86% of HR Professionals Concerned About Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing: New Data Reveals

New data from Paycor reveals top HR priorities from 2020

A new release from Paycor identifies some the top priorities and concerns for HR and business leaders as we head into 2021. The pandemic coupled with civil unrest, presidential elections, and natural disasters made 2019 a particularly challenging year for businesses globally. These conditions have compelled HR teams across the U.S. to adapt to the shifting business needs and deliver unique talent solutions to address changes.

Also read: HR Must Rearchitect Work as We Enter 2021: Deloitte’s 2021 Global Human Capital Trends

HR has taken over a more strategic role in the business and its contribution to the bottom line reflects the new dynamics of the workplace. A recent Paycor survey found that 40% of HR professionals are now working more closely with Finance as a result of the pandemic. However, HR tends to believe their work is contributing more to the bottom line than Finance does. Let’s look at some of the key priorities for HR in 2021 as identified by Paycor

Trend #1: Creating a Lasting Business Impact

HR leaders are more optimistic about future profitability, both in the final months of 2020 and even more-so looking ahead at  the first quarter of 2021. Still, there seems to be real confidence among business leaders that we are on the other side of an historic downturn. 69% of HR leaders said that their organization will turn profitable in Q4 2020.

Grappling with the cascading effects of the Coronavirus has pushed leaders to embrace change management as never before. Based on self-reported confidence, there seems to be more “very confident” Finance leaders than HR leaders. Perhaps this is inevitable, as Finance professionals naturally benefit from feeling more in control of the numbers, where HR on the other hand deals with the messier human dimension of the business.

The pandemic has accelerated change across nearly every aspect of operations, including what qualities we look for in leaders. Paycor found that approximately half of Finance and HR leaders are indeed looking for new kinds of leaders to deal with this unique crisis.

Also read: 21 HR Technology Trends for 2021 That Will Shape the Future of Work

Trend #2: Succeeding in the New World of Work

Just less than half of business leaders report remote work as a primary focus, and most remote teams are about as productive as they were in the office. Remote work was steadily if modestly increasing in the years leading up to 2020, but of course, the early days of COVID-19 accelerated the trend. At the close of the year, we see a large minority (44%) of companies describing the transition from office to remote as a primary focus. Interestingly, more than half say their remote teams are equally as productive as on-site workers.

On surveying high-performing HR teams, Paycor found that communication, structure, and management set top performers apart from the rest.

Here’s a quick glimpse at what HR leaders said:

• Communication: Our team is communicating way more than usual. It felt awkward at first but it is so necessary because there is no more hallway conversations. Everyone is in the loop because everyone is kind of their own project manager.
• Structure: In the office, we relied on informal process. Now, with most of us remote, we are actually much more structured. Meetings have an agenda and if there is an all-team meeting, everyone is there. When we agree on a timeline, we all really agree. As our work lives have become more flexible, the actual work itself is more structured.
• Management: Our managers made it a point to stay connected in a personal way with their teams. Virtual happy hours, daily stand ups, weekly team meetings where people can (and do!) talk about anything, and celebrating the wins. Keeping that personal connection drives productivity.

Trend #3: Health and Wellbeing at the Forefront of HR Agenda

Nearly everyone is concerned about mental health, but very few know what benefits are available to address the problem. The majority (65%) of HR professionals say they would re-evaluate benefits in 2021. That comes as no big surprise, as most organizations take a look at benefits at least once a year. But one insight jumped out from the more expected response – everyone is concerned about mental health, but few know what to do about it. Of the 2,600 people who took the survey, only 444 (approx. 17%) were able to answer how they would change their approach to benefits in 2021.

The 17% indicated that they would consider extending:

1. Employee assistance program (EAP)
2. Mental health awareness training program
3. 24/7 help line
4. Virtual exercise classes
5. Discounts on mental health apps
6. Gamification of healthy behaviors
7. Internal mental health resource group

Trend #4: Preparing for a Tighter Compliance Landscape

In 2020, HR experienced the perfect storm of compliance, with new considerations around workplace safety, remote work, family leave, time off, and more. No surprise then that a solid majority of HR professionals anticipate that compliance will occupy more of their time in the coming year.

A Paycor study identified the top compliance concerns for organizations in 2021:

1. COVID-19/safety regulations
2. Remote work policies
3. FMLA and time-off
4. Hiring & recruiting
5. Rules around paying back government aid
6. Overtime/classifying workers
7. I-9 and EEOC (tied)

The study also found that a majority of businesses are not using HCM technology to mitigate risks. Only 43% of the HR leaders surveyed, indicated that they were using HR technology to manage compliance.

Also read: 5 Ways HR Tech Can Streamline the Fragmented Employee Experience in 2021

“This year completely transformed the workplace as we know it, and HR and business leaders have been at the forefront of keeping employees informed and safe as companies navigate these challenging and uncertain times,” said Karen Crone, CHRO at Paycor. “Leaders from companies of all types and sizes can turn to Paycor’s resource center as a trusted source of information for tackling their top challenges now, and in the future.”