HR Statistics You Need to Know for 2024
Do you know what skills recruiters are seeking? Have you heard about the most common cover letter mistakes? If not, read this HR statistical study and see for yourself that numbers can be a handy tool.
Do you know what skills recruiters are seeking? Have you heard about the most common cover letter mistakes? If not, read this HR statistical study and see for yourself that numbers can be a handy tool.
Human resource is a broad field, but you can use statistical data to understand it better. It can make job search, recruiting, and the staff management process easier. Moreover, HR statistics help forecast staff behavior, change turnover, evaluate employee recognition, and improve job seeker/employee/recruiter/employer relations and interactions.
At GetCoverLetter, we believe that being well informed is the key to making the right decisions. That is why we’ve conducted a unique study and collected the most useful HR statistics, trends, and facts to help you avoid making hard decisions alone.
Research Methodology
GetCoverLetter has conducted research focused on recruiting, retention, engagement, motivation, burnout, etc. It has enabled us to derive the most valuable HR statistics.
For this report, we’ve analyzed 500,000 resumes and 300,000 cover letters, and surveyed 6,000 respondents:
Respondents represented the following industries:
Resumes and cover letters analyzed within the study also described candidates from the abovementioned fields.
The information was collected anonymously, and respondents were asked 25 questions. Most of the questions were multiple choice. Respondents answered without any interference. However, some items may have been rephrased for clarity.
In some cases, the represented percentages may not add up to 100%. It happened because of rounding and multiple answers to a single question.
Recruitment Statistics
With the rise of a new generation and technology development, recruitment is no longer a linear process. It’s a continuous cycle of top talent acquisition, onboarding, and engaging. Competition for top talents is fierce, and for a company to win, it needs to follow recruitment stats and trends.
Talent acquisition
Strategic talent acquisition means filling vacancies today and using candidates who were not hired during the current recruiting campaign to fill similar positions in the future.
Although some skills are reported as lacking more often than others, surveyed recruiters feel that candidates miss technical skills more than soft skills.
Today, recruiters see Artificial Intelligence as a tool to improve talent acquisition. Although only 15% of HRs say they are already using AI for talent acquisition, 45% expect to use it more during the next three years.
Employer branding
67% of recruiters note that employer branding is another clue to the successful recruitment of quality candidates. To attract the best workers, companies should position themselves as the first choice in their industry and show their brand’s real identity because 82% of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before applying for a position.
Interestingly, 89% of employees will consider leaving their current jobs if another company with a perfect reputation makes them an offer. GetCoverLetter research shows that candidates are more inclined to make a career within a company with a positive branding strategy.
Moreover, when it comes to working conditions and atmosphere, 85% of job seekers will trust employees more than employers. Thus, any employee feedback on the Internet or personal professional or informal communication can affect the employer’s brand.
Employee Onboarding Statistics
GetCoverLetter stats show that 90% of employees who quit their jobs during the first six months decide to do it within the first week after joining the team. One of the reasons for this is the low onboarding process and the lack of adaptation.
The onboarding program aims to explain the employee’s job responsibilities as accurately as possible and smooth the acclimatization process. It should work in several directions:
1. Organizational
This part of the onboarding process aims to provide the employee with information about the company’s history, structure, culture, basic rules, and daily routine.
2. Socio-psychological
When joining the company, new employees remain face to face with the already established team. At this stage, it is crucial to help them understand how to interact with this team.
3. Professional
The purpose of this direction is to brief employees on their professional duties and develop certain personal qualities to ensure a positive attitude to their roles.
A combination of these three stages can positively influence new hires’ adaptation and foster an employer-employee relationship.
Employee Retention Statistics
Staff retention is a top priority in nearly every company. According to our HR respondents, there are three main reasons why losing staff has a negative impact:
Low staff retention means not only the loss of experienced specialists but also high financial costs. Finding and hiring new employees is a time-consuming and expensive process. Therefore, it is essential to understand why your staff is leaving and use this information to improve working conditions.
