They will notice if an organization delivers on this.

A significant part of enhancing employee experience is increasing engagement between employees. According to Gallup, the majority of the world's employees (59%) are not engaged, and 18% are actively disengaged. HR professionals must actively work to keep their current workforce engaged. You can do this in many ways, from recognition programs to offering rewards for employees performing well. Employee engagement software is another popular way to enhance and track the engagement of an organization's employees.

Another benefit of a strong employee experience is that it can lead to other benefits for an organization that is not directly related to employee experience. A study from Salesforce says more than 61% of C-suite executives believe that good employee experience will lead to good customer experience. 58% say providing a good employee experience is a company and personal priority. However, 88% of employees are encouraged to prioritize customer experience. If employee experience is treated like customer experience, there is a relationship that benefits both.

Impact on Talent Acquisition

The workforce in 2024 is more competitive than ever, making your HR function and people strategy more important than ever. Many organizations have problems retaining employees, and many say it is even more difficult than hiring. A poll conducted by Zenefits says 63.3% of companies say retaining employees is more complicated than hiring them.

There does seem to be a direct correlation between employee engagement, improved employee performance, and lower employee turnover. According to Gallup, engaged organizations see 59% less employee turnover.

Similarly, there is a correlation between employee experience and engagement. A study by McKinsey says that employees who report having a positive employee experience are 16 times more engaged than employees with a negative experience.

Create business objectives that use your HR processes to keep the right talent and ensure your employees are satisfied; this is important for increased productivity and retention rates. A Zendesk poll found that 87% of EX professionals believe that personalization increases employee satisfaction. As you can see, a trickle-down effect from the employee experience benefits an organization in other ways.

Employee experience often fosters a sense of belonging in the workforce. According to a study done by achievers, employees with a strong sense of belonging are 21% less likely to leave an organization. This shows the importance of having an impactful people strategy, finding and choosing the right people, and making employees feel like they are an important part of the organization, not just another cog in the machine. 

Remote and Hybrid Work

The COVID era greatly changed how employees and employers view remote work. An increase in hybrid and remote work setups altered the standard for modern organizations, and this must be included within your strategic human resource management.

According to Future Forum, most employees prefer hybrid work over full-time remote or full-time in-office work. The study says that 67% of workers prefer a hybrid work setup, blending remote and in-person work.

Another Gallup report confirms that hybrid is the preferred model. Six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid work arrangement. About one-third prefer fully remote work, and less than 10% prefer on-site work.

Hybrid work can also increase productivity and engagement by making employees value the organization they work for. A poll by Qualtrics says 63% of employees who feel like they have a good work-life balance are willing to go above and beyond for their organization.

Gallup surveyed many employees on the advantages and disadvantages of hybrid work. For the advantages, most employees said they have an improved work-life balance, more efficient use of time throughout the week, higher productivity, and less burnout.

According to this Gallup study, the top challenges were:

• Less access to work resources and equipment.

• There needs to be more connection to the organization's culture.

• Decreased collaboration with their team.

• Difficulty coordinating work schedules.

If your organization offers a hybrid work model, it is essential to consider these challenges and address them if they become a concern.

Interestingly, there are some disadvantages to a full-time in-office schedule. A recent survey by the Economist found that 34% of respondents said that face-to-face interruptions from colleagues were the most significant reason they lost focus at work, and 36% of respondents indicated that they felt more focused working at home than in their office, compared to 28% who reported feeling less concentrated.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion have become popular HR practices and trends that benefit organizations and must be included in your broader business goals. One of these is a correlation between diversity and profitability for businesses. A report done by McKinsey says that companies with high gender diversity on their executive teams were 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies with low gender diversity.

Embracing diversity and fostering a sense of belonging in the workplace can also benefit productivity. A BetterUp poll found that 25% of employees believe they don't truly belong in their workplace, leading to performance dips and a desire to move on.

Organizations want to enter new markets, and a diversity initiative will help with that. According to HBR, diverse companies are 70% more likely to capture new markets, which can give them an advantage over competitors. McKinsey has found that Corporations identified as more diverse and inclusive are 35% more likely to outperform competitors.

Upskilling and Reskilling

Another modern challenge organizations face is that their employees must meet increasingly complex skill requirements. A Deloitte study confirms this, revealing that organizations struggle to find the technical talent needed to drive innovation. Additionally, a Springboard poll found that 40% of leaders believe workforce skill gaps are worsening.

