The case for evidence-based HR.
HR is caught in a squeeze it can't argue its way out of: asked to do more with less, unable to prove its value, and not even wired to the business it serves — all while GenAI reshapes the workforce underneath it. Here's the trap, in numbers you can take to a sceptical CFO — and the way out.
The squeeze — four forces, one trap
of HR leaders expect flat or decreased budgets — optimisation, not expansion.
of CHROs use data consistently for people decisions; 74% are stuck in basic reporting.
say HR's strategic planning is fully integrated with the business' planning.
of the workforce is expected to be disrupted by GenAI within two to five years.
It isn't that HR doesn't care about the numbers.
It's that HR was never given the
instrument to run on them.
Read the four figures as one story. HR is told to do more with less — two in three functions face a flat or shrinking budget. It is asked, reasonably, to prove its value — yet fewer than one in five HR leaders can point to data used consistently in people decisions, and three in four are still producing basic reports. And the root cause sits above all of it: only a third of HR strategies are actually wired to the business they exist to serve. So activity stays high, impact stays low, and the CFO stays unconvinced. That's the circle of despair — and GenAI, about to reshape a third of the workforce, is not going to wait for HR to climb out of it.
Every other function escaped this trap the same way. Finance has a P&L. Sales has a quota. Operations has yield. They set targets, name owners, work off one trusted set of numbers, and report a return without being asked. The whole profession already agrees HR should run the same way. What's missing has never been the will — it's the instrument.
The way out
Break the cycle with evidence — the disciplines other functions take for granted.
Targets with owners
Translate the people strategy into a short list of business-aligned targets — each with a name and a date, not a vanity metric.
One source of truth
Build the instrument: target vs actual, per owner, always current, on one set of numbers nobody argues about.
A review cadence
Install the rhythm that keeps each number on the leadership table every month — so it moves, instead of just being watched.
That is the whole of evidence-based HR: start from the business question, back the decision with data, and hold the function to a return it can defend. It's what inHR builds.
What's the one people number you can't yet defend?
Bring it. We'll show you how it becomes owned, tracked and delivered — and which inHR solution gets you there.
Get in TouchSources (public): budgets — Gartner; data use & reporting maturity — Korn Ferry; strategy integration — Gartner; GenAI workforce impact — Gartner. Figures cited as published; used for commentary.