HUMAN RESOURCES LESS OF A PRIORITY FOR DEVELOPMENT IN 2011 - YET OVERALL PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER

The importance of developing HR teams has fallen dramatically as a priority in 2011, with just 3% of organisations citing it in first or second place, compared to 34% in 2010. The startling finding is reported in the Corporate Learning Priorities Survey 2011 carried out by Henley Business School’s Corporate Development team.

While developing the HR team is not seen as a priority, 74% of respondents said that developing people to achieve growth and competitive advantage is paramount (up from 69% in 2010).
Retention of talent is the second highest priority for management development activity with 73% identifying it as crucial, a rise from 63% last year and concern about managing change, reflecting a continuing volatile economy, came third with 64% naming it as a learning objective, compared with 60% in 2010.

The survey, amongst 2,500 HR and non-HR senior managers from private and public sector organisations employing in excess of 500 people, captures a snapshot of learning and development priorities at a time when public sector organisations are implementing severe cuts and the private sector facing increased competition and having to do 'more with less'.
Hugh Evans, Vice-Dean and Director of Corporate Learning at Henley Business School says performance management is a key theme reflected in responses and comments in the 2011 survey;
"There is clear recognition that the skills and behaviours of talented people are fundamental to business recovery and high performance. It is also apparent that leadership development has perhaps never been more important – for the senior team and, for the second year running, middle managers in particular. When change sets an organisation off in a new direction leaders have the challenge of taking people with them; inspiring, facilitating, engaging, coaching and communicating. Well structured development offers the resources, and the space, to achieve the considerable self-awareness leaders need to be effective. I believe the spirit of the survey can be summed up by the following comment from one respondent:
‘Performance management is a high priority. With less people in the organisation there will be a greater need to manage employees’ performance going forward. People development is more focused and aligned to the business needs.’

Despite the apparently positive attitude towards development as a whole for next year, there seems little appetite to focus on HR capability with the development of HR teams plummeting in the priority list from 34% in 2010 to just 3% in this year's survey.HR and non-HR respondents also have a very different view on L & D spending next year with 24% of respondents in HR roles saying they will spend more in 2011 vs 32% of those in non- HR roles.
Nick Kemsley, the recently appointed co-director at Henley's Centre for HR Excellence reflects that while focus on HR capability may have become a victim of the times it is vital that HR continues to develop and transform in 2011. He believes HR functions have to address gaps in their content, structure, process, system and skills to ensure they are meeting the needs of organisations - or risk being side-lined.
He says: "This change must happen quickly. HR will need to live the values of the post-downturn world – speed, pragmatism, tangibility, impact – in its own evolution, or else risk being left isolated in a business world which has to get on with things with or without its help.
If HR can pull this transformation off, then the kind of work which happens within the function will be genuinely business-critical and offer both enormous opportunity and challenge for those who want to, and are able to, work like this. HR would be a place where a connection with business strategy and performance was immediate and tangible."

Other key findings:
• Attracting new talent - 64% said this was important, compared to 52% in 2010
• The development of middle managers - the engine house of development - remains significant with 43% naming this as a first or second priority
• 35% of respondents place developing senior managers in first or second place, while 31% identify developing management skills of new leaders
• The overwhelming majority of respondents will be doing more, rather than less, learning and development activity in 2011 – specifically many will be ‘doing it for themselves’ with 62% of respondents saying they would be doing more informal knowledge sharing between peers and 59% more mentoring between peers in 2011 than in 2010.

Henley Business School at the University of Reading is one of Europe's largest full-service business schools and offers a comprehensive range of management courses, from undergraduate business degrees to executive education. Its portfolio also encompasses the world-ranked Henley MBA, The Henley Doctor of Business Administration, PhD opportunities, and postgraduate Masters courses in business. With expertise in the development and delivery of solutions to the evolving management and leadership challenges of our times, it is also one of the very few international business schools to hold triple accredited status (AMBA, EQUIS, AACSB).

Fiona Leslie
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This release was published on openPR.