HR is gaining in confidence and influence
HR has won the battle for a place on the board in many organisations, while the HR profession reports greater confidence in its own influence over broader organisational issues, according to new IRS research.
The fourth annual HR benchmarking survey from IRS Employment Review finds that 55.4% of respondent organisations have a director with responsibility either for HR alone or for HR and other areas. Analysed by broad sector, some 78.5% of public sector employers have an HR director on the board, compared with 53.8% of private service sector companies and just one-third (32.6%) of manufacturers.
Asked how the influence of HR has changed at their own organisations over the past five years, 75.8% claimed that it had increased, 21.3% said that it had remained the same, and just 2.8% conceded that it had decreased.
The survey also seeks to establish the shape, size, structure and operation of the HR function in a wide range of companies and public sector bodies.
While IRS acknowledges that 'there is no such thing as a typical HR department' the figures reported could be used to paint a portrait of a 'standard' department. A 'standard' HR department might therefore consist of a team of 12 people serving a workforce of around 1,200. The team would have a director, three managers, one supervisor, three HR officers and four assistants. Such a team would typically include a number of professionally qualified practitioners, particularly at senior level, and would enjoy good access to the organisation's most senior executives.
Roles and responsibilities 2005: benchmarking the HR function and HR wins its battle for recognition Mark Crail, managing editor of IRS Employment Review, presents the full survey results. Responses were received from 179 organisations, together employing 206,450 staff, of whom 1,427 were full-time equivalent HR staff - the equivalent of one for every 102 employees at the median, or midpoint in the range.
Also
Local delivery guaranteed and Local government leads on strategic HR Separate research from the Employers' Organisation for local government shows clear links between the role and status of HR and the performance of councils.
Public sector leads the way on board-level HR Read the results of the previous annual Roles and responsibilities survey.
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