Ennova's HR Survey 2019 examines some of the most important current trends and top priorities within international Human Resources. We wanted to test selected HR topics among real-life Human Resource professionals, who spend their days balancing the operational demands of the business and strategic development of the organization’s workforce.
In cooperation with The Confederation of Danish Industry, Ennova held Denmark’s HR Conference 2019. The key focus was how to work together in a digital age, when technology and innovation impose new requirements on HR. And the conferences helped shed light on HR’s role within digital transformation. In addition, the results from the HR Survey 2019 was presented at the conference. If you want to know more about the conference, you can read about the key takeaways here.
PARTICIPANTS and survey topics
The participants in the survey represent a wide range of relevant HR roles within various industries and different company sizes. The survey was been conducted with more than 500 HR representatives during the Q3 2019. While the responses were collected worldwide, many of the respondents represents companies in the Nordic countries.
Participants were presented with statements concerning eight different HR topics and asked to indicate to what extent they agree. The statements corresponds with key topics within HR, thus representing the following topics in the HR Survey 2019.
- Digital solutions
- Digital HR solutions
- Diversity
- Succession planning
- Skills mapping & forecasting
- People Analytics
- Employee Experience
- People priorities
In this blog we highlight some of the key observations and remarks from the survey. Our key focus is digitalization and how to work with digital solutions within HR - which was also the pivot of the debate at the HR Conference 2019. We furthermore dig into the results on gender diversity at the workplace.
If you want the detailed results on all eight topics and are interested in getting to know more about the survey, you can download the survey right away.
HR & WORKPLACE DIGITALIZATION
Interaction with digital solutions is an increasing part of many jobs. Ennova wanted to investigate the evolving debate about the need for HR involvement in the design and implementation of digital solutions at the workplace. Is it an issue and a need among HR people at the workplace or is it just the scholar’s hypothesis?
The results are unmistakable! 60 percent agree that HR should play a role in either a high degree or a very high degree.
We asked the 60 percent whether the HR teams are already involved to the degree they should be and 38 percent already believe they are. The results show that HR is already adopting these ideas at a rapid pace and may be ready to take it to the next level.
HR needs to build and present a strong business case to get a seat at the table. But what should HR demonstrate? The answer is not straightforward and there are many opportunities for adding value.
68 percent of the group of 60 percent states that the Change Management toolbox is already loaded to a high or very high degree.
HR PROFESSIONALS EMBRACE DIGITAL HR TOOLS
Like most other functions, HR is also experiencing a massive amount of new digital solutions being offered within practically all areas of HR.
Digital solutions are becoming a natural part of the workplace which is also increasingly experienced in HR. On this account we also set out to explore the subject even more among the real HR practitioners.
All the new solutions can, to some experienced HR professionals, be seen as disruptors that fundamentally change what working in HR looks like. Because of the vast ever-evolving tech solutions and the quest for increased efficiency Ennova wanted to gauge the HR community’s attitude towards the digital HR solutions.
Is the adoption of such tools seen as a dictated must-win battle in the hunt for increased efficiency or rather an opportunity for HR to deliver an enhanced employee experience?
75 percent of the participating HR professionals answered that to ‘some degree’ or to a 'very high degree', they believe digital HR solutions do deliver value.
The adoption of digital solutions does not only revolve around the idea of increased efficiency. Despite being forced to implement digital tools, HR seems to embrace the development as an opportunity to deliver a better service.
GENDER DIVERSITY ON THE RISE
Gender diversity is a very hot topic within HR now and has also been a hot topic within the workforce for decades. It seems to be on the corporate agenda and increasingly so. But today the diversity term has expanded and covers many different variables. It is not only limited to the workforce gender mix, but also a balanced presence of different age groups, ethnicity, professional/educational backgrounds and lifestyles.
The results from the Ennova Survey shows a link between company size and whether they actively measure gender diversity.
One thing is measuring the gender mix of an organization – another thing is working actively to improve it.
- 58 percent of all organizations above 500 employees responds that they intend to increase their activities within this area.
- 57 percent of the organizations above 500 employees responds ‘low’ or ‘very low’, when asked to which degree they are satisfied about the current gender diversity of the workforce.
It tends to be the case that the HR respondents are more unsatisfied about the level of gender diversity the larger the organization is.
This could be interpreted as either a lack of success with previous gender initiatives or be a confirmation of increased ambitions within an area which finally seems to have risen to the executive agenda.
If gender diversity is on your organization's agenda, you will at some point be asked to set targets for the future gender mix. To help you out we have gathered our main key points for setting the right gender diversity targets. Read our 4 top tips right here and improve your gender diversity strategy.
GET THE FULL REPORT
If you want all the detailed insights from the results of Ennova's HR Survey 2019, you can download the full report below.
Download the full survey report and dig deeper into the results from all eight key topics. Find insights and get up-to-date on trends and what is buzzing in the international HR community.
