The C-Suite and HR leaders are out of sync, and this is having an impact on business bottom lines, according to new data from Personio.

The HR functions software company surveyed 2,300 C-Suite leaders and 4,500 HR decision makers across Europe and found that half of the C-Suite are not using HR teams as effectively as they should.

57% of the C-Suite only saw the value of HR teams during times of crisis.

Talking about the research, Personio’s director of people partners and analytics Pete Cooper commented: “HR teams more than proved their value in navigating businesses through crisis periods during the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“[However,] in the long term the function is underestimated, underappreciated, and underutilized at too many organizations – preventing HR teams from fulfilling their strategic potential within the business.”

The C-Suite’s move to overlook HR’s every day importance means businesses are struggling to navigate current and future challenges – this is admitted by 55% of C-Suite executives surveyed.

Examples of issues businesses are struggling to make headway on include the cost of living crisis, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, as well as fragmented multi-generational teams.

HR, its time to demonstrate your contribution

The good news is that the C-Suite want to mend its partnership with HR, and specifically drive more collaboration (63%).

To achieve this, C-Suite executives want more visibility over what HR does (63%), and for HR to use hard metrics to really demonstrate the value it brings to the business (73%).

But first, HR must be “freed from their administrative burden and been given the opportunities to be effective”, in the words of Cooper.

32% of HR leaders told Personio that they were bogged down by too much admin, which impacted their ability to support business bottom lines. The same proportion cited poor collaboration as a major barrier to success.

HR tech can come into its own here – it can drive efficiencies for HR teams, get rid of some of that admin and fostering more effective communication.

Cooper concluded: “It’s time for the C-suite to recognize there is space for HR at the table.

“After all, HR can support executives in many ways – for example by using their employee insights to build a strong people culture, to support with implementing pilots on new ways of working and also to provide business leaders with analysis and context around attrition data.”

All of this will help companies be better prepared for challenges at work as they arise, and therefore enable the business to hit its financial targets.