Thriving through change: Insights for your 2024 playbook

December 18, 2023

Three mindsets for HR success 

What will it take for HR teams and employees to thrive in 2024? We brought this question to HR thought leaders, analysts and customer and broker partners across the United States.

Three key themes emerged from the conversations, three mindsets that HR will need to thrive in 2024: strategic partnerships, care-driven purpose and innovation and adaptability.

1. Be a strategic partner

Leave is now one of the most valued employee benefits, but what does it take to be a strong leave partner today? Unum leaders talk to two trailblazing customer and broker partners:

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    Rebecca Berry, Chief Human Resources Officer of St. Charles Health System, shares how and why their organization elevates the employee benefits experience.

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    Sarah Friend, President of the Partners Group, emphasizes the importance of getting the leave experience right.

Popular resources to help you get the most out of your leave experience and partnership

Are your leave policies helping — or hurting?
Discover how the choices you make affect your ability to attract and retain today's talent.
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Transforming leave with real-time data connectivity
Learn how our Workday® integration improves the leave experience.
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Elevated leave management and employee experiences

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With smarter technology and deeper platform integrations, Unum Total Leave simplifies absence management for HR and makes it easy for employees to plan leaves, receive benefits and return to work.

2. Lead with empathy 

Thought leaders, futurists and analysts at the HR Tech Conference all agree: HR must be bold in 2024, but to draw the very best out of employees, leaders must tap into empathy too. In this video, hear insights from a wide range of HR tech influencers, including

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    Jeff Williams, VP of Enterprise and HR Solutions at Paychex, who says, "I think the C-suite in the boardroom needs HR more than ever, and we’ve got to go in with a point of view, with a business case, with an ROI, with our research done with, data-driven insights to drive bolder action."

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    Hebba Youseff, Chief People Officer at Workweek and founder and creator of the popular "I Hate it Here" newsletter, says one of the biggest questions for 2024 is "How do we foster real connection?"


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    Dr. Jarik Conrad, Vice President of Human Insights at UKG and Executive Director, UKG Workforce Institute, believes, "We focus on making tech to make things better for people, 

    but I think we’ve got start to shift to focus tech on making people better."

How to bolster employee-centricity

Authentic leadership in the new working world
Industry experts discuss topics related to authentic leadership, mental health and workplace wellbeing.
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Webinar: The caring employer
Make an action plan for helping employees thrive with insights from experts at UKG, IDEXX and Unum.
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Innovative solutions for today's toughest workforce challenges

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More and more employees are turning to their employers for mental health support. Download our behavioral health benefits guide to learn how to overcome the top five challenges in creating a mental health benefits program that really works for your employees and your business.

3. Innovate and be ready to adapt  

Watch thought leaders and analysts at the HR Tech Conference discuss the importance for HR to remain agile and innovative in 2024 – and why leave management is becoming a critical function, for employers to master in our new world of work.
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    Transformational leave management is now one of the most important strategic HR functions according to Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner at Sapient Insights Group. "It is the most important time for a lot of employees," she says.

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    AI is an "enabler of change and an enabler of transformation," says Jason Averbook, Senior Partner and Global Leader of Digital HR Strategy at Mercer. "AI puts a square in the intersection of not only changing how work works but changing how workers work."

Top 5 findings from the Unum Employer Insights survey
Learn how employers are meeting the rising demand for benefits and leave with a mix of digital solutions and human interaction
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Reinventing benefits for younger generations
Experts discuss new data from LIMRA to help HR navigate benefits during today's major generational shift.
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How can the right approach to integrations help you adapt?

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Get your free copy of our Maximizing your benefits ROI guide today to learn what kind of savings employers can expect from a superior technology integration.

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Customer success stories

Learn how our modern benefits technology with an expert human touch changes the game for these customers.