Part 3.

Unlocking HR's value

to the bottom line

Although the response to this question was a resounding “yes”, it comes with a substantial dose of qualification.

The first key theme is technology, with data as the most important subset of that. Better data, better analytics, and better insights all feed into one of the key points we’ve already touched on: that leadership teams and business owners have a much better understanding of HR’s value.

That in turn has bred confidence into these teams to try new approaches and work in new ways. Some panellists highlighted the fact that their department now has job roles which didn’t exist even two years ago: the availability of new tools, technology, and processes has fundamentally changed the structure of the people function. Almost everyone pointed to the rapid pivot required by the COVID lockdown, having to adapt to new working styles and rhythms. Perhaps it’s ironic that nearly all of the tools popularised through this enforced isolation have existed for years as useful peripherals, and were then pushed to the forefront of our working lives by necessity. Technology is becoming more advanced, yes, but so are we. Which leads into the second key theme: leadership.

As one respondent pointed out, HR suites and systems require investment. Scale plays a part, but so do appetite and expectation amongst leadership teams. If the CEO “gets it”, they’ll make sure the HR team has the tools they need and the space they require to deliver the stats, come up with the proposals, and create those ideas and processes.

On the other hand, there’s a level of optimism and desire for creativity which might have seemed impossible just a few years ago. We see teams creating environments where HR people are trusted to experiment and learn from mistakes, using that data to move forward and refine their approach. We see an understanding that self-service technology needs to compare well, in terms of usability, to the consumer technology we use every day, offering the best chance for high adoption rates and therefore a more robust pool of data to work from. Perhaps most crucially of all, there’s the expectation that HR has a serious role to play in growth, in revenue, and in the bottom line.

Positive changes in the last 5 years.

An awareness of the need for diverse views, and for a strategy which puts inclusivity at its heart, is now the default setting for all the leaders we spoke to. This is no longer a “nice to have”. More than one panellist drew a direct line from diversity and equity of opportunity to performance. This isn’t just about hearing different perspectives - it has an influence on an absolutely crucial performance tool: goal-setting. If you understand that goals must always be tailored to the individual, and that the right challenge is crucial if you want to draw out that individual’s potential, then equity of opportunity simply has to be an essential figure in that equation.

Wellbeing came a very close second (it’s worth noting that more than one person made a clear connection between wellbeing and DEI). There may be a sense that employers are being pushed to take on responsibilities that might hitherto have been managed by the state, but there is also an acceptance and even enthusiasm for shouldering some of that burden.

If you need a single example for how the people function has evolved since 2019, look no further than our top answer: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Several responses pointed to the fact that, historically, DEI might have been an additional responsibility for, say, the team member who dealt with talent or recruitment. Now it’s very much a discipline in its own right . And although it’s true that we’ve seen a backlash against DEI - particularly in the United States, where it seems to have become something of a political football - and increased questioning of its value within businesses, that has yet to gain real traction in the UK, and not one of our panel raised it as an issue

Engagement and motivation also featured prominently, with several people pointing out that engagement in particular was an output of nearly all the other factors, from benefits to wellbeing. There is a real sense that a company’s broader offering, encompassing employer brand, reward, and benefits, and their commitment to wellbeing, needs to be consistently competitive if the business wants to guarantee the right flow of talent.

Hybrid working was referenced as a game-changer, particularly for certain demographic groups such as parents and carers. HR transformation also stood out: the result of changes enforced by COVID. Looking across all the responses, though, what really comes through is that these offerings and strategies are inextricably linked. We don’t expect people to come to work and leave their lives at home; we don’t assume that everyone is happy until we discover that they’re not.
It’s not only about investing in employees, although obviously that’s part of it. It’s about understanding that your people do not exist only in the hours they spend at work every day, but have broad and varied calls on their time, attention, and energy which an employer should respect.

Yes, offer remote working and yes, run initiatives designed to make the experience of work more stimulating, rewarding, and challenging. But employers in general (and HR in particular) will reap the greatest rewards by tailoring goals to the whole individual, not simply the part that can be presented on a CV.