Survey results show HR decision-makers biggest challenges

Valuable insights into the concerns and challenges faced by HR decision-makers

A recent survey conducted by Ciphr provides valuable insights into the concerns and challenges faced by HR decision-makers across the UK. Based on responses from 300 professionals in HR leadership roles, the survey highlights key areas of focus and apprehension for the year ahead.

Top among the concerns identified is employee retention, with 51 percent of respondents citing it as their primary worry. Additionally, 46 percent expressed uncertainty about meeting employee expectations regarding wages, work-life balance, and mental health and well-being support. Furthermore, 45 percent anticipate challenges in recruitment, employee engagement, and managing remote and hybrid work arrangements.

These findings underscore the complexities of today’s HR landscape and the importance of addressing evolving workforce dynamics. In this blog, we’ll delve into the survey results to better understand the challenges faced by HR professionals and explore potential strategies for overcoming them.

One of our HR experts, Hayley Saunders, HR Technical Consultant recently provided her opinion on the these findings in a recent People Management article, which you can read here.

In this blog Hayley expands on what she finds concerning about the survey results and what organisations can do to alleviate these issues.

Data-driven solutions to empower HR

These survey findings highlight a concerning trend that calls for direct action. To effectively address retention issues, it’s essential to empower managers and adopt a data-driven approach to tackle underlying causes.

By implementing technology that facilitates HR to utilise comprehensive data analytics, companies can obtain deeper understanding of employee sentiment, performance, training requirements, and identify indicators of poor culture. These insights enable HR to develop strategies to proactively address factors contributing to retention issues. This goes beyond basic metrics. It’s important to understand what truly motivates employees and build a working environment that develops an emotional commitment between employees and their employers.

Open communication channels are also crucial. Regular pulse surveys, anonymous feedback channels, and open-door policies are essential tools. However, data analytics can empower us to do more. Advanced analytics can delve deeper into open-ended responses, uncovering recurring themes and pinpointing areas requiring improvement.

Manager empowerment is also critical to improving employee retention. By empowering line managers, through training and technology that simplifies their work, they can become more compassionate leaders, which will help to create a more resilient and loyal workforce.

Training managers to be effective leaders

Training managers to recognise and understand their own emotions, as well as those of their team members will help to build empathy and allow them to navigate difficult conversations with compassion. Many managers are ‘accidental managers’ and lack the skills to navigate the complexity of managing people.

Providing training on effective engagement and conflict resolution techniques to ensure managers can navigate people matters constructively and maintain positive relationships within the team is also vital.

It’s also key to empower managers to understand and advocate for work-life balance for themselves and their teams to create a culture of well-being and reduce employee burnout.

Providing adequate learning and upskilling opportunities for employees is also important, especially in the current recruitment climate. This will help engage and motivate employees, which can help reduce the desire to leave an organisation.

Creating a supportive and inclusive culture

Diversity and inclusion is also an essential consideration in the battle to retain talent. Training all employees on the importance of building a culture of diversity and inclusion, where everyone feels valued and respected. This creates a more supportive environment for everyone.

Flexible working is another significant consideration for employers. Employees have clear expectations around wages, work-life balance and mental health support, so tailoring compensation packages and flexibility options will help to attract and retain top talent.

Overall, the key lies in combining human expertise with data-driven insights. We need to empower managers to build closer emotional connections with their direct reports. This, coupled with data-driven insights, will enable us to create a thriving workplace where employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their full potential, which will make them less likely to look elsewhere.

Take the next steps

If the results from this survey resonate with you and you’re looking to upskill and empower your line mangers to improve retention, drive employee engagement and increase retention, then get in touch with us today.