A look at current trends and data

Citation

Nolan, S. (2009), "A look at current trends and data", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 8 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2009.37208bab.008

A look at current trends and data

Article Type: Research and results From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 8, Issue 2

Sara Nolan

Story 1

Research dispels myths surrounding generational diversity

A research study called Gen Up indicates that employers may not understand the needs and motivations of the four different generations in the workplace and, as a result, could be heading for conflict in the workplace and a reduced talent pool. It shows that some of the assumptions that employers are working on to attract and retain different age groups could be wrong. Following are some of the findings:

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  Communication on social responsibility and the “green” agenda is typically targeted at the new Y Generation (18-30 year olds) when research shows that it is the Baby Boomers (aged between 45 and 60) who are most likely to take an employer’s reputation in these areas into account when applying for a job.

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  The Y Generation, which is often called the “me” generation for being individually driven is in fact looking for an environment where they can feel part of a team and can make friends.

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  While it is true that those in the Y Generation category are looking to add to their skills and will take control of their own career development, it is the UK Baby Boomers that are the least happy with their personal development opportunities.

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  In contrast to the view that Veterans (the over 60s) are looking to slow down in pre-retirement, they are the group that are most likely to go the extra mile, and although Generation X seem to want more of a work/life balance, the research shows they would happily work more hours if flexibility or overtime was offered.

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  Generation Y is also said to not show loyalty and want to job hop for their own career progression when the research shows that 50 percent intend to stay with their employer for the next five years.

The research was carried out by recruitment and HR specialist Penna, working in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and is the result of over 5,500 interviews that were carried out with employees across industry sectors and organizational sizes in six Western European countries, as well as focus groups with HR managers in the UK.

For more information

The Gen Up report, which includes best practice case studies, is available at: www.penna.com/newsopinion/research.aspx

Story 2

Data management a key outsourcing challenge in globalization

Data management has been identified as the number one outsourcing challenge to HR executives in supporting the globalization of their operations. This is according to a survey by Mercer and Harvard Business Publishing that included interviews with almost 60 senior HR executives at corporate headquarters and regional offices across the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Of those surveyed, 45 percent had taken on global roles in the previous two to three years, while 40 percent had assumed such responsibilities within the previous 12 months alone.

The survey showed that HR executives face significant business issues that threaten to slow their progress in supporting globalization – in particular, the decentralized and fragmented nature of the HR data they have to work with. When presented with multiple solutions to help address these issues, 90 percent of respondents chose two in particular – a global HR manager portal to centralize employee benefit plan data, and an integrated global employee online facility.

In the global environment, HR leaders are seeking a single, multicurrency and multilingual data warehouse from which they can mine and analyze data regardless of where they or their employees are located. A global HR manager portal might deliver global employee demographics, compensation and benefits data and industry benchmarks across those domains, as well as legislative and regulatory news by country. The other priority would involve setting up a global online employee benefit facility involving a single sign-on process and globally consistent navigation across all the benefit domains.

For more information

The findings of the survey are available in a white paper entitled “HR’s expanding frontier: From local to global strategic partner”, which is available at: www.mercer.com/HRexpandingfrontier

Story 3

Cultural integration issues reduce value of M&As

Cultural integration issues are having a negative financial impact on Merger and Acquisition (M&A) deals, says Mercer in its Cultural Integration Snapshot Survey. In the research, which included 119 organizations across the Americas and Europe, more than half of respondents reported that the success of recent M&A transactions was negatively impacted by cultural integration issues.

Asked to estimate the financial impact of cultural integration issues, respondents differed only slightly between the American and European surveys. In the American survey, 44 percent of respondents reported that between US$1 million and US$5 million was lost or not realized in a significant transaction their organization had recently undertaken, with nearly one quarter estimating that it was over US$5 million. In the European survey, 43 percent of respondents reported that between Euro 1 million and Euro 5 million was lost or not realized in a recent significant transaction, with nearly 30 percent estimating that it was over Euro 5 million.

Although 72 percent of survey respondents cited culture as an important contributor to creating value in M&A transactions (with nearly one third stating that it is critical), the survey highlighted the fact that many organizations were not well prepared to effectively manage cultural integration issues. While nearly one quarter of companies are moving towards developing a more formal cultural integration process, 68 percent still do not regularly use a systematic approach to identify gaps between organizational cultures.

For more information

A copy of the survey report is available upon request via e-mail at: globalm&a@mercer.com

Story 4

Lessons shared in how to find the “Golden Few”

Consulting and research firm, Jackson Samuel, has published a research report called “The Golden Few. Lessons in talent management from the worlds of entertainment, sport, arts and academia”. The report maps out the findings of research carried out among UK organizations responsible for spotting talented individuals. Called “enterprise organizations,” they included a premiership football academy, a modeling agency, music and entertainment organizations and top schools. The aim of the research was to find out how those organizations identify and nurture the truly gifted in their field. Following are some of the key lessons from the report:

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  A new word for talent. People who are more than just talented, but are uniquely gifted, captivatingly charismatic and downright driven and persistent when it comes to achieving success, are the “Golden Few.”

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  Elite is not a swear word. Not everyone has the same amount of talent. Not everyone has a talent that will make a real difference to an organization’s success. Those who are elite in this way need special attention – and that is not a bad thing.

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  We’ve lost the art of pastoral care. Taking a genuine interest in the person, not the person in the job, is critical when you seek to engage and nurture your most talented individuals. But HR doesn’t fill this role anymore, and nor do line managers.

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  24/7 talent spotting. Talent spotting is a talent. If you want to get the best, you’ve got to hunt like the best. And that doesn’t mean plodding through your talent and recruitment processes as and when HR instructs you to. You’ve got to be looking 24/7.

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  It’s not a career, it’s a set of scenarios. Careers are no longer completely linear but take many shapes and forms. Couple that with the fact that we cannot predict the future and you’re left wondering – why do we only ever plan for one career?

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  The HR function has lost its way. In its rush to become more commercially relevant – to be a “strategic business partner” – the HR function has abandoned the well-being of employees.

For more information

Visit: www.jacksonsamuel.com