HiBob and Workology First Quarterly HR Benchmark Survey Reveals That Employee Retention is More Critical than Company Growth

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May 04, 2022, 09:00 ET

Nearly half of companies (45%) anticipate HR budgets will increase in the next year

NEW YORK, May 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading HR technology disruptor HiBob today shared the findings from their first quarterly survey with Workology, a global HR media company. The rolling benchmark study aims to help HR leaders understand how their peers approach HR strategy and programming and monitors how these approaches change and develop. The Q1/2022 results revealed that in most cases, HR is no longer responsible for only admin and payroll, but is playing a crucial role in high-level business decisions and is increasingly led by C-level executives.

"The pandemic has made HR a focal point for companies, and HR leaders need increasingly progressive HR tech to succeed in the Modern World of Work. Our survey results show that HR personnel now maintain a robust tech stack with metrics and data to help them meet company KPIs for employee retention, satisfaction, and more," says HiBob CEO Ronni Zehavi. "The HiBob and Workology report shows that businesses understand the critical role of their HR departments, with 70% of top HR leaders reporting to the CEO. With the Great Resignation and Great Reshuffle, HR metrics are heavily influencing leadership decisions that affect a company's bottom line."

HR Shifts from Admin to Leadership

After playing a leading role in helping companies adjust to the pandemic, HR teams have shifted away from admin and operations to focus on leadership tasks. Almost all respondents (97%) noted that HR is leading their company's onboarding of new employees, managing the effort to foster company culture and employee engagement, and overseeing the recruiting process. In fact, only 50% of HR professionals stated they handle payroll, while nearly two-thirds (63%) manage employer branding.

"Talent acquisition and retention have been crucial to the survival of companies throughout the pandemic of the last two years. As more organizations put HR at the forefront of people strategies, benchmarking these data points is more important than ever, enabling company leadership to speak, act on, and respond to the language of data," says Workology founder Jessica Miller-Merrell.

With this shift, HR has become increasingly critical to the company's overall business, with 57% of respondents ranking HR at a 5/5 in its contribution to the success of the company. Company leaders also recognize that the future of work heavily relies on HR support and are increasing their investment in HR. Around half (45%) of HR professionals said their HR budgets will increase by up to 20% over the next year, and an additional 6% said it would increase by 30% or more.

Employee Retention is a Primary Focus

When asked about their primary business focuses for the next six months, more than half (52%) of HR professionals replied that retention and turnover are their most critical issues. Only 28% of HR executives reported that compensation and benefits will be a priority, despite workers' concerns about inflation, and only 37% said that rapid growth was a primary business focus. These results prove that HR teams are more focused on retaining and engaging their people rather than revenue since a strong team is a foundation for maintaining and increasing productivity.

Elevating HR Through Metrics and a Tech Stack

Data is no longer just for business analysts and HR is increasingly centered around metrics that are communicated directly to managers and the C-Suite. Key performance indicators (KPIs) for HR include tracking turnover (79%), retention (52%), and tenure (51%).

Because of HR's new leadership role, HR tools are evolving rapidly. HR leaders believe that the most important tools to have in an HR tech stack are a human resources information system (HRIS), recruiting, survey, and payroll systems. While the survey gave a list of 12 tech solutions, the average number of tech stack functions that respondents used was six.

"Since companies are planning to invest more in their HR this year, businesses should update their tech stack to help HR facilitate employee growth and best prepare companies to thrive in the modern world of work. Additional tools and functionality should automate and support learning and development, goal-setting, compensation benchmarking, and performance management," added Ronni Zehavi.

About the 2022 HR Benchmark Survey

The HiBob-Workology 2022 HR Benchmark Survey was developed to be a continuous benchmark that HR leaders can use for planning changes or evaluating the impact of new programs on their businesses. Results from the HR Benchmark Survey were collected from 250 HR leaders in the US and analyzed at the end of Q1/2022, however, the survey remains open and the data continues to be collected and analyzed. HR leaders based in the US can still contribute their information at HR Benchmark Survey - Workology and receive the HR Benchmark Survey report at the end of the following quarter.

The survey uses both quantitative and qualitative data to make comparisons between and within organizations, sectors, industries, roles, practices, and processes. The benchmark survey is also global and we will be adding information from HR peers worldwide.

To find out more about the HiBob Workology HR Benchmark Report and other HiBob research, please visit https://www.hibob.com/research/.

About HiBob

HiBob was founded to modernize HR tech. The company's intuitive and data-driven platform, "Bob", was built for the way people work today: globally, remotely, and collaboratively. Since its launch in late 2015, HiBob has achieved consecutive triple-digit year-over-year revenue growth and become the HR platform of choice for more than 2,000 modern, midsize, and multi-national companies that understand that a powerful, agile HR tech platform is mission critical and a key driver of organizational success in the modern world of work. Fast-growing companies across the globe such as Cazoo, Gong, Hopin, Monzo, Happy Socks, Fiverr, and VaynerMedia rely upon Bob to help HR and managers connect, engage, develop and retain top talent.

About Workology

Workology is a destination for the disruptive workplace leader to learn about trends, tools and case studies for HR and recruiting professionals and leaders. The site and community is designed for those who are tired of the status quo and want to change and transform not just their organization, but the world of work and the human capital industry. Workology's founder, Jessica Miller-Merrell, is workplace change agent and author focused on human resources and talent acquisition living in Austin, TX. She is recognized by Forbes as a top 50 social media influencer. Her new book, Digitizing Talent: Creative Strategies for the Digital Recruiting Age, will be published in 2022 by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM).

SOURCE HiBob