March 2008

Global HR Survey Reports that Organizations are Struggling to find Long Term Solutions to the War for Talent

Eighty two percent of global HR leaders believe that the "war for talent" is a key business issue for the next 10 years, yet most are focusing on short-term solutions, according to a recent survey by Resources Global Professionals, the leading multinational professional services firm.

The respondents cited several short-term measures to recruit and retain talent: 90% are planning to hire external resources; 60% are looking to source offshore talent, 59% plan to increase productivity without recruiting, and 62% plan to transform their business to reduce the impact of under-employment.

In addition, the survey found that many talent retention programs targeted only "top talent," but companies must understand the need for talent flows throughout their organizations, not just the top tiers. The survey indicates HR leaders struggle to align recruiting with talent development; therefore, succession planning and retention will need to be improved.

The research is based on a survey of 50 human resources leaders of global companies across 9 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. The survey reflects their perspectives on issues related to HR value-added, change, and project management, in addition to the "war for talent." Several additional finding are highlighted below.  

Do HR Leaders Influence Management?

While 98% of HR leaders say they are part of the senior management team, 42% believe they have less influence than other members. However, the research also uncovers regional variations. Only 25% of North American HR leaders believe they have the same level of influence as other members of the senior team, compared to 35% of AsiaPac and 40% of European HR leaders.

Global HR Priorities

How does HR support corporate goals? The survey found that HR leaders' priorities are closely aligned with the overall corporate goals of growth as they focus on leadership development, skills development, and management and employee recruitment/retention. However, with other business priorities such as globalization and cost containment, there was little alignment. In fact, only 4% of respondents rated "cross-cultural awareness" as a priority. This was surprising given that all respondents were global companies and cross-cultural awareness is a critical element in globalization

Work/life balance was low on the HR priority list, as was downsizing, and union/employee relations.

Maintaining a High Quality HR Organization

HR leaders noted the following top priorities in their efforts to maintain a high quality HR function:

Active recruitment of new talent                                72%     

Proactive succession planning                                   65%

Coaching & development                                          57%      Employee retention program                                     55%

Few HR leaders considered comprehensive training and cross-functional exposure important to enhancing HR services. This is a bit surprising, as both these initiatives help break down internal silos, facilitate change, and promote best practice sharing.

Outsourcing Not a Focus

While companies are becoming more focused on reducing administrative costs and simplifying processes, they are intent on retaining control of these functions.  For this reason, outsourcing is not a leading focus of HR leaders at this time.

The 5 most centralized functions are 1) compensation & benefits, 2) performance management, 3) career development, 4) payroll, and 5) training. Activities with the highest levels of outsourcing include 1) training, 2) payroll, and 3) benefits administration. Asia-Pacific companies showed the highest rate of outsourcing, relying more heavily on external sources for 60-70% of recruitment and training.

HR Partnering With Other Functions

Respondents are integrated or frequently partner with finance/accounting (84%), operations (82%), legal (80%), internal audit, and compliance (76%). The strongest link is with finance/accounting on common focuses: compensation, payroll, budgeting, and planning. The weakest partnership is with supply chain. North American HR leaders demonstrate a higher than average level of collaboration with all aspects of the business, while European HR leaders were better integrated with legal and sales.

HR leaders expressed a strong desire to improve collaboration; 91% are currently focused on improving HR's link with the business.

Project Management

Nearly three-quarters of companies surveyed use outside assistance for project management even though close to two-thirds describe themselves as being proficient at managing internal projects. The main driver for hiring outside assistance is the need for execution due to lack of resources. The HR function in North America tends to support more projects outside of the HR function (72%) than in Europe (53%) or Asia-Pacific (45%). 

Change Management

Companies approach change management in a wide variety of ways. For some it is part of the culture, especially in rapidly evolving industries; for others it is narrowly defined. HR leaders recognize the need to improve their involvement in the different aspects of change management, especially communications and aligning roles and responsibilities. A leading practice is to ensure communications are focused on helping people fully understand the drivers of change.

