High-Performance HR – Effectiveness and Efficiency
I. HR Strategy and Positioning II. HR Organization and Management III. HR Products/Processes and HR IT IV. HR Competences and Personnel
Findings of the HR Strategy & Organization Study 2012/2013
The most urgent needs for intervention in the sense of a gap between the current competences and the target lie in: (1) strategic skills, (2) entrepreneurship, (3) persuasiveness and assertiveness, and (4) analytical capacities. Compared to
The most urgent need for development lies in business-side competences, with a focus on strategic skills and entrepreneurship.
earlier studies, the focus has shifted. Strategic skills have be-come a new object of attention, while the largest gap in the last study was the aptitude for learning and change in HR units.
Illustration 23: As-is/To-be comparison of competences required in HR management
1 2 3 4 5 6
Strategic skills Entrepreneurship Persuasiveness and assertiveness
Analytical capacities Aptitude for learning and change Creativity and innovation Focus on action and results Diversity and internationality Functional expertise Energy and resilience Customer focus Performance motivation Integrity and commitment Cooperation and empathy
1,40 1,26 1,11 1,09 1,04 1,04 0,92 0,87 0,69 0,67 0,64 0,52 0,46 0,46 As-Is
To-Be
Gap
32
100 % 80 % 60 %
HRExcellence companies are much more positive in their rating of the competences in HR management than other companies, with a far slimmer gap between the as-is state and the target.
One exception is diversity and internationality. In some com-petences, HR excellence companies see themselves as well-prepared, indicated by a match between the target and the current state. This includes their HR professionals’ functional
Obvious progress has been made in the development of the competences of HR business partners working in advisory functions for line managers. Almost all competences – with the exception of a knowledge of labour law – present a definite improvement since the last survey. The most marked changes can be found when it comes to engaging with line managers as their equals; this also goes hand in hand with an improved grasp of the business.
HR business partners are gaining increasing acceptance and standing and are acting at eye level with line managers. The most pressing need for development remains in change management.
skills, customer focus, energy and resilience, and performance motivation. However, HRExcellence companies also have higher ex-pectations; this goes in particular for strategic skills, where the target scores are 27 % higher.
We recognize two aspects in this:
» The HR business partner has established itself as a recognized job profile, increasingly tied to specific development paths;
this applies in particular to international roles (“Global HR BP”).
» Larger companies in particular have invested major efforts into developing their personnel, including some qualification programmes targeted especially at HR business partners.
The focus has shifted from functional to more general skillsets.
Illustration 24: Comparing developed competences (status quo) for HR work Comparing HR Excellence and other companies
HRExcellence
Focus on action and results
Creativity and innovation
Persuasiveness and assertiveness Aptitude for learning
and change
Findings of the HR Strategy & Organization Study 2012/2013
Illustration 25: Competences of HR professionals in advisory functions for line managers (business partner roles)
Our HR business partners/HR managers know the business/business processes of their allocated areas.
Our HR business partners/HR managers are able to communicate as equals of the line managers in their care.
Our HR business partners/HR managers can use and explain the HR and leadership instruments.
Our HR business partners/HR managers have a good grasp of labour law.
Our HR business partners/HR managers possess sufficient skills for using HR IT systems.
Our HR business partners/HR managers are able to act as agents in times of change and support change processes effectively.
61 % 44 %
63 % 68 %
72 % 63 %
48 %51 % 22 %30 %
54 %62 %
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 %
26 %
79 %
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 %
2012/2013*
2010/2011*
HRExcellence Others
*Share of companies that have chosen “5 to 6 (Agree)”.
One essential need for development remains: Only 30 % of companies rate their business partners as competent change agents. Every tenth respondent even rates these competences as not present at all. Even though there are many different perceptions of the role of HR in change management, with some companies not awarding their HR teams any responsibilities in this area, the ability of HR business partners to fulfil such roles is indispensable: supporting change processes is one of the essential tasks of business partners and part of their strategic presence.
HRExcellence companies have made major headway in this area;
79 % of them report change skills among their business part-ners. This is in stark contrast to only 26 % of the other com-panies who award their business partners such skills.
Illustration 26: The competences of HR professionals in advisory functions at HRExcellence companies and other companies Our HR business partners/HR managers are able to act as agents in change processes and support them effectively.
34
24 % 19 %
51 %
76 % 82 % 49 %
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
Up to 1,000 employees 1,001 to 10,000 employees More than 10,000 employees
Illustration 28a: Career opportunities for HR professionals within HR management How would you rate the internal career opportunities for HR personnel within the HR section?
The average length of careers in HR management is ten years, and one in three HR professionals (31 %) has worked in another business function beforehand. By comparison to earlier studies, there are no changes in the data.
In general terms, the career opportunities for HR professionals are rated cautiously. Good to very good career opportunities in HR are reported at only 31 % of companies, with the figure dropping to 15 % for careers in other business functions.
The size of a company is a decisive factor for the career op-portunities in HR management. 19 % of companies with over 10,000 employees see rather poor to very poor career oppor-tunities for their HR professionals; at companies employing
Careers in HR
between 1,001 and 10,000 people, this figure is 24 %, rising to 51 % at companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. There are also major differences between industries: the best career opportunities are available in retail, mechanical and plant engineering, telecommunications and IT, and transport and logistics.
In Switzerland, the opportunities for careers intersecting with other business functions are rated more positively on average.
The number of HR employees who have a background in other functions is also greater.
The larger the company, the better the career opportunities for HR professionals within the management of HR. Their career opportunities in other business functions remain limited – with the best opportunities being available in Switzerland.
Rather good to very good
Rather poor to very poor
Illustration 28: Coverage ratio for HR business partners to employees Details: HR business partners to employees (median)
Companies with up to 1,000 employees Companies with more than 1,000 employees
1 : 126 1 : 408
N = 71 N = 75
The number of employees covered by HR business partners differs considerably depending on the size of the companies.
At companies with up to 1,000 employees, with consequently slimmer leadership structures, the coverage ratio is 1 : 126;
at companies with over 1,000 employees, the median ratio is
1 : 408. An international comparison reveals few differences in the coverage ratio: Germany 1 : 258, Austria 1 : 308, and Switzerland1 : 224.
Findings of the HR Strategy & Organization Study 2012/2013
The size of the budget available for the training and competence development of HR professionals ranges from € 800 to
€ 2,000, with a median budget of € 1200 – with no noteworthy differences between companies of different sizes or nations.
The budget was slightly higher at companies with up to 1,000
employees, which might be due to the fact that these compa-nies have less internal synergies to draw on and therefore in-vest more in external training and development activities.
Illustration 29: Development opportunities for HR professionals: Development budgets
Annual development budgets per member of staff, in € (n = 159)
800
1st Quartile 25 %
1.200
Median
2.000
3rd Quartile 75 %
Continue to focus on competence development. HR units are still revealing gaps in competence, especially in business-oriented competences, such as strategic skills or entrepreneurial awareness. Focused qualification and competence-oriented recruitment centred on those competences that are critical for success can help bridge these gaps. However, this will demand deeper coffers for training and HR development.
Focusing HR development onto business partners. The role of the business partner remains particularly essential for success in terms of its strategic place and value contribution at the interface with the internal client. The efforts that have already gone into designing specific qualification and development programmes for this role should be continued; ‘change’ should be given explicit attention as the competence showing the
Diversity in HR units. For HR units above all, diversity should be an ambition understood holistically and completely: inter-nationality, careers that fold into and out of HR teams, or roles within HR as well as the spirit of diversity in terms of gender, age, and sexual identity. We believe that diversity can be an invaluable engine for HR work.
Recommendations
66 % 60 % 54 % 34 %
42 % 47 %
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 % 100 %
Up to 1,000 employees 1,001 to 10,000 employees More than 10,000 employees
Illustration 28b: Career opportunities for HR professionals in other business functions
How would you rate the internal career opportunities for HR personnel in one of the other business functions?
