HR Initiatives and Employee Engagement

According to the new #HRWins study done by George LaRocque, employee engagement is a top priority for HR departments. But when it comes to Finance dedicating dollars, core HR initiatives like professional development and learning and training initiatives still garner more budget than engagement initiatives.

The study unveiled some really compelling facts that reveal a chasm between leadership priorities and finance specific priorities. If leadership teams aren’t in line with their finance groups, both areas suffer. We talk a lot on this blog about getting teams to work together and engage effectively. This is a great example of that cooperation needing to start from the top in order for the whole organization to follow suit.

• 87% of executives rate culture and employee engagement as a top HR issue/initiative
• Only 37% of companies indicate that finance is prioritizing employee engagement
• Only 8% of responding organizations has implemented a strategy around employee engagement

On the flip side, finance teams are willing to increase budgets for core HR initiatives

• 39% of finance leaders would increase budget for benefits
• 34% would increase budgets for learning and development initiatives

What I am interpreting from these findings are that benefits and other core HR initiatives are still number one, at least when it comes to the budget. If employee engagement is truly a top priority of leadership staff, the monetary value, and long term ROI need to be not only communicated but shown in practice and staff impact. If the programs are working there should be monetary evidence that prevents miscommunication and can’t be subjectively argued with. If employee engagement is as important as benefits and training there should be a financial trail.