HR + Finance: better together
Our report of 4,700 managers uncovers a clear tension: organizations expect fair and frugal people decisions, without providing the HR and Finance alignment to deliver them.
Key takeaways
Decision hot spots
Fairness pressure is highest in performance ratings tied to pay (21%), access to paid development (19%), and headcount planning (18%), compared to base pay decisions (12%).
Fragmentation tax
60% of managers spend 3+ hours assembling data before a people decision, and 83% say switching between tools slows them down at least half the time.
Rushed decisions
62% rely on an “educated guess” to avoid missing deadlines, 63% worry similar roles are evaluated with different metrics, and 65% can’t ensure fair pay decisions without a unified budget and people view.
Data gaps hurt
68% of managers say missing or conflicting data drives worse business outcomes at least half the time.
Appeals are common
74–76% report that at least some decisions were formally challenged in the past year, and 54–56% say at least half of their decisions were challenged or appealed.
Unified view is rare
Only 2% have access to a unified HR and Finance dashboard, even though 79% believe a shared view would help them manage more fairly and effectively.
AI is welcome
87% say they would welcome AI tools to unify HR and Finance data and provide suggestions for people decisions.
Global challenge
Across regions, these pressures persist, with differences in degree and emphasis—but no geography escapes the challenge of making fair, financially disciplined decisions.
Survey results
Research methodology:
We fielded this research from December 24, 2025, to January 9, 2026, collecting responses from 4,700 full-time people managers (each with at least one direct report) at companies with 50–5,000 employees.
Respondents were sampled from:
- UK (11%)
- NAMER – US and Canada (21%)
- ANZ – Australia and New Zealand (16%)
- DACH (18%)
- Nordics (21%)
- Benelux (13%)
