hr snapshot

8/8/2019 HR Snapshot

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HRHIGHLY RESPECTEDORHOPELESSLY REACTIVE?

Summary of the Middle Easts first

interactive HR SNAPSHOT


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If People are a companys most valuable asset (and mostCEOs say they are) then the HR function should be seen aspivotal to the success of any company. Unfortunately, in many

cases HR is rather seen as a soft function, populated byunder-achievers and lacking any true appreciation of the realbusiness issues

The statement above was the overriding theme of the recent

HR Forum that we ran in Dubai where we posed the question

HRHIGHLY RESPECTEDORHOPELESSLY REACTIVE?


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W hat follows is a snapshot of

local opinion based on inputs from58 HR professionalsand service providers

from the region who attended thefirst interactive HR Forumin Dubai on 12 June 2007


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1 2

50%50%

Q uestion :

HO W DOES THE REST OFBUSINESS SOCIETY VIE WTHE HUMAN RESOURCES

FUNCTION?

The result could nothave been more

indecisive!!

HR1. Highly Regarded

2. Hopelessly Reactive


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ATTITUDES TO THE HR FUNCTION A key premise which we wished to test out with the group was that onereason for the ambivalent attitude of other functions towards their HRcolleagues is that HR is more concerned and focused on the soft elements of business as opposed to the focus on top and bottom line performancewhich tends to drive the management team and Commercial functions

In apparent support of this theory, only 11% of delegates believe that theactions of the HR function in their company are based on the agreedstrategy whilst 42% believe that they speak a different language to the CEOThe largest element (47%) believe that HR does broadly follow the strategybut adds an HR slant to balance the financial focus of the CEO

Linked to the above point, less than a quarter of respondents think that their function is the most important in the company with almost 60% saying thatwhilst People are the critical asset HR has not made itself the critical function.This appears to lead one to conclude that the HR function needs to identifyways of being (or being seen to be) more proactive in its contributions andless of a reactive drain on a companys resources.


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As HR professionals do you believe that youspeak the same language as your CEO?

1 2 3 4

11%

17%

25%

47%

1. Yes all of our actions are based

on company strategy

2. Yes but we usually put an HR

angle to counterbalancethe focus on purely financial KPIs

3. No but we manage to stay in

line on most things

4. No and the CEO and other

functions have a low opinion

of HR seeing us as being

ineffective and/or irrelevant


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W hich of the following statements do you mostagree with?

1 2 3 4

23%

9%9%

59%

1. HR is or is becoming the mostimportant function in all companiesbecause it is responsible for humancapital

2. A companys human resource is itsmost important asset yet the HRfunction is not seen as the criticalfunction

3. HR is and will always be no morethan a support function

4. Traditional HRMs are failing thecompanys human resourceand may soon cede responsibility for managing humancapital to a more business-mindedtype of manager


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How does your organisation view the role of HR?

1 2 3

48%

36%

17%

1. Reactive

2. Cost centre

3. Proactive/ useful and resourceful


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W hat is the main responsibility of HR in theorganisation?

1 2 3 4

16%

60%

7%

18%

1. To act as an internal consultant

to the other divisions

2. To recruit, train, assess and

reward staff 3. To maximize staff performance

4. All the above answers are correct


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K EY CHALLENGES IN HRHaving established that the current status of the HR function in generalis not as influential/proactive/respected as it could and arguably shouldbe, we moved on to look at what HR professionals in the region believe tobe their greatest challenges at the present time

W e asked two separate questions and got the same answer both times;50% of the group believe that motivating and retaining staff is the biggestchallenge they face and, if we add the recruitment of talent to this figure,73% believe that recruitment/retention is the key battleground. In thesecond question, where there was a slightly broader base of topics, 56%said the same thing. Interestingly, 16% believe credibility on the management

team is an issue which backs up some of the findings from the earlier attitude survey

Given the predominance of Dubai-based respondents and the current growthof the UAE, the talent market is dominated by the sellers so it is notsurprising that HR managers are struggling to build competent teams


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W hat is the main challenge you face in HR?

5

5

9

55

1. Recruiting talent

2. Motivating and retaining staff

3. Remuneration

4. Performance issues

5. Career planning

6. Developing staff

7. Intercultural challenges -dealing

with the locals


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W hat is the biggest issues and challenges facing HRDirectors?

5

9

9

1. Recruitment & Retention of

Talent

2. Developing Talent

3. Knowledge Management

4. Credibility on Senior Executive

Team


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RECRUITMENTW ith the overwhelming view that recruiting and retaining talent is the mostchallenging aspect of the HR role at present we asked a number of questions relating to recruitment methodology and practices

82% of respondents not surprisingly agree that they localise their recruitment policies and half of companies do this primarily by usinglocal recruitment agencies and consultants. The traditional selectionmethodology using a recruitment agency with a database is used by 82%of companies whilst only 33% currently employ the services of retained search consultants . Now a major source of identifying talent, the web isseemingly gaining in popularity in this region as a recruitment tool with

45% claiming to make use of it. However, when questioned on the mosteffective method of sourcing particular types of personnel, less than 10%see the web as the best method with people still favouring recruitmentcompanies and newspaper advertising for most appointments. Interestingly,referrals are seen to play an important role when hiring certain job typeswhich perhaps reflects the relative scarcity of good talent on the market.


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RECRUITMENT Adding credence to the belief that Dubai is currently a sellers marketwhere candidates find it relatively easy to job hop almost at will, mostpeople (57%) say that the average tenure in a role is currently less than2 years which compares starkly with the typical average of 5-6 years inmore established economies. This is clearly a further indication thatrecruitment and retention stand head and shoulders above all other issues currently facing the HR fraternity

Finally, we asked some more personal questions relating to whether the group would freely circulate their CV to various recruitment mediums.Only 34% would feel comfortable posting their details online whereas 67%

would happily register on the database of a recruitment selection firm.The most trusted ally would be the retained search consultant who wouldfind 88% of respondents willing to part with their CVs and biography. Thereis probably a clear link between this and the relative seniority of the groupmembers who might be more discreet in searching publicly than their more junior colleagues.


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Do you localize your recruitment policies?

1 2

18%

82%

1. Yes

2. No


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If yes, How do you do this?

1 2 3 4

47%

6%

21%

%

18%

1. Getting support from local

consultants/ recruiting agencies

2. Based on the information

searched from the internet3. Studying the result of benchmark

studies

4. Asking local staff to assist

5. Others!


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Do you use Recruitment Agencies (SelectionMethodology)?

1 2

18%

82%

1. Yes

2. No


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Do you use Retained Search for recruitment of allMiddle to Senior Management positions?

1 2

68%

33%

1. Yes

2. No


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Do you Use W eb Recruitment as a major recruitment tool?

1 2

%

4 %

1. Yes

2. No


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Is the Search Business Going Out of Fashion??

1 2

88%

12%

1. Yes

2. No


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W hich Methodology is more effective in SourcingManagers in ME?

1 2 3 4

17%

7%

26%

30%

20%

1. Advertising

2. W eb Recruitment

3. Executive Search

4. Recruitment Agencies5. Employee Referrals


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W hich Methodology is more effective for sourcing Technical Positions in ME?

1 2 3 4

30%

%7%

41%

13%

1. Advertising

2. W eb Recruitment

3. Executive Search

4. Recruitment Agencies5. Fresh Graduates (Job Fairs)


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W hich Methodology is more effective for sourcing Sales Personnel in ME?

1 2 3 4

42%

%

1 %21%

%

1. Advertising

2. W eb Recruitment

3. Executive Search

4. Recruitment Agencies5. Referrals


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W hich Methodology is more effective for sourcing Office & Plant personnel in ME?

1 2 3 4

34%

2%

20%

37%

7%

1. Advertising

2. W eb Recruitment

3. Executive Search

4. Recruitment Agencies5. Referrals


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W hat is the average length of time someonestays in a job in the Region?

1 2 3 4

7%

%

11%

27%

1. 0-2 years

2. 3-5 years

3. 5-8 years

4. >8 years


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W ould you as a Manager post your CV Onlinewith various Jobsites?

1 2

66%

34%

1. Yes

2. No


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W ould you as a Manager register your CVon databases of various Recruitment Agencies?

1 2

33%

67%

1. Yes

2. No


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W ould you trust a professional Executive SearchConsultant {Is now a good time to Speak?} with your CV?

1 2

12%

88%

1. Yes

2. No


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TRAINING & DEVELOPMENTGlobally the subject of training and development always engenders fiercedebate in companies for a number of reasons; how can it be afforded?How can it not be afforded? How can we measure its impact? And so on.

W e asked what is the most challenging aspect of employee developmentin participating companies and the two clear areas of concern are linking training to business performance and measuring its impact on results . W ethen asked each delegate to consider what % of training courses they haveattended fit the description boring and/or ineffective. 65% said that atleast half of all courses could not be described like this which, on the onehand is surprising but on the other is perhaps not given that HR as a

function is the principal driver of training in a company. If the same questionwere asked of Sales people the dissatisfaction figure would almost certainlybe higher!!

The question as to what is the main objective of training attracted a varietyof responses with enhancing employee motivation/commitment as thesingle most popular reason given.


