Human resources making no difference to employees’ working lives

Half of office-based employees believe that human resource teams make no difference to their jobs, new research on employee engagement has found.

A survey of 1,000 workers conducted by HR service provider, Ceridian, found that nearly one-quarter of respondents feel their HR function makes them less than satisfied by getting things wrong.

The survey heaps further criticism on the HR function, following scathing remarks by Luke Johnson in the Financial Times earlier this week.

Johnson argued that HR – like IT, legal and marketing departments – doesn't sell produce, it just consumes.

The survey found that 45% of employees did not think their employer understood how well they were managed, while older workers, aged over 45, were more than twice as likely to seek new employment in the next year because of a 'poor manager'.

Less than one-third believe they are victims of inadequate training, however, employees aged 16 to 24 are far more positive about the quality of training they receive.

Doug Sawers, managing director of Ceridian in the UK, said the fact that only 4% of respondents lacked an HR department made for grim reading for the HR function.

"Just 3% of employees surveyed considered the function as important as their manager, which reinforces the view that HR should make sure they get the basics right and provide line managers with the necessary tools to deliver effective people management," he said.