HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RESEARCH:
On a ten-point scale, where 10 is perfectly and 1 is very poorly, 46% of HR professionals say that their HR departments meet the needs of their organizations at a level of 10, 9 and 8. If we think about this data in terms of "grades," then we can view this 46% as having high HR grades: A's or B's. Those who give themselves 7's clearly have some work to do. One way to view them is as the equivalent of C students. The rest, which amounts to about a quarter of respondents, are likely facing some serious challenges.
HR has gotten better at championing change but more progress is required. HR respondents feel as if they have developed skills as champions of change. Two-thirds state their departments are either very (18%) or fairly (49%) successful at championing change. Of course, HR should increasingly strive to be very successful in this area, suggesting that HR needs to continue to make progress at change management. After all, in today's fast-moving marketplace, this will become increasingly important.
Critical thinking skills trump business acumen and interpersonal skills. Respondents were asked to rank four important skill sets in order to investigate how interpersonal skills would rank against other key skills such as business acumen and critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills are viewed as most important. But what exactly does that mean? Dictionary.com defines critical thinking as "disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence."
To learn much more about The Advancing HR Function 2019 survey and to get 10 key strategic takeaways from this exclusive HR.com Research Institute research, please read the complete report and infographic here:
