HR is strong with people and weak with numbers

HR in the company: a strategy in half, ROI in one in five

HR audit of the company. Share who answered “yes”.

• The company measures the ROI of new HR initiatives 22% n 83
• There is an HR roadmap 33% n 86
• A succession plan is prepared 33% n 60
• There is a candidate scorecard 36% n 61
• The company strategy is communicated to all employees 38% n 110
• An annual hiring plan is prepared 38% n 61
• The HR team has individual development plans 38% n 71
• Hiring is linked to the company strategy 46% n 63
• There is an HR strategy 51% n 87
• There is an HR budget 51% n 84

HR business partners: confident with people, not with money

Self-assessment of HR business partners, average score on a 1–5 scale.

• I keep my promises and do what I say 4.6 n 265
• I consider other people's points of view 4.5 n 225
• I act proactively, not reactively 4.1 n 262
• I link my projects to business results 3.7 n 236
• I spend at least 30% of my time on strategic activities 3.1 n 253
• I do financial analysis and build a business case for HR initiatives 2.5 n 243

HR knowledge: finance is the blind spot

HR knowledge assessment. Share who answered “yes”.

• I can easily analyze any company's balance sheet 8% n 66
• I can analyze any company's profit and loss statement 9% n 65
• I know at least 5 workforce planning methods 16% n 64
• I can calculate an employee's financial value to the company 21% n 71
• I know what FTE (full-time equivalent) is and how it differs from headcount 23% n 64
• I know the 50 most popular HR metrics and how to calculate and use them 25% n 76
• I can calculate the benefit to the company of higher engagement 27% n 70

What employers offer: the basics yes, growth — half

Employer value proposition (EVP) audit. Share who answered “yes”.

• Professional development 46% n 63
• Opportunities for salary growth 48% n 64
• A system for calculating bonuses 50% n 64
• A safe workplace 88% n 65
• A good office 89% n 65

How we got these numbers

• Answers of PapaHR users who ran free HR checklists from June 2024 to October 2026: HR audit, HR business partner self-assessment, HR knowledge assessment and EVP audit.
• These are self-reported answers of HR professionals about themselves and their companies, not an audit by PapaHR and not a sample of companies.
• One person — one vote: for each question we take the person's latest answer. Only questions answered by 60 people or more are shown; each figure has its n.
• Margin of error for shares: about ±12 percentage points at n≈70 and about ±6 at n≈250 (95% confidence). Averages on a 1–5 scale are shown as they are.
• No names, emails or company names are used — only totals.

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