state
of the
HR profession
in
2024
2024
HR’s importance may have become more obvious to the C-suite, but this doesn’t mean the day job has got any easier. The competition for skilled candidates has intensified, and so too has employees’ expectations of employers. Employees want to develop and progress through the business. If they don't, they’ll quickly look for new opportunities outside an organisation.
All eyes then turn to HR to engage, motivate and retain employees. It’s no easy feat, and for HR to keep ahead, it needs to know where its greatest opportunities and challenges lie.
In Autumn 2023, HR magazine asked its readers about their people growth experience.
What came back was a comprehensive outlook on the state of the HR profession— its challenges, opportunities and how people leaders are adapting to an ever-changing world of work.
Talent
Mobility
Our survey respondents suggested a range of ways HR could increase talent mobility in the year ahead
Do you have an ‘internal employees first’ recruitment strategy?
Workforce retention continues to be a problem for HR, and business leaders are refocussing on how they can promote and develop talent from within.
Internal job boards are the most popular way HR encourages internal moves within their organisation, but only half (57%) are using them. Most organisations also do not have a policy where an employee needs to speak to their manager before exploring a new role.
47
%
These included:
24
%
21
%
8
%
Skills matrix and competency frameworks.
HR working more closely with L&D teams to ensure everyone is aware of opportunities.
Employees understanding their skills and skills gaps and being able to market themselves.
Line managers encouraging internal talent mobility conversations more often.
Yes, it’s an important initiative
Yes, but we have no formal programme
No, and have no intention to do so
No, but we are hoping to implement one in the next 6-24 months
Find out more
62%
UK firms come rock bottom, according to employees, in terms of demonstrating equitable treatment of people from all backgrounds.
of UK employees agree their organisation
values DEI, vs 60% globally.
(63% say this is true, vs 66% globally)
Despite HR’s constant focus
on the value of learning and development to help address skills gaps, only 38% of businesses
have a full L&D programme.
“The biggest contributor is budget constraints. There may be a lack of focus, in the absence of a dedicated L&D professional or function.”
Jenny Winstanley,
head of HR consultancy, AfterAthena
“Outdated attitudes and lack of investment. You also need leadership that truly buys in.”
Liz Sebag Montefiore,
director, 10Eighty
“It can be challenging to measure the return on investment.”
Fiona McKee,
founder, HR Practice
“Smaller businesses lack in-house resources.”
Simon Jones,
director, Ariadne Associates
"In many organisations there isn’t the HR skill set, nor appetite from leaders, to pull a full L&D programme together."
Ruth Cornish,
founder and director, Amelore
“Money and time can be tight. And not every company has the right gear to handle digital learning.”
Ian Moore,
director, Lodge Court
Learning and
development
Do you use your learning and development programme to drive performance improvements?
Training, learning and development (L&D) is essential for improving employee knowledge and abilities, and often boosts retention in the process. Creating a culture of learning and growth is a real priority for HR in the year ahead.
The trend of including personalised tools within L&D strategies continues, and micro, social and AI-led learning is now commonplace.
44
33
80%
I don't think unconscious bias training works for two reasons. Not all bias is unconscious,
some can be deliberate and sadly very conscious. Unconscious bias can be a get out of jail card
for unacceptable behaviour.
Also, unconscious bias training is not enough to address inequities. A number of different interventions are needed to have impact. Budget commitments and resources need to match public intent otherwise there's danger of just virtue signalling.
Shakil Butt, founder, HR Hero for Hire
Case study: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police (BCH)
However, what it does not do on its own is change behaviour and remove barriers. The next stage for us has been to host ‘valuing difference’ workshops for supervisors.
Attendees have told us they were able to explore adapting their approach, management style and how their actions as managers can ensure difference is valued and individuals’ unique contribution to work can flourish.
It also needs to be accompanied by programmes to enable people in underrepresented groups to break through real or perceived barriers. A success for us has been our ‘Becoming’ programme, developed with the Women of Colour in Policing network, which has helped people who have experienced biases to grow in self-confidence and take their careers further.
For me, unconscious bias training has been the foundation to change – challenging thinking, encouraging self-reflection, and opening conversations so that thinking can move to action.
By Caroline Butler, assistant director, BCH
Case study: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police (BCH)
As a tri-force HR team looking after three different police forces, we are working to keep safe three counties with very diverse populations and likewise be inclusive for the people working with us.
Diversity and inclusion has been high priority in all three for some time, but even more topical with recent cases in policing highlighting the need for all officers and staff to live and drive the values of inclusion.
Unconscious bias training has in the past challenged people to open their minds to bias that they may unintentionally display, encourage people that it is okay to talk about diversity and to ask questions to develop their understanding.
The training has enabled conversations to take place and be open to questioning how we all act and continues to be available to keep this alive.
By Caroline Butler, assistant director, BCH
In my experience, the online (self-assessment) training is ineffective and a waste of time. Too many tick boxes, easy to bypass any discomfort and forgettable. As for the in-person, same space activity
(for example workshops) I have seen some of these delivered with progressive,
dynamic and transformative impact.
The challenge, of course, is never really knowing how much any of this type of behavioural learning has actually prevented worse things from happening in the future. In short, sometimes unconscious bias training is more about managing impact (prevention) rather than changing intent (cure). Of course, all of this matters and is always worth persevering with.
Rob Neil, director, Krystal Alliance
3. Transferrable skills
Transferrable skills are a selling point to candidates, particularly those at the start of their career who are not yet sure exactly what their end goal is.
By advertising a role which will allow a candidate to develop skills, useful to other industries or types of roles, organisations are more likely to attract greater talent.
- Progression opportunities
Employers should define what direction the role could take a candidate and what the opportunities for progression are.
2. Qualifications
Some organisations also offer candidates the opportunity to study for certain qualifications which will enhance their degrees. This is attractive as it allows an employee to build their experience on the job as well as develop their career.
- Progression opportunities
Case study
Does it work?
Technology
advancements
How does AI aid HR?
Jon Dawson, group director of people development at luxury hotel company Lore Group, said AI has allowed the HR team to become more strategic and less administrative.
4
%
Payroll
14
%
Despite skills shortages in many industries, some employers lack the technology or digital know-how to use skills mapping. Skills mapping, usually through AI, can help employers recruit efficiently, fully utilise talent and shape training and development processes.
We found 60% don’t have the ability to skills map, but some (7%) said they do have the ability but aren’t using it proactively enough.
He said: “At Lore Group, we are leveraging AI in our new HRIS system which we implemented last year to assist our people teams and free up time by reducing as many administration tasks as possible.
“The use of AI, and how we can further utilise this for the longer-term benefit of the organisation, is also a part of our group people strategy for 2024 as we continue to seek how we can continue to leverage AI in a responsible way.”
6.5
%
4.5
%
Performance
management
10
%
3
%
Absence
management
10
%
2
%
Workforce
planning
Find out more
2
%