Eighty-three percent of HR respondents agreed that they were relied upon by senior leaders to help navigate new situations or practices. (Image: Shutterstock)
HR professionals have played a pivotal role within their organizations during the pandemic. With hybrid working arrangements, the Great Resignation, health care needs, anxiety and a host of workplace issues arising (perhaps unforeseen two years ago), the role of HR has grown exponentially and is being leaned on for solutions.
A new survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), "The State of the Workplace Study," gives insight into how HR leaders have handled the challenges of the workplace and what trends they might see within 2022. Interestingly, HR departments earned passing grades for effectiveness in 2021, although U.S. workers gave lower ratings. An overall grade of "B" was given from HR professionals (with only one percent giving their HR department and "F"), while U.S. workers gave HR departments an overall grade of "C" (with six percent of workers giving their HR department an "F").
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On the not-so-positive side only 26% of U.S. workers felt their organization developed more effective people managers and only 25% of HR professionals rated their organization as effective in finding and recruiting talent.
Last year was a year HR was noticed by top leaders – at least that's the perception. Eighty-three percent of HR respondents agreed that they were relied upon by senior leaders to help navigate new situations or practices, while 73% agreed their HR department was recognized by senior leaders as crucial to the business function.
"Our research findings provide a deeper understanding of the issues affecting workplaces, HR departments and employees collectively," said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, SHRM president and chief executive officer. "The HR profession is at the forefront of real change, both societally and culturally. There is an opportunity for employers and employees to recognize the inherent power of HR and to reimagine the world of work in 2022."
The fight for talent that occurred in 2021 continues this year. The survey shows that maintaining morale and engagement (80% of organizations), retaining top talent (78% of organizations), finding and recruiting new talent (68% of organizations) and navigating COVID (62% of organizations) are the top priorities for HR going forward.
The most common barriers to achieving success in the workplace were: limited time or dedicated personnel (42%), employee resistance to change (40 percent), organizational cultural norms (39%), limited budget (38%) and senior leadership support/buy-in (37%).
The State of the Workplace Study includes two surveys and samples from 1,737 HR professionals in the U.S from the SHRM membership database and 642 workers from a third-party nationally representative panel.
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