The survey shows that HR leaders are deepening their partnerships with business, but continue to feel pressures associated with globalization, changing corporate landscapes, and the war for talent. Succeeding against the challenges will require collaboration and partnership on many levels, from corporate to individual business units, as well as to employees and external partners.

For a copy of the full survey, go to http://www.resourcesglobal.com/us/services_hr.html or visit www.resourcesglobal.com, Human Capital.

Cathy Fyock Joins Forces with Resources Global Professionals

Cathy Fyock has joined forces with Resources Global Professionals, a multinational professional services firm that helps business leaders execute internal initiatives. Cathy's role at the Louisville office is to support its recruitment initiatives and to lead business development efforts. Since Resources' consulting associates average 22+ years of experience globally, she will be able to use her expertise in both the areas of recruitment and maturing workforce issues. She will continue to provide speaking and training services through her own organization, Innovative Management Concepts.

The Truth About Hiring The Best

Unemployment rates are at record lows, making it even more challenging to find the best employees. Hiring managers want new, creative ways to recruit and select top employees. Savvy managers also know they're not just hiring for one open position-they're creating the future for their department and their organization.

The Truth About Hiring The Best, written by Employment Strategist Cathy Fyock, is the first easy-to-digest, practical book that dispels the myths about how to identify, recruit, and then select the best people. Cathy draws upon her experience as a recruiter, hiring manager, and employment consultant in providing "break-through aha's" to help you find the best people for your organization.

Anyone who needs to make a hiring decision can benefit from this book-from department managers, to business owners, to HR professionals. Whether you need to hire one person every five years or 500 people now, this book will help you meet your goals.

Available now through Amazon.com

Talent matters. No one denies this fact. But, there is often a gap between wanting and getting talent.  Cathy Fyock's 53 "truths" provide concrete, practical, and well tested ideas to close the talent gap. The ideas are reasonable, grounded in research, and actionable.  This is an excellent book for those who pay attention to hiring.  The 53 truths offer a roadmap for doing this important task more effectively.

Dave Ulrich

Professor of Business, University of Michigan

Partner, The RBL Group

Selected Engagements from Cathy's Calendar

t      March 4, "So You Think You Want To Be A Consultant," Employment Guide Job Fair, Lexington, KY

t      March 29, "Writer's Workshop," NSA-KY Workshop, Louisville, KY

Looking ahead . . .

t      May 6 - 7, "America's Workforce is Coming of Age: Retaining and engaging an aging workforce," Association of Legal Administrators Annual Conference, Seattle, WA

t      June 2, "The Truth About Hiring The Best," Huddle House Owner-Operators' Conference, Sandestin, FL

t      June 24, "The Truth About Hiring The Best," Society for Human Resource Management Annual Conference, Chicago, IL

About Cathy Fyock

Are you looking for a high-content speaker for your next conference or meeting?  Call or email Cathy to find out how she can work with you to meet your specific goals and objectives.

Cathy Fyock, CSP, SPHR, is an employment strategist-helping organizations develop strategies to recruit and retain top talent in an aging and changing marketplace.  For nearly 20 years she has combined her knowledge of work-force issues and her talents as a speaker to provide innovative and inspirational learning events. She has helped organizations attract top talent, reduce turnover, and improve productivity in a volatile labor market.

Comments from a Recent Presentation

t      "Very pertinent information."

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t      "Enjoyed Cathy's session-makes me glad I'm an HR Professional!"

t      "Fantastic!"

t      "Very applicable, good examples."

t      "Loved the stories.  Great learning tool."

t      "Cathy is a great speaker."

t      "It was good to laugh."

Permission to Reproduce This Newsletter

Permission is hereby granted to reprint articles from this report by Cathy Fyock, at no charge, with the agreement that the biographical information be included following each article used. One copy of the publication in which the article is published must be forwarded to Innovative Management Concepts. A fee of $300 per article will be expected for articles published without the biographical and contact information. Please contact us for assistance in editing this article to meet your publication guidelines.