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TRAINING & DEVELOPMENTThree quarters of the regions companies localise their training materialsusing a mix of in-house personnel and consultants to do this. Interestingly,33% of the localisation is done by the company H Q

W e next asked about HR involvement in determining training needs andhalf of all respondents say that HR and the individual functions take equal responsibility for this which is probably how it should be. Training needsare, in most cases, established based on the annual appraisal or personaldevelopment plans and only 5% of companies have no formalised training schedule

On whether the amount of training carried out is appropriate, 90% of thegroup (split equally) believe that their company does the right amount or too little training. Again this may well be somewhat skewed by the natureof the delegates functional roles. Most of this training comprises either in-house delivery of off-the-shelf programmes or material specificallycustomised to the companys individual requirements.


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W hat is the most challenging aspect of staff development in your company?

1 2 3 4 6

3%

13% 13%

%

3 %

33%

1. Identifying training needs

2. Allocating required financial

sources

3. Linking training to businessstrategy

4. Monitoring the result of training

(learning)

5. Localizing training documents

6. Identifying effective local training

providers


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W hat % of training programmes you have attended fitthis description?

1 2 3 4

12%

3 %

30%

23%

1. 80% or more

2. 50-80%

3. 20-50%

4. Less than 20%

Most training initiatives are boring,

ineffective or both


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W hat is the principal objective of training in anycompany?

1 2 3 4

10%

24%

14%

2%

0%

1. Improve knowledge

2. Maintain/enhance employee

motivation and commitment

3. Achieve an HR KPI (bums onseats)

4. A mix of the above

5. Some other reason


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Do you usually localize your training materials?

1 2

24%

76%

1. Yes

2. No


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W hat involvement do you/the HR function have indetermining the training needs of employees in your

company?

1 2 3 4

10%

27%

1%

12%

1. No involvement

2. HR is consulted but does not

make the decision

3. Decision taken in full consultationwith relevant functional head

4. Training proposals driven by HR

with some functional input


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W hat is the main method your company uses to defineand plan the annual training and development needs of

the work force?

1 2 3 4

6 %

%%

21%

1. Annual appraisal/personal

development review meeting

2. Recommendation by functional

line managers3. HR/Training Manager decides

and simply informs

4. The company does not have a

formalised training schedule


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How would you describe the amount of formalisedtraining which your company undertakes

1 2 3 4

% %

46%44%

1. Too much

2. About right

3. Not enough

4. W e do not do any!


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W hat is the main type of training method employed byyour company?

1 2 3 4

%

48%

26%21%

1. W e mainly send people on public

courses

2. W e mainly use in-house delivery

of off-the-shelf programmes3. W e mainly work with training

providers to develop customised

programmes

4. W e do an equal mix of A, B andC


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THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLEOne of the initial hypotheses we looked at was that human capital is themost valuable resource any company has but that the HR function iscurrently failing to assert its role fully as the champion of this capital

To dig deeper into this, we asked two subtlely related questions; firstlywhether the delegates company says that people are its most importantasset and then whether it behaves as if this is indeed the case. The resultsseem to confirm the suspicion; 78% of companies say people are key butless than 60% of these same companies demonstrate this publicly. This hasan interesting link to the issues of employee retention since people whobelieve that their employer does not much care about them are far more

likely to seek new opportunities than a satisfied employee would. In a marketwhere skills and good people are already in short supply, companies mightwell reflect on their behaviour towards their people as a key retention tool

Linked to the issue of people importance is the result of our third question,where only 50% of respondents say that their company puts considerableeffort behind succession planning and bench development


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W hich of these statements do you agree with?My company says that People are its most important

asset

1 2

22%

78%

1. Agree

2. Disagree


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W hich of these statements do you agree with?My company behaves as if People are its most important

asset

1 2

4%

46%

1. Agree

2. Disagree


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W hich of these statements do you agree with?My company puts considerable effort behind successionplanning and bench development

1 2

0%0%

1. Agree

2. Disagree


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ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

Our final two questions relate to the environment in which companies dobusiness in this region.

Several Middle East countries, and in particular the UAE, have a culturally diverse workforce which can pose enormous challenges to managers whomust get the best performance from people with significantly differentattitudes and beliefs. The single biggest challenge in this area is seen ascoping with the different communication styles although 44% of delegatessee the challenge as a mix of several factors. The communication issuewill likely relate to the way different cultures have different ways to putover a point (ie direct = in your face vs subtle and indirect)

Finally, on the biggest limitation to successful business growth in the region,44% cite retaining talent as the main factor (73% if we add attracting talentto this) which backs up many of the earlier findings. Even the 20% whobelieve the rising cost of doing business is key would probably be thinkingas much in terms of the cost of paying, housing and schooling employeesand their families as the direct business costs such as office rental costs.


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W hat is the biggest limitation on successfulbusiness growth in the ME?

1 2 3 4

2 %

7%

20%

44%

1. Attracting Talent

2. Retaining Talent

3. Rising Cost of Business

4. Agency/Sponsorship Laws

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