Inside HR: What drives, challenges and divides the profession?
Author: Hannah Mason
What does it feel like to work in HR today? We share insights from HR professionals across all levels, highlighting the realities of the job and what makes a role in HR rewarding.
The annual HR departments research surveyed HR professionals on a wide range of topics, including skills gaps in the profession, the adoption of AI and key challenges facing HR teams. Beyond organisational priorities, we also explored the individual perspectives of HR professionals, uncovering personal experiences of working in the profession and highlighting trends that vary by seniority.
The research was completed by a range of individuals, with senior HR professionals (eg directors and heads of HR) making up 58% of the sample. Beyond job level, the majority of respondents have more than 10 years of working within HR, and close to half (45.5%) have more than 20 years of experience.
Chart 1: Years of HR experience and current job level
Most satisfying parts of working in HR
While HR roles can be demanding, they also offer significant rewards. In fact, four-fifths (81.8%) of respondents reported being satisfied with their job and shared what they find most fulfilling. The common themes include:
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Making a positive impact on employees and building relationships. Many HR professionals highlighted the satisfaction of helping people grow and creating environments where employees can thrive. One HR professional shared: "I love the variety, every day is different. I enjoy helping people grow and develop in their careers and enabling them to bring their best selves to work every day. I also enjoy creating environments where people thrive and, in turn, this helps contribute to company success and improved revenue." A recurring theme was the link between supporting employees and organisational success, with one HR professional noting they enjoy "helping people and the organisation work together to achieve the same goals".
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The diverse and dynamic nature of the work. HR employees are uniquely positioned to influence a number of different aspects of the workplace, from employee experience to organisational strategy. Many HR professionals shared that this is one of the most satisfying parts of their role, with one saying that "no two days are the same - people are unpredictable, which means you get to learn something new every day". Others emphasised the opportunity for continuous development within their role, highlighting the satisfaction they get from problem solving and adapting to the needs of their organisation, needing to constantly learn in order to keep up.
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Driving change in their organisation. Some HR employees shared that they enjoy the influence their role has on shaping strategy and improving the outcomes for their organisation. One HR professional explained they enjoy "being able to influence strategic decision making and having a seat at the table, measuring the impact of interventions when it comes to staff satisfaction and in turn the positive outcome that it brings to our customers", showcasing the broad impact HR has.
Key resources
Most challenging parts of working in HR
While job satisfaction is high for many HR professionals, the profession is not without its difficulties. Below are just some of the most challenging parts of working in HR:
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Volume of work. High workload and limited resources are a challenge reported by several respondents. One HR professional shared that their biggest challenge is "that our business demands weigh very heavily (and are growing), and then we are expected to support new initiatives on top. This is all in the day job with no extra resource - HR is a tough place to work!" The sentiment of being asked to do more was expressed in several responses, pointing to the pressure that HR professionals can be put under.
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Handling complex cases and legal risks. Navigating employee relations issues often involves ambiguity and risk, as one respondent noted: "In complex employee relations cases, it's not always possible to be 100% certain you're making the 'right' call. Often, you're working with limited information and under significant pressure, so decisions have to be made based on your best judgment and experience." This highlights the resilience needed in HR, often having to make tough decisions while under pressure and in situations of uncertainty.
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Perception of HR. From leading restructuring initiatives to managing disciplinary processes, HR are often tasked with delivering a range of tough business decisions. As a result, the perception of HR staff by employees can be negative, with one HR professional noting that the "tendency to 'blame' HR can be discouraging". Another shared they find it challenging "being seen as the enemy or collectively being addressed as HR...I do have a name!" While this sentiment was common, respondents also highlighted frustration that HR's positive contributions, such as reward programmes and wellbeing initiatives, often go unnoticed.
Disconnect between HR leaders and practitioners
When exploring barriers to the HR function working effectively across organisations, differences emerge by job level. The resistance to change from employees in general was most commonly reported by HR business partners or HR advisors. It was less commonly reported by those further up the chain of seniority, with just a quarter (25%) of HR directors reporting the same. This may indicate that those in more senior positions perceive organisational adaptability and willingness to change differently from those whose roles sit closer to day-to-day employee interactions.
A similar trend was seen regarding line manager buy-in, with senior HR leaders being least likely to report lack of support from line managers as a barrier, as illustrated in Chart 2. This presents the idea that there may be a disconnect between HR leaders, and those working in employee-focused roles.
Chart 2: Barriers to HR professionals working effectively across an organisation, by job level
Looking across all barriers, the most common challenge for HR directors, heads and managers is limited budget or staffing within HR, as reported by more than half of respondents in these job levels. For HR business partners and advisors, the most common barrier is organisational culture, as reported by 45.8% of respondents in these levels. This difference in perspective highlights a potential challenge for HR functions between alignment of HR leadership and practitioners.
Key resources
Job satisfaction
Overall, HR professionals report high levels of job satisfaction, but this varies by seniority. Directors of HR were most likely to report being "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with their job, at 93.8%. This reduces to three-quarters (75%) of HR business partners or advisors, indicating that satisfaction is less consistent at operational levels. In contrast, there was little differentiation in job satisfaction when broken down by years in the HR profession.
Chart 3: Proportion of HR professionals satisfied in their role by job level
Key resources
