The increase in workplace stress is the primary concern for over half of employees worldwide (54%), according to the 2024 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends study, followed by technological advancement, with one-quarter of participating employees stating concern about significant changes brought by technological transformations, such as the need to acquire new skills and create new job opportunities.

Other concerns of employees include employers' new ability to digitally monitor their work without their consent (22%) and the lack of connection and sense of belonging caused by remote or hybrid work arrangements (20%).

The study introduces the concept of human sustainability, which refers to employers' efforts to create a sustainable environment from a human capital perspective, capable of supporting the development of the entire workforce and focusing on health, well-being, and a sense of belonging. While the majority of respondents agree that human sustainability is important (76%), fewer than half of them (46%) take concrete actions in this regard, and only 10% successfully address the issue.

The study also reveals a perception gap regarding the theme of human sustainability among different hierarchical levels within organizations, with nine out of ten members of leadership teams (89%) saying their organization is progressing in this direction, while only four out of ten non-managerial employees (41%) say the same.

"For organizations to move from the passive phase, where they know how to do something, to the active phase, where they actually take concrete actions, they need a comprehensive plan integrated into a strategy focused on enhancing human performance by combining employee-related objectives with business-related ones. For employees to improve their performance, leaders need to break down the 'silos' where they still sometimes work and adapt traditional structures to today's requirements.

For work relationships to be based on trust, employers need to continue to focus on human attributes and truly value them, and harness technologies and new sources of data to their fullest extent," said Raluca Bontaș, Partner, Deloitte Romania.

Technological advancement creates the potential for new ways of working that can enhance human performance, but for organizations to test these new approaches without jeopardizing business outcomes, they need to implement so-called "digital playgrounds," an approach that involves selecting technologies and democratizing opportunities to use them, the study supports. Most organizations recognize the importance of this mindset (65%), but only 41% are doing something about it, and few are doing enough to make significant progress (10%).

As artificial intelligence advances, organizations may encounter difficulties in trying to find new ways of collaboration between humans and technology, the study shows. Although 73% of respondents say it is important for technological innovation to be closely complemented by human imagination, only one in ten companies (9%) is making significant progress in this direction.

Organizations that address the imagination deficit issue are nearly twice as likely to achieve desired business outcomes (1.8x) and human capital-related outcomes (1.9x).

As the human capital field is considered boundaryless, as work is no longer defined by jobs, many employees are no longer "traditional," and the workplace is no longer a specific place, the human resources department cannot be solely responsible for all the needs arising from this context, according to the study.

Therefore, HR agenda-managing divisions should move from an operational function to an interdepartmental approach. Currently, 20% of leadership team members are firmly convinced that the HR department improves employee performance, while only 10% of non-managerial employees strongly believe it meets their unique needs and preferences.

However, HR teams are making progress in the transformation process, with over a third (35%) of respondents stating that they have expanded their scope of action within organizations over the past three years, and almost a third (27%) of leadership team members firmly believe that they have integrated better with other departments.

The 2024 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report was conducted among 14,000 business and HR leaders from various industries and sectors in 95 countries, including Romania. In addition to the global report, Deloitte conducted studies among employees and executive leadership team members to present their perspective and highlight discrepancies between leaders' and employees' perceptions. (Photo: Freepik)