Rather good to very good
Rather poor to very poor
36 Thema
04 In Focus: Employer Branding and Recruitment
Employer branding and recruitment are capturing an ever in-creasing share of attention in business. This development is powered by the impact of demographic changes that brings fewer and fewer school-leavers and apprentices into the labour markets and is leading to a dearth of specialists and other qualified personnel. While companies were in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose from a multitude of applicants only a few years ago, they are increasingly finding it an uphill challenge to recruit and retain suitable junior staff or the talent of tomorrow. Politicians and media people have introduced the buzzword of a “war for talent” forcing employers to become more proactive to stand up to competing employers.
The effects of demographic changes have indeed arrived at the companies taking part in this survey: 82 % are reporting a particularly urgent need for specialists and qualified person-nel; 51 % encounter problems with recruiting graduates and trai-nees. The effect is felt even more for companies with work-forces of between 1,001 and 10,000 employees. One particular challenge is the recruitment of specialists in engineering and IT as well as qualified sales and customer service staff.
Findings
The Demographic Change Has Arrived
Illustration 30: Particular recruitment needs by sectors of industry
The percentage figures show the share of participating companies (by sectors of industry) who report a particular need for recruitment from the target group/type of position (multiple answers allowed).
Automotive Banks and Insurance Chemical and Pharmaceutical Retail Energy, Utilities, Waste Healthcare and Social Services Engineering, Techno- logy, and High-Tech Mechanical and Plant Engineering (Legal) Consulting, Auditing and Real Estate Telecommunications and IT Transport and Logistics Media and Publishing
University Gradu-ates/Trainees 27 % 35 % 43 % 56 % 57 % 42 % 63 % 48 % 100 % 57 % 50 % 67 %
Apprentices 9 % 38 % 21 % 44 % 21 % 17 % 16 % 35 % 0 % 0 % 25 % 39 %
Executives 27 % 24 % 50 % 56 % 21 % 42 % 42 % 26 % 30 % 21 % 50 % 39 %
Interns 0 % 12 % 7 % 6 % 7 % 8 % 16 % 4 % 40 % 0 % 8 % 17 %
Industrial
Workers 27 % 3 % 0 % 13 % 36 % 17 % 11 % 26 % 0 % 0 % 8 % 0 %
Specialists 100 % 94 % 93 % 75 % 57 % 92 % 84 % 78 % 70 % 86 % 75 % 78 %
38 In Focus: Employer Branding and Recruitment
Highly qualified recruits are a rare commodity. Over a third of the sampled companies state that they are unhappy about the quality of the applications they received; in healthcare and social services, the figures rises to 75 %. As a result of the current recruitment landscape, 31 % of all companies cannot choose between the best qualified applicants; almost a
quar-Most sample companies have come to realize that it is essential to rise above the crowd and market their qualities as employers to withstand the “war for talent”. 64 % of respondents state that the point of their employer branding efforts is to aid
ter of the sample (22 %) contract offers are increasingly rejec-ted by suitable applicants. rejecrejec-ted by good applicants. The situation affects the healthcare and social service companies in particular (50 %). The figures speak for themselves: talen-ted recruits need to be found and wooed.
recruitment, 50 % are specifically aiming to establish an em-ployer brand, and 46 % are trying to improve the quality of applicants.
The changes in the wider population are causing a scarcity of qualified recruits. Companies are facing increasing problems with recruiting specialists in engineering, IT, and sales and customers service.
The healthcare and social service industry is already learning that there are fewer qualified applicants enjoying greater competition among potential employers.
Illustration 31: The main objectives of investing in employer branding
Recruiting talent Establishing an employer brand Improving the quality of applications Raising the profile of the company
Reaching out to new/special target groups Reducing the time/cost of recruitment
Publicizing corporate values Changing the corporate culture Improving revenues Marketing/Advertising products Motivating employees
50 % 46 % 44 % 19 %
18 % 16 % 13 % 9 % 4 % 1 %
64 %
0 % 20 % 40 % 60 % 80 %
When deciding for or against a potential employer, employer branding plays a decisive role for applicants. Many companies have yet to establish a convincing presence in their labour markets: Fewer than half of the participants (41 %) believe that they are already being seen as attractive employers.