Apart from the inevitable causes of employee loss like retirement, some other reasons are preventable and can be addressed by an employee retention plan. It’s a recognition and reward program for employees that fosters inclusion, engagement, and high performance.
Employee Engagement Statistics
Employee engagement is an interest in the company’s success and the willingness to invest time and energy for a common goal. Other employee engagement indicators include initiative, enthusiasm, desire to actively participate in the team’s life, develop plans, make decisions, etc.
What reduces employee engagement
Ninety percent of recruiters think that low employee engagement leads to staff poor performance and impaired quality of services. As a result, the company loses revenue. To find out the reason, we’ve asked employees what lowers their engagement.
- Employees do not understand the company’s goals - 42% Without knowledge of corporate goals, employees may not want to work to achieve them. An employer needs to ensure that the company’s goals are clearly articulated and communicated to all employees. It helps to increase engagement and motivation to work.
- The importance of the employee’s work is not explained - 35% Employee engagement depends not only on the clarity of the goals but also on understanding the importance of the staff’s contribution to the final result.
- The company’s development prospects are not clear - 23% The worker’s desire to work for a company long-term is another indicator of engagement level. Thus, employees should understand their current positions and what awaits them in their future career paths.
An effective way to research employee engagement is to conduct a survey. We’ve made a step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- Decide on the topic of the survey. For example, how happy the team is with the work and how it is involved in the process.
- Form the groups to interview.
- Create a questionnaire. Include a maximum of 10 questions on the topic you’ve chosen.
- Conduct a survey and collect materials. Make the survey anonymous. It will help you collect more reliable information.
- Generate a report and think about an action plan to improve the situation.
- Give feedback to employees. Even if the results are negative, share them with the survey participants.
Job Satisfaction Statistics
Job satisfaction is an employee’s positive emotional state fuelled by the positive performance assessment. It’s a significant factor in employee engagement.
GetCoverLetter human resources statistics show that out of 6000 respondents, only 1860 feel they are completely satisfied with their work. That is only 31%. In turn, the satisfaction factors are of different importance for men and women.
| Job satisfaction factors | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Positive working environment | 55% | 50% |
| Fair corporate policies | 45% | 45% |
| Decent pay | 29% | 37% |
| Promotion opportunities | 42% | 44% |
| Safety and security | 75% | 75% |
| Challenges | 32% | 41% |
| Creativity in job | 47% | 40% |
| Respect from co-workers | 76% | 74% |
| Relationship with supervisors | 60% | 61% |
| Feedback | 56% | 53% |
| Flexibility | 71% | 68% |
Work Motivation Statistics
The word “motivation” originates from the Latin “movere.” It means to move. The definition of “motivation” is broad, but in short, it describes why a person does something.
Employee motivation at work is a virtual drive as it generates effort and action towards job-related activities. It can be the worker’s willingness to spend the energy to achieve a common goal. When workers are motivated, they show enthusiasm, desire to work, and a strong dedication to accomplish tasks.
Types of employee motivation
There are different types of staff motivation. If HRs know them, they can choose the most effective strategy for a specific company or individual employee:
- Material motivation
It’s a cash reward. This approach can be used to motivate a single employee or a group. However, it is not very useful when applied to the entire company. - Non-material motivation
Employees get emotional benefits: emotional balance, recognition of achievements, etc. It can be used to motivate both one employee and the entire team, as it helps to shape each individual’s attitude to the company. - External motivation
It’s an administrative influence. It means that we do something not because we want to, but to gain a reward or avoid a punishment. - Internal motivation
An internally motivated employee works for the enthusiasm and challenge involved. Here, their reward is the opportunities to learn, grow, use their potential, and gain moral satisfaction.
GetCoverLetter career experts asked respondents one specific question “What motivates you to go the extra mile at work?" and gave them 9 possible answers. As you can see from the results below, money is not a significant motivator.
