Senior Execs Expect Revolution in HR Metrics within Three Years

In its report, Rethinking Human Resources in a Changing World , professional services company KPMG found that more than 50 percent of polled senior executives said metrics that define HR success will be fundamentally altered within the next three years. The finding comes as HR has shown signs of difficulty in adapting to the challenges of flexible and global workforces. The report recommended finding ways to best approach these challenges by appropriately engaging with employees.

KPMG management consulting partner, Robert Bolton, said, “HR should be the critical value driving function in an organization, large or small. It can be more important than any other function, including sales and marketing. There are many qualitative and quantitative measures that will define HR’s success in the coming years.” He continued. “These include capacity, where there needs to be a clean and clear definition between chief executives and the front-line employees. Some executives of global companies would be horrified to find how their organizational culture has changed and grown over the years. “There will be a change in capability – the retention of people in critical roles. Compliance will change, as it now needs to be integrated with the organization’s overall business strategy.”

The report went on to state that HR would remain a boardroom “poor relation” until it embraced new technology and ceased its reliance on the reporting of historical data as opposed to future-looking analytics. About 75 percent of surveyed executives said their workforces are globalizing and gaining more flexibility through virtualization. But only 25 percent said their HR teams excelled at sourcing and retaining international talent. Another quarter believed that their HR teams were incapable of supporting their company’s globalization strategy.

“This survey shows that, at the very least, HR has a perception problem, though in some cases it may have actually failed to deliver real value. Given the high unemployment rates in many countries, you would be forgiven for thinking that retention is an easy task for HR, but with employee engagement levels an increasing concern more effort must be put into understanding staff needs before today’s employees become tomorrow’s alumni,” Bolton said.