| In this
part of the report, we discuss how HR professionals feel about the role they
play in their organization. More specifically, do they feel they:
- Have the authority they need,
- Receive respect from others; and
- Receive the support they need from their organization?
Executive
Summary HR professionals do
not feel employees or senior management have a great deal of respect for the
work they do. They also do not feel that they have the budget or
decision-making authority they need. Although they feel that their work
contributes to the mission of their organization, few feel that HR is involved
in strategic planning. Most do, however, feel that the importance of the HR
function has been and will continue to increase in their organizations.
The tables below present views of HR professionals toward selected
aspects of their jobs in both 1995 and 2002. Our interpretations of these
results follow each table. |
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Respect - HR
professionals do not feel that they receive a great deal of respect from either
employees or senior management. Although they feel that they receive more
respect from employees than they do from senior management, there has been a
significant drop in respect from both during the past 7 years. Only 48 percent
currently feel that senior management respects the activities of HR, a drop of
15 percent since 1995. Also, only 57 percent feel employees respect HR
activities, a drop of 9 percent since 1995.
Authority and Budget
- HR professionals feel their hands are tied. Only 54 percent feel they
have the decision-making authority they need to do their job well. This is a
drop of 17 percent since 1995. It is also about 5 percentage points lower than
our Discovery Group norm. This means that HR professionals feel that they have
less authority to make decisions than do employees in general. Also, only 35
percent feel that the financial resources (i.e. budget) provided to the HR
function are adequate. This is a drop of 12 percent since 1995. |
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Contribution to the
mission - A strong three-fourths of HR professionals feel that their work
contributes to the overall mission of their organization. This, however, is a
drop of 9 percent since 1995.
Development of the strategic plan -
HR professionals feel that the HR perspective plays little role in
strategic planning in their organization. Only 41 percent feel that the
perspective of the human resource function played a major role in the
development of the strategic plans of their organization. This represents a
dramatic drop of 39 percent since 1995. |
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Importance of HR -
Despite the lack of respect HR professionals feel they receive from employees
and senior management, they feel that the importance of the HR function has
increased during the past few years. Two-thirds also feel that the importance
of the HR function will continue to increase during the next few
years. |
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