Talent Recruitment, Workforce Diversity, and Employee Benefits Lead the Challenges for Businesses Emerging from COVID-19

The 2021 Paychex Pulse of HR Report, shows that attracting talent tops the list of challenges impacting HR professionals as they adapt to the evolving workplace shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fifth annual report from Paychex, Inc., the HR software and services company that provides the power of simplicity for increasingly complex workplaces, shows that 61 percent of the 1,000 HR leaders surveyed consider recruiting talent their most difficult task. Offering competitive benefits and planning and managing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) programs represent the next biggest challenges, both coming in at 57 percent.

“Our research sheds light on what businesses need to do right now to meet the new expectations of a workforce no longer satisfied by the status quo,” said Alison Stevens, director of HR Services, Paychex. “Employees today are looking for employers who prioritize employee wellness, offer an inspiring combination of accessible benefits, demonstrate a concerted focus on DE&I, and utilize robust technology to maximize productivity.”   

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A Renewed Focus on Employee Wellness

Overwhelmingly, HR leaders agree that companies have a role to play in supporting the mental health of their employees, with only four percent stating they do not see employee mental health as a company responsibility. HR decision-makers also realize the renewed importance of supporting a healthy work-life balance for their employees with 72 percent of those surveyed reporting they have evaluated and/or adjusted their time off policies in the last 12 months. Additionally, employers are becoming more flexible regarding where and when work gets done. For example, as a result of the pandemic, 40 percent of respondents say they are providing flexible scheduling as a benefit and 49 percent will similarly continue to offer telecommuting and remote work options as a benefit. In fact, offering remote work options is tied with providing financial incentives as the most common way HR leaders are encouraging employee retention, both at 41 percent.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a Strategic Priority

Prioritizing corporate DE&I is also top of mind for HR leaders, with 30 percent of HR decision makers planning to place more emphasis on DE&I activities this year, while almost half of respondents will increase their emphasis on DE&I next year. Those surveyed cite retention, recruitment, and civic responsibility as the primary drivers motivating them to increase their DE&I efforts.

Steps companies are taking to achieve their DE&I initiatives include:

• Providing technology to facilitate responsive and confidential communications on HR-related questions: 39 percent
• Offering training about bias related issues: 38 percent
• Creating systems to keep managers and employees connected: 38 percent

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Despite the clear motivation among companies to strengthen DE&I programs, HR leaders are facing challenges in two key areas: hiring resources to attract diverse candidates (45 percent) and changing company culture to embrace DE&I initiatives (44 percent).

Technology’s Crucial Role

Technology was cited by respondents as an important means for recruiting employees and maintaining an engaged workplace, with 82 percent of HR leaders saying their HR systems help attract talent and 86 percent stating that their HR systems improve the employee experience. “Technology improved our ability to introduce qualified staff to the company. We really streamlined the interview and onboarding process,” said one respondent, a Massachusetts-based HR leader at a 200-person financial services company.

In addition, 89 percent of respondents report that their HR systems allow them to be more strategic in their roles and 80 percent say they have tools in place to measure workplace productivity and efficiency. Technology remains the top item on the budget wish list among HR leaders for the second year in a row.

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