Under Pressure Hr Concerns In The Recession

By Author: Lucy Carter
Total Articles: 102
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Business is always tough. It's about showing what you're worth, doing the job you're meant to do and proving to your employer that you're valuable to the business.

Of course in a recession these everyday 'truths' are compounded. If you were resting on your laurels before, now's the time that you're really under the microscope. Quantifiable results are demanded, works piling on and all in all everyone's just that little bit more fractious. And as an HR professional, with all these queries about job security mounting up, arguably you're under even more pressure than most to perform. Depressing isn't it?

Well, not necessarily. We conducted this research report among 260 HR professionals, to take a better look at exactly why HR people are feeling under pressure and what they feel the outlook is for the next 12 months. So we could see for ourselves whether we're really in for a rough ride, or if the recession is more media hype than reality.

Admittedly many of our results give a bleak and decidedly uncomfortable picture of where we're headed. Many of you are currently in the middle of processing, and expect yet ...
... more, redundancies. There are also concerns about the level of service you're able to offer employees and whether you can support their development needs.

But it's not all as awful as you might expect. With over 98% of you feeling confident that you can actually fulfill your responsibilities to employees over the next 12 months and 96% of you feeling confident that you'll do the same for the board. A surprising but certainly encouraging response.

What this says to me, is that yes, we're all under just as much as strain as we thought we were. Yes, the next year or so are going to test us. But many of us are up to the challenge. We'll work a bit harder and a bit longer and we intend to perform. No-one can ask more, or expect more of us, than that.

Results

Unsurprisingly, 92% of you said that there's now more pressure on you to deliver measurable value, with 43% saying you feel under much more pressure.

Almost half of you (46%) said that an increase in pressure is as a result of processing more redundancies

59% of you said that you're spending more time answering queries relating to job security

41% of you are spending more time supporting line managers with appraisal and assessment management

Yet, over half of you feel that employee training and development has been compromised as a result of the recession

29% of you feel that you're now spending time on issues that shouldn't be expected of HR

A quarter of you felt that you couldn't offer employees the support they need

A worrying 60% of you expect to make more redundancies over the next 12 months

Yet, 98% of you feel confident that they can fulfill your responsibilities to employees over the next 12 months

SnowdropKCS provide integrated HR and Payroll Software solutions.
Michael Preston - IT Consultant and expert in Payroll software.