Bridging the Gap between Employers’ and Employees’ Needs is Key to “Future-Proofing” HR, New Mercer Study Finds
April 11 2016 - 8:56AM
Business Wire
Significant Differences Exist between Employers’ Plans for
Developing Talent and Employees’ Views on an Effective
Workplace
With tightening labor markets, increased sophistication in
hiring for best fit, and a more demanding employee population, the
key to achieving business growth is radically redefining how talent
is managed, developed, and incentivized. According to Mercer’s 2016
Global Talent Trends Study – the first to take into account the
perspective of both employers and employees – a lack of
development, outdated processes, and discontent with the role of
managers are the main drivers of workforce dissatisfaction.
Astonishingly, 85% of organizations report that their talent
management programs and policies need an overhaul. Managing these
changes requires support from leadership; however only 4% of HR
professionals report that the HR function is viewed as a strategic
business partner within their organizations.
Additionally, Mercer’s study finds 9 out of 10 organizations
anticipate that the competition for talent will increase in 2016
and more than one-third expect this increase to be significant.
However, despite 70% of organizations reporting they are confident
about filling critical roles with internal candidates, 28% of
employees say they plan to leave in the next 12 months even though
they are satisfied with their current role.
“Employers are experiencing ever-growing competition for labor.
At the same time, unemployment remains high in many countries
around the world. The issue goes well beyond lack of available
talent,” said Ilya Bonic, Senior Partner and President of Mercer’s
Talent business. “It’s a lack of the right talent where and when it
is needed to drive competitive advantage and deliver business
results. For talent that has analytic skills, inspirational
leadership capability, and a global mindset, demand continues to
exceed the supply.”
Kate Bravery, Partner and Global Solutions Leader for Mercer’s
Talent business added, “Employees today have more options than ever
before. They are demanding a new value proposition that combines
greater career support with flexibility to manage their work and
more opportunities to develop their skills. HR professionals are
challenged to meet employees’ demands and achieve a talent
advantage, especially if they don’t have a seat at the table – and
this is crucial if they are to remain a viable part in the talent
ecosystem.”
Workforce trends and top priorities
In today’s global environment, successful talent strategies
depend on an organization’s ability to engage, inspire, and retain
employees of different genders, ages, races, and backgrounds.
According to Mercer’s study, leveraging an increasingly diverse
labor pool is the third most important workforce trend impacting
business, following the rising competition for talent from emerging
economies and talent scarcity.
The importance that organizations have placed on developing a
diverse workforce has not translated into actions that are visible
to employees. While 73% of companies are working towards diverse
leadership teams, only 54% of employees say their organization has
effective programs in place to do so.
“Bridging the gap between employee and employer views will
require substantial changes from HR,” said Ms. Bravery. “This
includes improved operational capabilities around talent sourcing,
enhanced tools and managerial capabilities to deliver a compelling
career proposition, and proficiency in workforce analytics for a
data-driven approach to managing talent flows.”
In tackling talent issues, employers need to make sure that
their efforts to build the workplace of the future have a material
impact on attraction and productivity. Mercer’s study identified
five priorities for organizations to address this year:
- Build diverse talent pools
- Embrace the new work equation
- Architect compelling careers
- Simplify talent processes
- Redefine the value of HR
While these priorities are consistent across organizations and
regions, they are viewed differently by employees and
employers.
Differences by region
Employees in North America are most likely to say that they have
the resources they need to be more productive; 73% report that they
have the right tools and technology, and 69% report that they have
creative training available. Additionally, 58% of organizations in
North America plan to make changes to their performance management
programs, with nearly 30% planning to eliminate ratings in 2016,
compared to 22% globally. “Organizations have invested heavily in
HR technology in the past few years, which has enabled HR to focus
on playing a more strategic role,” said Pat Tomlinson, Senior
Partner and North America Region Talent Business Leader for Mercer.
“Now it’s time to upskill HR to provide that value to the business,
especially in areas such as predictive analytics and design
thinking.”
Explained Ms. Bravery, “As organizations are faced with a
global, diverse workforce in a period of rising skills shortage,
they are being forced to rethink their talent infrastructure. This
study shows that the workforce of today may be the most career
orientated that we’ve seen – and this is forcing a new level of
transparency between employers and employees. Successful companies
will navigate these changes by not only challenging how work has
been done in the past, but by actively considering how it could,
and might, be done tomorrow.”
Mercer’s 2016 Global Talent Trends Study examines the top trends
impacting today’s workforce and how organizations are responding.
The study, which incorporates the views of both employers and
employees on key workplace issues and priorities, is based on the
perspectives of more than 1,730 HR leaders and over 4,500 employees
in all industries across 17 countries.
For more information about Mercer’s 2016 Global Talent Trends
Study, visit http://ow.ly/10sord. To
download the full report, visit http://ow.ly/10soAW.
About Mercer
Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health,
retirement and investments. Mercer helps clients around the world
advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital
asset – their people. Mercer’s more than 20,000 employees are based
in 43 countries and the firm operates in over 140 countries. Mercer
is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies
(NYSE:MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients
advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people.
With 60,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $13
billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company
of Marsh, a global leader in insurance broking and risk management;
Guy Carpenter, a leader in providing risk and reinsurance
intermediary services; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management
consulting. For more information, visit www.mercer.com. Follow
Mercer on Twitter @Mercer.
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MercerStacy Bronstein, + 1 215 982
8025Stacy.Bronstein@mercer.com
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