Performance Management Statistics
The company’s success depends on each employee’s performance. Therefore, it is crucial to measure, manage, and control it. With good planning and implementation, staff performance management can become an effective tool in achieving results.
The traditional approaches to performance management are losing their relevance because of the digitalization and acceleration of processes. Now they are gradually being replaced by Continuous Performance Management (CPM).
Effective Performance Management
There are a few elements involved in building an effective performance management system. We have compiled a rating of these elements based on our respondents’ answers:- Goal setting: 24% Goals need to be meaningful. Workers should understand why these goals are important and how they contribute to company tasks. Employees need to know how their job matters.
- Employee recognition: 22% Employees should feel valued and appreciated for their work and efforts. If employee recognition is not within a company’s high priority, it may negatively affect turnover.
- Employee development: 19% Development is important both to employees who want to get new knowledge and skills and to employers who will benefit if employees are more skilled and capable.
- Open communication: 18% Employees want their managers to be open. They need real-time communication while building healthy relationships with their colleagues and leaders.
- Honest feedback: 17% Workers want more frequent insights into their work and regular feedback. The better employers inform employees about their performance, the better able they are to improve it and excel.
Employee Recognition Statistics
The employee recognition system is highly important for employers and employees because it improves productivity, lowers turnover rates, and generates higher profits.
62% of surveyed employees feel that their work wasn’t sufficiently recognized and appreciated by their previous employer. At the same time, 52% of employees say they haven’t received any form of recognition in the past year. 59% of workers report that recognition motivates them to work harder.
How to reward employees
If you want your recognition to be as effective as possible, specific rules should be followed. We selected the most important ones and rated them according to our respondents’ answers.
- Combination of different types of recognition: 32%
- Frequent recognitions: 26%
- Unexpected recognitions: 21%
- Creative approach to recognition: 21%
Diversity and Inclusion Statistics
Companies that want to remain competitive in this labor market need to consider diversity a critical component of hiring strategies and workplace programs. Employees want companies to take diversity seriously. 54% of surveyed employees will consider finding a new job if their employer doesn’t demonstrate a commitment to diversity.
Diversity is the representation of different traits and experiences in a company’s workforce. It includes gender, ethnicity, physical ability, religion, age, socioeconomic status, etc. We’ve decided to find out which aspects of diversity are considered the most important, so we asked current employees and job seekers about their opinion.
Inclusion is how people feel at work. A workforce may be diverse, but if employees don’t feel safe, welcomed, and valued, they will not perform to their highest potential.
Disability inclusion is one of the most painful points in the labor market today. Human resources stats show that only 27% of people with disabilities of working age are employed, compared with 75% of those without disabilities.
We’ve asked hiring managers what disabilities are most common among the candidates, and how many people with similar disabilities work in their companies.
| Disability type | Percent of disabled candidates | Percent of employed disabled people |
|---|---|---|
| Ambulatory | 33% | 27% |
| Hearing | 30% | 22% |
| Cognitive | 29% | 19% |
| Vision | 21% | 15% |
| Independent living | 16% | 11% |
| Self-care | 7% | 6% |
Diversity and inclusion initiatives can give many benefits: attracting qualified employees, creating a satisfied workforce, fostering innovation, and greater financial success. Thus, companies should not ignore them.
Employee Burnout Statistics
Burnout is a process when employees become more indifferent to their duties, which negatively affects their performance. They stop experiencing positive emotions from their work process and its results.
According to GetCoverLetter research, 25% of full-time respondents say they feel burned out more often than not. 50% say they feel burned out sometimes. We can conclude that two-thirds of full-time workers are dealing with burnout while at work.
Employee burnout is an organizational issue that affects business. In addition to health care costs, it leads to lower employee productivity and higher turnover. However, workers also pay the price. Burnout can result in gastrointestinal issues, heart disease, and other problems.
65% of respondents feel their companies should do more to prevent employee burnout. 23% say their company does not offer any programs or initiatives to prevent it.
