10 best HR lessons of 2024

December 16, 2024 5:30 AM

As 2024 draws to a close, we gathered 10 of our most-read articles to help inform and educate human resource professionals.

Employee wellness programs should take into account both the mental and physical aspects of wellbeing. As GLP-1s become more widely available to employees, companies should encourage their workers to seek out lifestyle guidance to help them adjust to weight loss and other concerns they may have.

We also offer advice on smarter ways to recruit. A resume is just one piece of what recruiters should consider when they are interviewing candidates. The CEO of gym franchise Crunch Fitness says that the interviewer should also consider how a job candidate thinks and what they think about.

In order to compete in today's market, it's important for companies to have a competitive and comprehensive benefits package. Companies should consider offering caregiver benefits, creating a supportive environment for employees in recovery, and expanding adoption benefits.

Flexibility is still top of mind for employees during the past year. According to a survey by ConnectSolutions, 77% of those who work remotely at least a few times per month show increased productivity, with 30% doing more work in less time and 24% doing more work in the same period of time.

Please read more about these important topics in our roundup of HR-related stories.

GLP-1 access can be life-changing for employees, but it’s not a one-stop solution

GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy are all the rage now — and for patients with high blood sugar or at risk for obesity, they could be life-changing. But these medications are not a cure-all, and it seems consumers know that.

Wondr Health, a weight management program provider, surveyed over 700 employees across 50 organizations about which factors are most important to consider when taking weight-loss medications: Lifestyle guidance ranked first with 78% of the votes, followed by medical guidance, overall effectiveness and potential side effects.

"It looks like employees really care about lifestyle changes, which makes me happy because it means they know what's critical to the success of these medications," says Dr. Tim Church, chief medical officer at Wondr Health. "These medications are not one-and-done, but an important tool in the toolbox."

If employers want to build a work culture that values employee wellness, then they need to debunk their own misconceptions around what makes workers productive.

While the onset of the pandemic pushed many employers to emphasize the importance of mental health and work-life balance, it's unclear whether corporate culture in the U.S. has genuinely improved in the last five years.

According to the American Psychology Association, 57% of workers are suffering from the negative impacts of burnout, citing feelings of emotional exhaustion, irritability and anger. And yet, Mercer, a consulting firm, found that 94% of employers with 500 or more employees have increased their mental health coverage or wellness-related benefits in the last three years. Does that mean employers' efforts are in vain?

Sarah Sarkis, senior director of performance psychology at corporate and athletic coaching provider Exos, asks that employers turn their attention to their workplace culture and consider what is holding employees back from utilizing available resources.

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The demand for flexibility remains strong despite RTO mandates

In the past year, employers have enforced return-to-office mandates, despite employee demand for flexibility. Are employees winning the battle against RTO at last?

Fifty percent of U.S. employers have issued some form of an RTO mandate since 2022, according to a survey from workplace management app Deskbird. And while the trend was initially created to promote in-person connection and collaboration, employees aren't interested — as such, just 4% of U.S. CEOs said they will continue to prioritize a full-time return to the office.

"I made a prediction at the beginning of this year that everybody would pick a side on RTO, and we see that happening," says Jennifer Dulski, CEO of software company Rising Team. "The companies that land on the side of flexible work will be the winning companies."

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Pay isn’t the only priority for talent considering a job change

Wage growth is slowing down and workers have noticed — now it's up to employers to find new ways to keep their talent from walking.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wage growth slowed from 6% in 2022 to 4% in 2024; meanwhile, Bankrate found that 60% of workers feel their income has not kept up with the cost of living. Yet employees need a solid salary more than ever, as restarted student loan payments, inflated child care costs and record rent prices are just a few factors leaving workers feeling financially pinched.

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You need a better health plan to weather the U.S. healthcare system

It shouldn't come as a shock that healthcare costs are expected to increase in 2025 — but that doesn't mean employers aren't prepared to mitigate the damage.

