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Global HR Barometer: Focus Northern Europe*
Michael Page’s study reveals HR is becoming key to business growth Stockholm, September 22nd - Michael Page just released its Global HR Barometer, a year-long research effort which looks at business and HR trends around the world. 2500 HR leaders from over 65 countries participated in an online survey. The research reveals that the role of HR is evolving from an administrative service to acting as a strategic business partner. To win the “Second War for Talent”, talent management and training & development is key, however KPI tracking can be improved to evaluate HR performance. Recruitment expectations signal new phase of economic growth 42% of HR leaders in Northern Europe expect their organisation’s total workforce to increase in the next 12 months (compared to a global 48% and 60% in the UK). This correlates well with the Arbetsförmedlingen forecast for 2015-2016 which suggests continued job growth on the Swedish labour market, especially in the Stockholm and Gothenburg regions for industry related services. There is also a fear that skill shortages will hinder companies form securing the talent they require. “We see a clear gap between what our clients require in terms of qualifications and experience and what is available on local job markets”, says Jamie Hart, Managing Director of Michael Page in Sweden. “The ability of companies to source and retain talent both nationally and internationally is crucial.” HR is becoming key in the “Second War for Talent” but are they ready for this complex mix of challenges? The study shows that companies are taking the skills gap seriously and HR departments are rearming their companies with an intensified focus on the recruitment, development and management of talent. HR is becoming key to business growth and needs to continue its evolution towards being an operational and strategic business partner. The difficult HR tasks of laying off employees and cutting costs, demanded by the economic downturn, may now no longer divert HR from more strategic initiatives. An interesting finding is that even if many organisations expect to increase total number of employees, they are not planning to grow their HR teams: 86% of Northern European HR leaders expect their HR staff levels to remain the same or even decrease. That leads to the question: Does HR have the resources to handle the need for successful talent management? As skill shortages increase, organisations need to think long and hard about the resources they invest towards employee branding and talent attraction. They need to have the right incentives and development in place to attract top talent, offer compelling career opportunities whilst also improving retention. These initiatives are now so strategically important they cannot be the sole responsibility of HR departments to drive, and line managers will have to step up and ”lean in”, so that these issues remain high on the agenda. “Our every day work is to deal with the expectations from both professionals and employers and the most common reasons for not managing to attract the high calibre candidates is poor definition of the ideal candidate, panic recruitment as well as slow and bureaucratic hiring processes. Companies who address these issues promptly will be gaining a significant strategic advantage”, says Jamie Hart.
HR and business transformation to deal with the skills gap Another interesting insight revealed in the study is that HR leaders in Northern Europe consider change management and transformation projects as the number one priority in their markets, whereas globally it is ranked in fifth place. "Swedish leaders really understand that their company's ability to innovate and succeed is driven primarily by the skills of its workforce and the capability to drive transformation projects. CEOs and HR Directors not only need to ensure the talent their company requires is on board, but also that it is properly trained and retained. Companies have realised they have to make traditional HR departments think strategically in a world of uneven economic growth with a widening skills gap.” KPI tracking remains major weakness in HR departments One area where Northern Europe are still lagging behind in terms of HR is the performance measurement. The study shows that HR departments struggle to make their efforts and achievements transparent with few KPIs in place. However, the best HR departments secure their investment and systematically track employee performance, staff turnover and employee engagement required to meet the needs of their business. “Many companies need to develop their own HR staff, teach them technical skills and the correct usage of metrics to execute their business strategy.” About Michael Page PageGroup, under the brands of Michael Page and Page Personnel, is one of the world’s best-known and wellrespected professional recruitment consultancies. Established in 1976 in the United Kingdom, it now spans 155 offices in 35 countries. PageGroup is a leading provider of permanent, contract and temporary recruitment for qualified professionals and executives. In Sweden, Michael Page and Page Personnel were established in 2002 and have offices in Stockholm and Gothenburg. Consult the full report, regional fact sheet and executive summary here: link of report *The data quoted here represents the views of 272 respondents located in Northern Europe, namely: Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Jamie Hart Executive Director Michael Page T:+46 (0)8 545 270 40 E:
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