43% of UK managers view HR as an area of frustration, with their tasks seemingly unaligned with the wider business.
1 in 2 respondents to IDC’s research paper, titled ‘Future Business: Unleashing Your Talent’ and sponsored by Cornerstone, see the main remit of HR lying in recruitment (57%).
Despite organisations having a narrow view of HR’s purpose within the wider organisation, 81% of line of business believes that HR will be instrumental when it comes to, arguably, one of the largest workplace shifts of our time – digital transformation.
87% of organisations see digital transformation as a business priority, however, only 65% have embarked on the journey.
Alexandros Stratis, Enterprise Applications Analyst at IDC, discussed the research findings of the report, outlining how organisations and HR can prepare for the incoming digital disruption swooping across Europe.
The study, which consisted of interviews across 14 countries with equal measures of HR professionals and business managers found a number of barriers to digital transformation.
One of those barriers included cultural change; with cultural resistance (43%), legacy IT systems (34%) and the inability to keep talent (31%) hindering progress. “It’s this mind-set of ‘that’s the way we do things here’ that’s holding organisations back,” Stratis explained.
Talent was a prevalent concern, with 1 in 3 UK leaders finding it hard to source digital skills. Stratis said that ways to combat this is to develop and upskill existing talent, by identifying organisational gaps that require training.
The research also found that current HR tools are inadequate, with workforce planning in the UK seen to be lagging. In addition, 45% of UK respondents believe that HR doesn’t provide them with the tools they need to complete their jobs. Investments in technology, developing global mobility and offering flexible working will grow in importance going forward, with flexible working fast-becoming the top HR agenda in Europe.
However, to execute this, HR needs better interaction with leadership teams. The report found that high growth organisations had more frequent meetings between HR and the line of business.
By fostering better collaboration between HR and line of business, management frustration with HR processes will be reduced, and change will be better implemented.
'But how can the success of these changes be measured?' asked an audience member. Stratis said success will be evidenced by: “growth in revenue, access to tools and job satisfaction.”
