This is their story...
The sentiment of a profession
HOW IS HR?
Top 5 challenges for HR
Loss and hardship, world instability and a looming economic crisis are sadly just the tip of the iceberg of a rather turbulent few years, throughout which HR has sat on the organisational frontline.
Top 5 challenges of last 2 years:
1
3
4
5
2
Impact of national lockdowns due to COVID-19
Attracting employees / maintaining staffing levels
Staff absences due
to COVID-19
Adjusting to remote / hybrid working
Cost of living crisis
How is HR feeling?
72
%
enjoy their job
1 in 5
describe their mood as optimistic
Despite the challenges and changes experienced within the sector, our survey data showed HR professionals are generally proud of their work and enjoy what they do.
Along with increasing resilience, there’s a sense of optimism and purpose in their work, which bodes well for us, as they’re the ones tackling our people issues head-on.
Which one word describes how you’re feeling?
Positive RESPONSE (52%)
Negative RESPONSE (39%)
Neutral RESPONSE
(9%)
Optimistic (19%)
Motivated (8%)
Supported (6%)
Trusted (5%)
Valued (8%)
Coping (9%)
Demotivated (9%)
Overworked (9%)
Uncertain (8%)
Stressed (7%)
Disengaged (5%)
Why are you feeling this way?
Read more
Looking to the future
Let’s venture back to our original question: how is HR? Well, it’s safe to say they’re emerging from the storm of the last two years, not without damage, but with lessons learnt and a raised profile to ready them for when the winds inevitably change again.
HR professionals are proud of what they have achieved but know exactly what they need to improve in 2023; support of their leaders and an understanding that they are human, just like you and me.
Ipsos Karian and Box understand the challenges faced by HR and are working alongside them to help create environments where people thrive.
We’re partnering with HR teams to:
• Design and deliver employee listening programmes that provide actionable insight on employee experience and help inform where HR should focus their energy
• Attract and retain talent by developing and activating a compelling Employee Value Proposition
• Develop and engage leaders through diagnostics and upskilling
Impact of national lockdowns due to COVID-19
50
%
Attracting employees / maintaining staffing levels
43
%
Staff absences due
to COVID-19
41
%
Adjusting to remote /
hybrid working
38
%
Cost of living crisis
33
%
69
%
of respondents feel proud to work in HR
MORE
STAFF IN HR
to even out high workloads and spread the pressure
BETTER TRAINING
to help people feel even marginally more prepared for the unexpected
IMPROVED LEADERSHIP
to bolster support, both for wellbeing and day-to-day work
It’s no secret the past few years have thrown many trials and tribulations our way. But let me remind you that while we’ve all faced these challenges, HR has arguably had to face them for all.
HR professionals sit in the unique position of dealing with people issues for the masses, not just themselves. Almost overnight they were expected to become crisis communicators, wellbeing experts and remote working consultants – I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
So, to better understand current sentiment, our senior consultant Emily surveyed HR professionals across roles and sectors. We asked them to reflect on the past two years at work, how they were feeling and what improvements they would like to see.
We’ve analysed the results, and I can now share their story with you. Let’s dive straight in with their biggest challenges.
When HR professionals report having increased involvement in business decisions and being more strategic, both their pride in working in HR and enjoyment of their job jump to 83%.
Of course, there are always two sides to the story, and it would be a miracle for no negative consequences to come of the high workloads, understaffing and general lack of support respondents report. Uncertainty is front of mind for most of us, and HR is no different.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
describe their mood as negative
2 in 5
So, what do HR professionals need to feel more positive?
“Having adequate resources in place rather than relying on people wearing 2-3 hats.”
Top 3 HR Requests
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?
?
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Read
more
Read
more
Researcher
Emily Dessent, Senior Consultant
Emily has 8 years’ experience working across operational and specialist HR roles. As a Senior Consultant, Emily now partners with HR teams to help tackle demands from the other side. Emily designed a survey to give HR professionals the opportunity to reflect on their experience and worked with the experts at IK&B to report the findings.
Writer
Eleanor Millington, Senior Content Executive
Eleanor joined the IK&B team in 2020, and as a Senior Content Executive, she uses her communication skills to bring to life the results and analysis of employee surveys. Eleanor’s commentary helps leaders and HR teams to engage with and understand employee sentiment. Now, Eleanor uses her creative talents to tell the story to HR themselves.
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“[We need] better training and communication. As HR advisors we sometimes get forgotten about as our focus is to ensure employees are ok.”
“Clear messaging from the business leadership as to what their expectations are for HR and input into how best we can prioritise in order to secure funding and/or support.”
Contact us
Contact us
Research led by Emily Dessent, words by Eleanor Millington.
The data in this report comes from Ipsos Karian and Box’s HR and EX trends survey where 416 HR professionals were surveyed online from June to August 2022.
We are short staffed / struggling with staff retention (11%)
I am overworked / have a high workload / I am under stress (23%)
I feel disengaged with my job (5%)
Too many changes / Too much uncertainty (5%)
I feel unsupported (7%)
General positivity / optimism (18%)
I have supportive management (8%)
I have a supportive team / colleagues (6%)
I enjoy my job / work (9%)
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