The biggest challenges for UK organisations include retaining talent, meeting pay expectations and supporting employees’ wellbeing, according to esearch by HR software provider Ciphr.
Its survey of 300 UK HR decision-makers also found that 51% of respondents reported employee retention as their top worry for the year ahead. Almost half (46%) said their organisation could struggle to meet employees’ wage expectations, work-life balance, and mental health and wellbeing support.
More than two-fifths (45%) also expect to find recruitment, employee engagement, and managing remote and hybrid working expectations challenging.
Other key concerns include providing a good employee experience and closing skills gaps (42%), and reducing absenteeism and ensuring a positive workplace culture (41%).
The research also found that retaining skilled employees (16%), recruiting staff (15%), and supporting mental health and wellbeing at work (13%) are the top three priorities for HR teams this year.
Meeting salary expectations (12%), diversity, equity and inclusion, employee engagement, and managing hybrid working (5%) also ranked in their list of priorities.
Claire Williams, chief people and operations officer at Ciphr, said: “Employers need to step up and invest in their people if they want to hire the best talent and then retain them. Investing in people doesn’t necessarily need huge budgets. Go back to basics and overhaul the employee value proposition to ensure that every aspect of the employee experience has been considered. Use data from existing employees and recent leavers to understand where there is room for improvement. And do some research into what other organisations are doing well.
“Budgets aside, the biggest investment that employers can give is their time. Creating clear purpose, transparency and good communications, a strong and forward-thinking culture, diversity and social impact, all come down to the time that leaders are willing to put in and spend with their employees. It’s the easiest, yet most frequently missed, action that organisations can take and it will very likely have the biggest, positive impact on employee experience and retention.”