HR professionals expected to do more with less money: Survey
The HR profession in British Columbia is in for a year of challenge and change, according to a report on trends.
The second annual HR Trends in BC — 2009 Survey Report, published by the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association (BC HRMA), found staffing and budget expectations were very different compared to one year ago. The majority of the 671 respondents across the province are focusing on restructuring and improving the leadership and skills of their organization.
Unlike last year, when almost every organization was focused on recruitment and retention, the areas of focus for this year are broader — ranging from leadership and performance management to compensation and labour relations.
When it comes to the core business issues — revenue, staffing and the HR budget — organizations in B.C. remain relatively optimistic.
Revenue: Roughly 32 per cent of respondents expect revenue to increase and about 41 per cent expect it to decrease by more than two per cent.
Staffing: One-quarter (24 per cent) of respondents expect to increase staffing levels while 39 per cent are planning to make cuts.
HR budget: Only 15 per cent of respondents intend to increase their HR spending, while 40 per cent are planning to reduce it. In 2009, five times more organizations are looking to reduce their HR budgets than in 2008. These figures suggest HR professionals are going to be working hard to reshape their organizations and support an increase in staff productivity — all with a reduced budget.
Challenges facing HR
The range, and nature, of challenges facing HR have changed dramatically in the past year. In 2008, the predominant challenge — identified by more than 70 per cent of respondents — was the looming labour shortage. In 2009, economic uncertainty and volatility reigns supreme.
Another clear trend in 2009 is the switch from talent availability to a focus on talent capability. Throughout the survey, the issues of leadership capacity and a general skills gap were significant to respondents. It appears in the rush to cope with the formerly booming economy, organizations have fallen behind in the crucial process of maintaining the quality of their talent.
With far fewer people focused on a more complex business environment, quality of talent has become a key differentiator between success and failure. Solving this problem — quickly and on a reduced budget — will require the best in HR innovation and creativity.
Despite the budget reductions for HR functions, the survey showed organizations are spending and investing time wisely. The top five areas respondents say will receive an increase in investment — leadership development, learning and development, recruitment and selection, performance management and engagement — are all related to increasing capability or enhancing productivity.
It was very clear from the survey results that practitioners in B.C. are aligned to their organizations’ strategies and are focused on supporting organizations to achieve more with less — not necessarily by working harder but by increasing motivation and skills to get the right things done in the least amount of time possible.
HR winning strategic battle
Fortunately, for HR, it looks as though the drive for a strategic position is being won. As part of this year’s survey, respondents were asked to rate the level of HR involvement in strategy formulation. The results are encouraging and suggest, in most organizations, HR has a seat and is increasingly in the right position to influence and shape organizational outcomes.
About 57 per cent of HR leaders in B.C. are closely involved in the formulation of HR strategy. In eight per cent of organizations, the HR leader is driving the process and in 27 per cent of organizations, HR is a full partner in strategy development. These results suggest it is time to shift our focus from how to get to the executive table to how to have the most impact at the executive table.
HR professionals in B.C. are in for a challenging year, looking to support the maintenance or growth of organizational revenues while restructuring organizations with a reduced HR budget. The overriding focus in dealing with this change is to increase the leadership and overall skill levels within their existing workforce, and to work on engagement and performance programs to support high levels of staff productivity.
Innovation and creativity will be critical to delivering in this challenging year. HR professionals will need to use their strategic position to continue to demonstrate the impact of HR on organizational outcomes.
The report was written based on a survey of BC HRMA’s members during February and March of 2009. The full report is available at www.bchrma.org/research voice/research.htm.
Ian Cook is director of HR knowledge and research for the British Columbia Human Resources Management Association in Vancouver. He can be reached at [email protected] or (604) 694-6938. For more information, visit www.bchrma.org.
