No one knows the benefits of investing in people better than an HR professional. But that doesn’t mean it always works out. As AI continues to integrate into organizations and budgets are being cut, it can be difficult to convince leadership of the value of investing in people strategies. It seems that more and more it’s become about doing more with less.
But what we’re learning is this new mindset isn’t always fruitful. In fact, BetterUp researchers found that from 410,000 employees, work performance dropped between 2% and 6% since 2019. This decline counted for about $2.2 trillion in lost performance of five years.
When it comes to productivity and success, it’s about the people, not the resources (although those contribute to their performance). So how do you convince your leadership to focus on investing in your employees more than your resources?
- Identify Challenges: When your people can be a part of a business solution rather than just taking another course, it benefits everyone. Identifying business challenges and how employees can solve them can encourage more investment in your people.
- Show the Numbers: Your leadership wants to see the metrics. They want to know that it’s making a positive impact. So, tracking the right metrics is important to show measurable results from your people investments. Metrics could include internal mobility, turnover, proficiency, leadership readiness, and others.
- Involve CFO Early: If you want them to be on board with your investments, let them collaborate with you on the needs and strategies. Allowing them to provide insight and give guidance on challenges can help you create strategies that provide real results.
Investing in your people is always a good strategy. If you’re finding it challenging to get this point across to your leadership or fighting budgeting concerns, let’s grab a coffee and chat.
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