This post originally appeared in Forbes on January 14, 2025.
As businesses enter a new year marked by economic uncertainty — but with the hope that things are looking up — the tension between ambition and limited resources to put toward growth is palpable. Mercer's latest pulse survey on where HR leaders' priorities this year fall shows that human-centric productivity remains key — but are businesses backing that up with investing actual resources into the people and technologies that matter? Mercer's data show that one in three firms are struggling to fill roles. While the top three reported priorities are improving people manager skills, enhancing the employee value proposition to attract talent, and designing talent processes around skills, the gap between new year business goals and what gets done tells a stronger tale of which priorities are most important.
In this environment, workforce planning isn't about simply doing more with less—it's about doing differently with purpose. But is this investment and mindset enough to make a difference? Kate Bravery, Senior Partner and the Global Leader of Advisory Solutions & Insights at Mercer thinks so — with smart planning. "Teams are still reporting being burned out and lean, so how do we free up capacity?" she asks. Employees report increasing states of burnout as lean teams face relentless demands. Gallup's 2024 State of The Workplace Report found that 58% of employees are struggling, yet Mercer's data show that only 40% of employers plan to make addressing burnout a priority for 2025. Again, that mismatch is likely attributed to a lack of resources to invest in technology and people.
ความคิดเห็น