Nearly a quarter (22%) of businesses never use people measurements and metrics and 48% use them only occasionally.

According to people management solutions provider Qikker, the most important measurement when making business decisions is succession planning, with 42% of HR professionals seeing this as a high priority, followed by development needs (37%), global alignment (32%) and employee engagement (32%).

Looking ahead, 83% said establishing clarity of goals and aligning the workforce to execute a new strategy has increased in priority for HR teams and 62% think engaging with staff is a high priority.

Mark Barlow, managing director of Qikker, said: "Businesses must be able to change and adapt quickly to the shifting economic climate. When the economy is so turbulent, businesses need to be guaranteed that a new strategy has every chance to succeed. This is no time to be taking risks and making potentially business damaging decisions."

When it comes to value within a business, 30% think their HR department is very efficient at meeting business needs, with 55% saying they are quite efficient.