Sage’s new ‘Changing Face of HR’ research report unveils the secret thoughts of over 1000 HR and c-suite leaders about the sector, and what’s keeping HR up at night.
The HR landscape is undergoing a radical transformation – Things are changing. And quickly.
Employees are expecting more from their workplaces, businesses are re-prioritising what matters, and the value HR delivers is reaching an all-time high.
Click here to read our latest eBook on how to influence decision makers and place HR at the heart of business strategy.
While this is all incredibly exciting, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little overwhelmed. After all, when an entire profession changes this quickly, how can you keep pace?
About the report:
To get a solid idea of the state of HR and where it’s headed, we wanted to know what keeps them up at night, and what they hope the profession will look like in the future.
49% of the people we asked were from small businesses and 51% were from medium businesses.
To get a broad perspective, we reached out to companies in the following high-skill sectors:
- Financial services;
- Technology;
- Professional services;
- E-commerce retail;
- Telecommunications; and
- Insurance.
Where is HR today?
In the opening section, we reveal how today’s HR leaders are feeling after what’s been a tough couple of years. This includes how complexity, global uncertainty, and huge shifts in ways of working have left many burned out and stressed.
Our research reveals that 91% of HR leaders are excited about the future of HR, but 66% are also concerned about what the future holds.
Despite these challenges, the majority still love working in HR and are pushing for a “rebrand” from an admin function to a people function.
What will HR be like in the future?
Next up, we explored how HR leaders are feeling about the future. We discovered that almost everyone is excited, and there is real consensus that great workplace experiences will continue to become an important priority for businesses.
Most also believe that the evolving skills required to be a HR leader will make them perfect candidates to become heads of business and CEOs in the future.
This section also includes a deep comparison that shows if HR leaders and the C-suite have the same priorities and perceived challenges for the future.
What HR needs to do now
In the final section, we consider what those in HR will need to do to succeed in the exciting future that lies ahead.
At the end of the guide, we provide some helpful resources and HR and payroll software solutions that are tailored to enhance HR leaders efficiency, allowing you to focus on strategic initiatives, so you can keep progressing on your journey into the future of HR.
From filling skills gaps and increasing the perceived value of HR to improving performance management and adopting new technology, both people leaders and the C-suite have a lot to get stuck into.
Gerhard Hartman is the Vice President: Medium Business at Sage Africa & Middle East.
