Almost two-thirds of HR directors believe there will be a chief of human resources on the board of most organisations by 2015, research has revealed.
For a sector often described as a having an inferiority complex, the international HR community appears to be remarkably confident and ambitious, the survey of 165 international HR directors by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) found.
The majority of HR directors (85%) said attracting and retaining talent would be the biggest challenge over the next five years.
This was followed by providing clear measurements of HR performance (65%), a strong relationship with the chief executive (48%) and the growing complexity of reward programmes (36%).
Michael Rendell, partner at PwC, said: “All the evidence points towards organisations becoming more people focused in their outlook. As talent shortages loom for many industries across the globe, there will be more and more opportunities for HR professionals to influence strategic decisions at a high level.
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“At the same time, the global HR community has a lot of work to do if it is going to step up to the plate. Being a board member is about being a leader across the whole business, not just a senior specialist,” he added.
Mike Berry
