HR needs to step up, say CEOs

Human resources professionals can do much more to contribute to overall business, according to a new report.

While 81 per cent of C-suite executives believe that HR’s priorities are aligned to the overall business, 59 per cent say HR is not playing a leading role, according to a report from Sage.

Many business leaders also believe that HR is not playing a leading role in operational excellence (62 per cent), skilling and upskilling (55 per cent) and company culture (54 per cent). 

Globally, seven in 10 HR executives say the HR function is ripe for reinvention, according to a separate report.

And HR people themselves recognize their lack of leadership in these areas (65 per cent, 52 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively), found the Sage survey of 500 HR and business leaders from across the U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia.

“As the Canadian economy reopens and more businesses look to transition to a hybrid work model, HR and people leaders are uniquely positioned to manage this pivotal transition, with support from the C-suite,” says Steve Ryujin, interim MD at Sage Canada. “With the accelerated digital transformation and evolving workplace trends, HR leaders will need to analyze and respond to changes in real-time and demonstrate greater value through actionable insights for operational management and strategic planning.”

Despite multitudes of data being available to modern HR professionals, many decisions are still made in an old-fashioned way, according to a another expert.

Analytics needed

HR leaders are in a unique position to improve an organization’s strategic decision-making by sharing valuable people data – if they have the right systems in place, according to the Sage report.

However, while 94 per cent of business leaders have access to some form of people data from HR, 68 per cent are not heavily reliant on this data and 38 per cent are not satisfied with HR’s ability to provide insights and recommendations.

Even though many HR professionals may not have strong familiarity with using people analytics on a regular basis, they should embrace its power, says an expert.

Also, 62 per cent of HR leaders said they’re unable to use the data to spot trends and make business-related predictions, found Sage. Many business leaders also say it is useful to have the following data, but few say HR provide them these data: