Human resources leaders ranked strengthening the employee experience and organizational culture as their No. 1 overall priority in 2024. Developing leadership and workforce capabilities was listed as the second-highest priority in a new Conference Board survey.
The survey launched Oct. 16 and closed Nov. 6. A total of 194 chief human resources officers participated in the survey, with results published Dec. 12. Human resources leaders at hospitals or health systems were part of the respondents.
Seventy-five percent of survey respondents plan to strengthen the employee experience and organizational culture in 2024. Seventy-four percent of survey respondents plan to develop leadership and workforce capabilities. Only 11% of survey respondents said addressing worker flexibility is an overall priority next year.
Within employee experience and culture, 70% of survey respondents said they will focus on improving employee engagement at all levels, and only 36% said they will focus on employee well-being initiatives.
Additionally, human resources leaders' talent strategy is overwhelmingly to retain existing workers (80%), instead of focusing on internal mobility (46%) or adding full-time workers (20%).
"With a third of CHROs expecting employee engagement to decline, it is reassuring that CHROs plan to strengthen employee experience and organizational culture in 2024," Diana Scott, leader of the Conference Board US Human Capital Center, said in a news release. "And while the percentage of CHROs planning to hire workers ticked up after a steep drop last quarter, nearly a quarter expect to lose workers in the coming months. It follows that an overwhelming percentage of leaders say retaining existing workers will be a key part of their talent strategy next year."
Read more about the findings here.