Employee Wellness Statistics
Unfortunately, employee wellness programs are often not considered a necessary element of the company’s strategy. However, they can help reduce healthcare costs and improve performance.
70% of surveyed HRs confirm that their companies offer wellness programs.
But only 65% of employees are aware that their company offers wellness programs.
And only 35% of employees who are aware of these programs participate in them.
Out of all surveyed respondents, 75% will participate in a wellness program, if offered by the company.
The modern approach to caring for employee’s health is not limited to providing quality medical services. Leading companies are moving to a more complex system based on the well-being philosophy.
The main principle of well-being is maintaining a balance between physical, emotional, and financial well-being and creating a conscious attitude of employees towards their health. Thus, an employee of the company not only consumes the services provided within the wellness package but also learns to “be healthy.”
Resume Statistics
You could be an experienced and qualified candidate for a role, but you may still not receive a job interview invitation. Statistics show that only 1 in 6 job seekers is invited for an interview. 78% of surveyed recruiters say that a bad resume can be one of the reasons.
Usually, when recruiters get resumes, they don’t have much time to review them. They only have around 1 minute before making an initial decision. We’ve asked our respondents what sections they look at first.
As a candidate, you should pay particular attention to these sections of the resume to impress the recruiter. However, do not lie. It will hurt your chances of getting a job. Our survey showed that 81% of recruiters caught people lying on their resume.
Cover Letter Statistics
Most job seekers don’t understand the importance of cover letters. Thus, recruiters receive a significant amount of resumes without cover letters or with cover letters written incorrectly.
If your cover letter is written logically, it will make the information you present more powerful. After analyzing 300,000 cover letters, we’ve identified some of the most common mistakes that can lead to weeding out at the cover letter review stage.
A cover letter includes grammar and syntax errors - 67%
Errors in the text indicate that you did not spend enough time on proofreading. It can portray you as an irresponsible and sloppy person.
A cover letter is not customized for a specific position - 45%
Customization is one of the most critical trends in cover letter writing. It shows that you’ve researched the job requirements thoroughly and searched for information about this position, company, and mission.
A cover letter doesn’t show a candidate’s skills - 44%
Use a cover letter to tell the recruiter more about your skills and qualities. If a resume only provides a list of skills, you can broaden the context and even give some examples in a cover letter.
A cover letter copies resume - 41%
A cover letter isn’t just another copy of a resume. It’s your opportunity to tell what the recruiter doesn’t know yet: your motivation, vision, and personality.
A cover letter is too long - 30%
Almost 70% of recruiters agree that cover letters should not be too long. Three paragraphs with 250-300 words are enough to get the hiring manager interested.
A cover letter has bad formatting - 26%
How the cover letter looks plays no less important role than what it contains. The candidate needs to make the cover letter readable. Additionally, use simple fonts, margins, and a lot of white space.
Interview Statistics
Interviewing is a challenging part of the hiring process. The candidates are nervous about long and sometimes needlessly complex processes. While hiring managers handle scheduling and have to cope with all the frustration that comes up.
One way to simplify the process is to find out exactly what recruiters are looking for in candidates. We’ve asked our HR respondents, and here are the results.
Most popular interview questions
It’s helpful for candidates preparing for their interview to know the employer’s questions in advance. It’s quite challenging to find out for sure what topics will be covered. However, we’ve asked HR respondents about the most popular interview questions they usually ask candidates.
Most common interview mistakes
Unfortunately, candidates make mistakes. Sometimes without even realizing it. These top mistakes shared by our respondents will be a great cheat sheet for candidates who want to nail the interview and land their dream job.
Conclusions
HR statistics can be a helpful tool. Using it, employers can better understand the employee and job seeker experience. Recruiters can review and improve their hiring, engagement, motivation, satisfaction, and other strategies and programs. Current employees can get valuable insights into the labor market and corporate environment. Job seekers may realize the importance of putting time and effort into writing a quality resume and cover letter.
We hope that the data provided in the GetCoverLetter research will give you an advantage and will help you in achieving your goals.