Citation
Nolan, S. (2014), "A look at current trends and data", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-02-2014-0019
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
A look at current trends and data
Article Type: Research and results From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 3
Story 1
Survey reveals change management challenges for HR managers
The majority of HR professionals believe technology can play a vital role when managing change. This is according to a survey, carried out by HR software provider Cascade HR in conjunction with People Management, to assess the impact of change on HR professionals and to find out how they manage change throughout their organizations.
"With the CIPD reporting that organizations experience major change every three years, its vital for HR managers to identify the challenges so that they can be better prepared when it happens," said Heather Vitty, Client Services director for Cascade HR. "Our survey revealed that although most thought they handle change quite well, the majority still felt that they need more guidance and support to better deal with change management in the future. Less surprising for us was the vital role that HR managers consider technology to have. It certainly raises the bar for HR departments everywhere to make sure managers use the tools they have to their maximum capabilities, or they may face future failure."
HR managers do not feel equipped to deal with change
The following statistics from the survey reveal the rate at which change happens and how it is dealt with internally:
* Over 90 percent said they had experienced some sort of change over the last 12 months.
* Only 11 percent felt they handled that change very well.
* Over 90 percent think they will experience change again over the next 12 months.
* Only 27 percent said they were adequately equipped to deal with change.
More worryingly, nearly 40 percent said they did not think their employees would react very well to any upcoming major change. "This identifies a gap that HR managers need to consider seriously," said Vitty. "Although the survey showed that managers know which communication methods work best, and they are convinced that technology can help them plan, they need to improve their own confidence levels within their organization so that employees can trust HR managers to take them through any change successfully."
Other findings include the following:
* A total of 42 percent identified "differing leadership styles" as the biggest challenge; 30 percent said "organizational culture".
* Other challenges included "likely employee resistance", "lack of appropriate HR resources", and "inconsistent HR processes and procedures".
* The three most crucial factors were identified as open communication, leadership and employee engagement.
For more information Visit http://www.cascadehr.co.uk
Story 2
Effective EVPs can lead to higher engagement and financial performance
A significant number of organizations are missing out on a golden opportunity to increase employee engagement, attract and retain top talent, or even improve financial performance according to a survey by global professional services company Towers Watson. One of the reasons for this is that less than half the companies surveyed have a long-term plan for getting the most from their employee value proposition (EVP) – the employment deal that defines what an employer expects from its employees and what it provides in return.
Towers Watsons research shows organizations that use their EVP most effectively are five times more likely to report their employees are highly engaged and twice as likely to report achieving financial performance significantly above their peers when compared to companies that use their EVP less effectively. However, the survey of global organizations shows that most fail to realize these benefits due to shortfalls in their deployment of the EVP, and that less than half (43 percent) of their HR and communication teams have a long-term plan in place to support that deployment.
What makes an effective EVP?
The Towers Watson survey found that EVPs at the best companies have the following characteristics:
* Comprehensive and balanced. About half (49 percent) of companies with highly effective EVPs combine extrinsic factors such as pay, bonuses and benefits with intrinsic factors including work environment and teamwork, compared to just 24 percent of companies with low-effectiveness EVPs.
* Differentiated. Nearly half (47 percent) of the highly-effective EVP companies have EVPs that are significantly different, stand out from their competitors and are appealing to talent, compared with just 18 percent of low-effectiveness companies.
* Business-oriented. Six in ten (59 percent) of the highly-effective companies are using their EVP to both drive the employee behavior they need to deliver on their strategy and to be financially successful.
* Employee-focused. While most (57 percent) low-effectiveness companies focus on communicating the features and financial value of the deal, nearly half (44 percent) of highly-effective companies are helping employees understand how their individual needs are met.
"The EVP defines the employment deal. Its a promise to help employees meet their needs in exchange for their daily efforts to help the business succeed," said Richard Veal, head of Towers Watsons Reward, Talent and Communication consulting practice. "What we found, though, is that low EVP effectiveness companies discuss the deal in terms of the programs they provide and how valuable they are. But the best companies go much further. They discuss how they meet their employees" expectations and, in return, what behaviors they expect employees to exhibit to help them succeed."
The survey noted that an effective EVP aligns the whole work experience, from culture, mission and values, to total rewards, through jobs and people. An effective EVP requires both a strong employer brand strategy and communication plan. Employers looking to improve EVP effectiveness should consider developing an implementation road map; involving senior leaders early in the EVP development; training, rewarding and holding managers accountable; and measuring the effectiveness of their EVP on different employee groups.
The 2013 Towers Watson "Change and communication ROI survey" was conducted in September 2013. A total of 207 large and midsize organizations from across North America, Europe and Asia participated.