As your organization adapts to the modern era, employees will need to learn more skills. According to the WEF, six in 10 workers will require training before 2027.

A way to address this is through a robust employee learning and professional development program. This allows them to learn new skills needed to move up the company ladder, whether upskilling or reskilling. An online learning and development platform helps employees learn new skills at the click of a button. This can be further improved by also using an effective succession plan to have your future figured out.

AI in HR

As we step into the future of HR, artificial intelligence (AI) is a necessary tool for any organization wanting to compete and improve.

Research done by SHRM found that only about 1 in 4 employers use AI to support HR-related activities, but most of those organizations began doing so over the past year. It is still early, but the best time to implement AI is now.

In that same study, nearly half of the surveyed members of an HR team say that using AI to support HR functions has become a priority in the last 12 months. The study also found that AI has been adopted most by larger organizations (5,000 or more employees).

AI can help in many areas of business outcomes, but results have shown that automation in HR has massive benefits. A Career Builder survey found that employers with automated parts of their talent acquisition and management processes are delighted with the outcomes. A staggering 93% report significant time savings and improved efficiency, while 67% indicate cost and resource savings.

Automation and AI eliminate time wasted on redundant tasks. According to 2023 data studied by Personio, 74% of business leaders acknowledge the need for increased efficiency and productivity in their organizations. Additionally, 66% of these leaders believe that AI and automation hold significant potential to address these challenges within the HR department.

If you look at the business landscape today and into the future, you will see that many companies are shifting towards more automation. According to Gartner, 69% of routine managerial tasks will be fully automated by 2024.

This trend saves time and money, which in turn increases overall production and efficiency, helping any organization get the most out of its workforce. According to a study by SHRM, 85% of employers who utilize automation or AI report time savings and increased efficiency.

HR Technology

AI and automation are just two of many areas of technology and best practices that can benefit businesses. On the HR side, HR technology has dramatically benefited organizations looking to enhance their HR functions with an effective human resource strategy. A PwC human resources tech survey corroborates this, it says many HR leaders report missing opportunities to drive tech adoption, resolve cloud challenges early, and build a business case for disruptive tech.

Streamlined HR has fundamentally changed the strategic human resource management market. Grand View Research found that the global human resource management market size was valued at USD 21.69 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% from 2023 to 2030, driven by the need for streamlined HR operations.

One area of technology that can instantly positively affect an organization is onboarding. A study by Zipido found that 83% of HR professionals believe that tech onboarding tools have improved their talent acquisition process. 

With the implementation of HR strategy examples and technology comes more data. With that data, HR strategies and decisions can be made that further enhance an organization's success. Along with HR technology, a strong reporting function is necessary. A poll done by Sapient Insights found that 40% of buyers seek enhanced reporting functionality in HR technologies.

Although there are many benefits, it is essential to find cost-effective solutions that best fit your organization's needs your organization's needs. A survey conducted by Jitterbit discovered that 57% of respondents identified cost as a significant barrier to the full adoption and implementation of integration across all systems within their organization.

Leveraging Stats for Strategic Action

The stats above show that a modern and effective HR strategy framework has a trickle-down effect that benefits the entire organization. It is important to know how to utilize these numbers in a way that fits your organization's needs, strengths, and weaknesses.

The best way to use this data is to identify the areas of improvement needed for your organization. Use these statistics to inform your decision-making and create a proper human resource strategy with initiatives to help with resource allocation. Find where your organization lags behind with competition and areas where it can most benefit from proper business performance when it comes to HR planning and initiatives.

Beyond the numbers

As shown, statistics are valuable, but they must be used correctly to foster real business growth. HR transformation decisions require a comprehensive approach. This includes evaluating qualitative factors that can't easily be determined by statistics. These qualitative factors can include company culture, leadership, and the needs of both old and new employees.

A custom-fit solution will always be better than a one-size-fits-all approach. Use this data to fortify and strengthen your HR approach. These statistics are just a starting point for building a successful HR strategy framework and HR management strategy for 2024 and beyond. That is future-proof.

For a better analysis of where your organization is with HR strategies and initiatives, check out Quantum Strategies' HR Transformation assessment. For a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your organization, click here.