After surveying 1,800 employers, financial services company Mercer estimates that employees will have to cover an additional 5.8% of their healthcare benefit costs in 2025, making it the third consecutive year of cost increases over the 5% mark. In other words, employers are already planning on pushing added healthcare costs to employees, potentially dissuading workers from seeking care.

"We're in this vicious cycle where costs are rising, [employers] are shifting them to the worker, which prevents them from getting care or accessing the system, which leads to longer-term, worse healthcare needs," says Ashok Subramanian, co-founder and CEO of Centivo, a health plan provider for self-funded employers. "You're catching cancer later, diabetes is going unchecked, and then costs go up. Employers need to look for solutions they haven't considered in the past."

When interviewing job candidates, employers should look beyond a resume

Resumes are important, but they don't reveal who a person really is. If employers want to know what kind of a worker they're considering hiring, they need to dig a little deeper.

This is the philosophy that helps Jim Rowley, CEO of gym franchise Crunch Fitness, make good hiring decisions. While exactly what he's looking for in a candidate depends on the role being filled, every interviewee seeking a junior management to executive-level position will hear him say something along the lines of, "Your resume looks great. Now, let's talk about you."

"The first thing [when hiring at] any level is not the resume, it's the DNA," he says. "The truth is not always what it seems. You can have outstanding resumes with exceptional academic performance from great schools and everything else. That is not a strong indication for me. Past experience, even in a related field, is not necessarily a qualifier. I'm interested in the person's ideology — how they think and what they think about."

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Tips to help HR professionals identify the right candidates

Despite the rising unemployment rate, companies are still hustling to recruit and retain talent.

The process can definitely get overwhelming.

"With so many applications coming in, it has been tough for job seekers to figure out which positions are legitimate, leading to a lot of unnecessary clutter," says Illana Hernandez, the employee experience and talent acquisition manager at public relations firm Mission North. "For teams, a dedicated recruiter for each role can provide focused attention and improve the experience for everyone involved."

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How to tailor benefit packages to compete in the race for talent

Benefit packages are often at the top of the list of items for employers to use when enticing young professionals to apply, but the ever-changing workforce can make it difficult to keep up with evolving needs. What can leaders do to make sure the next wave of benefits is in the right direction?

Mental health is one such area. Of the more than 2,000 U.S. workers that responded to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA), close to 30% reported difficulty staying engaged or energized towards their jobs. The report was titled "2024 Work in America Survey: Psychological Safety in the Changing Workplace."

Interestingly, employee relationships with managers and the availability of mental health resources in the workplace played a key role in how many respondents reported having these issues.

Why employers should consider expanding adoption benefits

Family-building benefits are table stakes for employers, and they are not complete without adoption support.

But a lengthy legal process, high associated costs and travel time make the adoption process complicated and, therefore, out of reach for many. Meanwhile, over 100,000 children are waiting to be adopted in the U.S. alone, according to AdoptUSKids.org. Employer-sponsored adoption benefits can break down some or all of these barriers and put this option back on the table.

Access to family-building platforms that help employees navigate the adoption process and financial assistance to offset fees and travel expenses are some of the main ways employers are meeting the needs of prospective parents. Expanded parental leave benefits that include paid time off for foster and adoptive families are also becoming more popular.

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Asking job candidates unusual questions can be a good way to assess talent

"If you were a superhero, what powers would you have and why?"

Hiring managers are using unexpected questions like this to seek out soft skills such as reasoning, communication and quick decision making among their applicants. But why the creative twist?

"Hiring managers are looking for questions to find out who the candidates really are and to understand their soft skills — their core skills — and see who matches with the company," says Guy Thornton, founder of talent assessment platform Practice Aptitude Tests. "It's very easy for a candidate to read a job spec and see five or six traits the company wants, and then just to repeat those five or six traits in their answers. [Interviewers] put a bit more value in actually seeing skill[s] in action."