For more information Visit http://www.towerswatson.com
Story 3
Young fathers seek work-life balance
Expectations of young fathers in the workplace are changing as work-life balance needs grow. This is according to findings from the Working Families report, "Time, health and the family." This is the most recent in the charitys regular report on life for working families in the UK and provides an updated snapshot of how parents combine home and work, and examines whether they are achieving the kind of balance to which they aspire. The new report, sponsored by Bright Horizons, is based on the results of a survey of over a thousand respondents all of whom had dependent children and with an even mother/father representation.
Following are the key findings:
* Almost a third (31 percent) of parents report that there is no flexible working on offer where they work. Education, retail and healthcare were the three sectors most likely not to offer flexible working.
* Fathers, particularly young fathers, are more resentful towards their employers about their work-life balance. Fathers in the 26-35 age group were the most resentful. Fathers with a single child tended to be more resentful towards their employers than fathers with more than one child.
* Mothers are the first port of call when things go wrong at school or at childcare. Both fathers and mothers said that the mother would be called first. The only group for whom this was starkly different was young fathers in the 26-35 age range; they said that they were almost as likely to be called as their partner. Organizations like nurseries and schools still seem to operate largely on the default setting that the mother is the carer.
* Most families find that work impinges on family life to some extent, with over 40 percent this happens often or all the time. Unsurprisingly, resentment towards work is more pronounced the more family life is impinged upon. Those who found their time most impinged upon were young fathers between the ages of 26 and 35.
Commenting on the findings, Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, said: "It is clear that expectations for work life balance are changing, particularly among younger working fathers. This is a quiet revolution in attitudes which may have long-lasting impact in the workplace. The male employee, focused full-time on his work, is becoming a museum-piece. Tomorrows workers, male and female, will expect time and space for their family lives and responsibilities alongside their work.
"So I am also struck by how many parents told us that flexible working is not available in their workplace. Over 90 percent of UK organizations say they offer at least one form of flexible working and so we must conclude that employers need to improve their communications about the possible options. Whats not known about, wont be asked for. If resentment builds up about lack of flexibility, performance will suffer."
For more information Visit http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk
Story 4
Business agility to accelerate demand for workforce development
Business agility and the need for cohesive workforce learning will continue to drive the demand for better communications and flexible staff development. This is according to the second annual Speexx Exchange Survey that was carried out by Speexx, an online corporate language training specialist, and involved more than 250 global HR directors, L&D professionals and C-level executives.
The Speexx audit highlights a number of key findings and challenges likely to be faced by global businesses in 2014. Key findings are outlined below.
Mobile learning better understood than social learning
1. Social learning dominated headlines in 2013, but in reality only 22 percent had implemented a social learning strategy. On the other hand, the audit indicated that 86 percent believed social learning would become either "effective" or "very effective" within their organization by 2016.
2. As for mobile learning, 76 percent of respondents allow and/or provide mobile devices in the workplace, yet only 35 percent actively use these for learning, highlighting a missed opportunity in terms of mobile learning.
3. A number of barriers were cited in preventing the full adoption of mobile learning. These included:
* concerns over corporate data security issues (24 percent);
* multiple standards and platforms within their organization, which did not support mobile learning (20 percent);
* lack of IT integration (19 percent);
* no bring-your-own-device policy (16 percent);
* low user adoption rate (16 percent); and
* technical issues (6 percent).
Empowering workforce communications pays dividends
1. Five main issues were cited as hampering cross-border communications and organizations performance:
* lack of foreign language skills amongst employees (39 percent);
* intercultural differences (28 percent);
* dispersed subsidiaries (16 percent); and
* lack of management support (10 percent).Only 6 percent of interviewees cited the lack of technology as a barrier to better communications.
2. On the other hand, HR directors, CXO and L&D senior managers all acknowledged that there were substantial gains from having a strong communications strategy and cited the following specific areas of work which directly improved through better communications:
* Increased collaboration across borders (43 percent).
* Quicker time-to-decision across borders (41 percent).
* Improved competitive advantage in global projects (39 percent).
* Increased quality of customer care (38 percent).
* Reduced internal conflict (33 percent).
* Cost savings (23 percent).
Shift from localized LMS to the cloud
1. A total of 38 percent of organizations still rely on local learning management solutions or local talent management platforms to manage workforce performance and 30 percent of organizations had already moved to a cloud based platform.
2. Those interviewed acknowledged that cloud platforms will play an increased role in their company strategy in the future and cited the following four key areas where a cloud solution would likely benefit them:
*Increase flexibility for users (45 percent).
* Integrate learning and HR management (36 percent).
* Apply the same standard to all employees regardless of location (26 percent).
* Reduce direct training costs (21 percent).
For more information Visit http://www.speexx.com
Sara Nolan
Editor of Strategic HR Review