A look at current trends and data

Citation

Nolan, S. (2011), "A look at current trends and data", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 10 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2011.37210bab.008

A look at current trends and data

Article Type: Research and results From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 10, Issue 2

Story 1

Strategic change continues for European companies

A total of 85 percent of companies have undergone at least one major strategic change in the past five years, according to a survey of more than 480 European HR and change communications decision makers at leading multinational companies. Just over half of respondents (51 percent) said they expected more changes over the next two years – suggesting that companies will need to prepare their employees for further upheavals.

The survey was conducted between May and July 2010 by Penn Schoen & Berland Associates for Burson-Marsteller and covered ten European markets including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. According to the results, the top three changes expected in 2011 and 2012 are:

1. 1.

   Organizational restructuring, predicted by 27 percent of companies, which would occur regardless of whether previous restructurings had already taken place.

2. 2.

   New strategic direction driven by the organization, predicted by 22 percent.

3. 3.

   Downsizing, predicted in almost one in five companies.

Lack of confidence in change management process

The study also shows that despite the high volume of changes that have already taken place within companies, only 23 percent of in-house change management professionals feel confident in their ability to manage the process. Even fewer (18 percent) feel that the goals and scope of change are effectively communicated throughout the business.

One reason cited is that most companies are not good at communicating internally, or at engaging employees on a day-to-day basis, making it even more difficult to do so during times of change. In addition, while 65 percent of decision makers said that having a change management plan in place was important to their companies, only half actually had one. Companies are also more likely to prepare plans for changes that they initiate, rather than for changes that may be driven by outside factors but which can still significantly impact their organization.

For more information

See Change Communications Survey at www.burson-marsteller.eu

Story 2

Integrating talent functions brings business benefits

Integrating talent functions into a single software platform to eliminate data silos and facilitate cross-functional reporting affords significant business benefits as organizations gain a more holistic view of their workforce productivity and growth potential. This is according to a report from SumTotal, the talent management solutions company, called Top Five HR Process Integrations that Drive Business Value.

The report is based on survey data from HR leaders in over 200 global enterprises and medium-sized businesses. It shows that organizations with fully integrated HR and talent processes, systems and data outperform those organizations that have not integrated by 41 percent across 12 key HR and business operating metrics.

The key benefits of integration include:

• •

  Decreased voluntary turnover.

• •

  Improved workforce productivity.

• •

  Better workforce alignment to overall business strategy.

• •

  Better internal talent mobility.

• •

  Faster on-boarding (time-to-productivity).

Out of a total of 15 possible HR integrations analyzed, the top five were identified by evaluating organizations’ current and future integration plans while taking into account the overall business impact of integrating the processes via technology. The analysis provides a useful guide for HR and business leaders to understanding not only which processes their peers are planning to integrate today, but also which integrations provide the most business value in the long-run. The top five process integrations are:

1. 1.

   Employee development and succession planning. Enable employee development planning for future roles.

2. 2.

   Employee development and learning management. Enable employee development plans to be executed via learning and training.

3. 3.

   Learning management and performance management. Enable learning and training activities as a key component of goal completion.

4. 4.

   Reporting and core HR. Enable a single, centralized reporting repository across all HR functions.

5. 5.

   Performance management and compensation management. Enable merit-based pay-for-performance.

The report also addresses key strategies to facilitate HR integration, including the transition from using multiple, siloed HR systems to a single talent platform that natively combines various HR functions. The single and comprehensive HR platform virtually eliminates the need for manual and costly systems integration and facilitates deeper HR reporting and analysis since all data is located in one place.

For more information

The Top Five HR Process Integrations that Drive Business Value executive report can be downloaded at www.sumtotalsystems.com/hrintegration

Story 3

Security concerns hinder take-up of Web 2.0 and social networking in business

According to a global report from McAfee Inc., business leaders worldwide see the value of Web 2.0 in supporting productivity and driving new revenue, but remain deeply concerned about security threats associated with deploying the technology.

A survey of over 1,000 global business decision-makers in 17 countries found that half of businesses are concerned about the security of Web 2.0 applications, such as social media, micro blogging, collaborative platforms, web mail and content sharing tools. There is another 60 percent concerned about loss of reputation as a result of Web 2.0 misuse. Six out of ten organizations (70 percent) have already suffered losses averaging $2 million, for a collective loss of more than $1.1 billion in security related incidents last year.

New revenue streams are the highest driver of Web 2.0 adoption. Brazil, Spain and India lead in adoption of Web 2.0 technology for business, while adoption is lowest in Canada, Australia, the USA and the UK.

Businesses uncertain about employee usage

The report is titled Web 2.0: A Complex Balancing Act – The First Global Study on Web 2.0 Usage, Risks and Best Practices and was commissioned by McAfee and authored by the faculty affiliated with the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS) at Purdue University. It examines the drivers for Web 2.0 and social networking use in business, and assesses their benefits and risks. Overall, the research highlights that while organizations see the potential value of Web 2.0 tools, decision makers continue to debate whether or how to allow employee usage of the technology in the workplace.

The research shows that many businesses block Web 2.0 rather than put policies in place. Worldwide, 13 percent of organizations block all Web 2.0 activity while 81 percent restrict the use of at least one Web 2.0 tool because they are concerned about security. Yet almost one third of organizations reported that they do not have any social media policy in place. A quarter (25 percent) of organizations monitor how staff use social media and 66 percent have introduced social media policies, 71 percent of which use technology to enforce them.

For more information

The McAfee Web 2.0: A Complex Balancing Act – The First Global Study on Web 2.0 Usage, Risks and Best Practices report is available for download at www.mcafee.com

Story 4

Employees in the global financial services sector are the most satisfied

Research findings from ORC International, a division of Infogroup, show that employees in the global financial services sector are the most satisfied. Despite the impact of the recession and the resulting negative press, employees within financial services have the highest employee engagement index at 63 percent. It also scored highest on the healthy workplace index.

The 2010 Infogroup Perspectives survey explored healthy and sustainable employee engagement on a global scale, defining engaged employees as ones who are advocates for their organization, committed to staying there in the future and going above and beyond their usual duties to achieve their organization’s goals. Demographic analysis of the results shows that of the 59 questions included in the survey, employees within financial services scored significantly more positive on 53 questions. In particular, financial services employees are more positive with regard to the following:

• •

  Managers motivating and inspiring them to do their job.

• •

  Confidence in their leadership team.

• •

  Satisfaction with their benefits package.

• •

  Satisfaction with the opportunities to get better jobs within their organization.

• •

  Believing that actions to implement business strategy are developed and communicated well within their direct work environment.

Sara Nolan

For more information Visit www.infogroup.com