HR and benefits heads are being excluded from key decision-making processes that aim to create better, and more cohesive, employee experiences.
This is the surprise finding of new research conducted among 750 chief information officers (CIOs) and 752 HR/internal communications (IC) professionals by pollster OpinionMatters.
The study, commissioned by Social Chorus, revealed that CIOs are increasingly the ones taking charge of employee experience decision-making, with 88% claiming it is they who need to have the final say.
The research found that just 11% believe investing in employee experience solutions is a decision for HR. This is despite the fact HR and benefits professionals report being far more actively interested in using such platforms as part of their benefits strategy to directly address employee issues.
According to the data, it is HR professionals who lean more towards whether employee experience solutions enable wellness to be assessed (44%). It is also they who want to know whether solutions can be accessed on employee-owned devices (39%) and who want to analyse how employees engage with employee experience initiatives 29%).
Nicole Alvino (pictured), chief executive Social Chorus, said: “These findings highlight the need for greater collaboration between CIOs and HR/ICs, not just for improved employee engagement but also to increase productivity, especially during these challenging times.”
In better news, the study revealed that similar proportions of CIOs and HR/IC professionals (41% and 44% respectively) agree that investing more in mental health and wellbeing support should be a major part of any employee experience programme.
Additionally, 45% of CIOs and 43% of HR/ICs agreed that their organisation’s HR/IC team is vital to successful employee engagement.
