Vurv and HCI Uncover the Role of HR in the Age of Talent

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vurv Technology, a global provider of technology and services for building great workforces, today announced the findings of a joint study with the Human Capital Institute, a global think tank, education and professional association, on the state of HR in a report entitled, “The Role of HR in the Age of Talent.” The study surveyed a mix of almost 800 HR professionals and non-HR professionals on their attitudes and experiences related to the role of HR in their organizations.

“’The Role of HR in the Age of Talent’ shows that the most successful organizations make talent management a priority for every leader, manager and supervisor while leveraging the expertise of a reinvented HR group”

“The Role of HR in the Age of Talent” examines the current state of the HR profession and its future path. According to the report, an increasing number of CEOs and corporate board members rank acquiring, retaining and engaging talent as the most challenging business problem they face. HR is evolving into a profession increasingly viewed by the boardroom as strategic and critical to a company’s overall business performance. While Talent Management itself has become a board-level concern, the paper also examines whether or not HR is able to climb the corporate ladder and receive the same respect and responsibility as other important business functions.

According to survey respondents, HR is making progress. 66% stated that HR is either respected or highly respected and occasionally or frequently consulted on corporate strategy, which correlates with a recent survey by Mercer in which 67% of respondents stated that HR is seen as a strategic partner and participates in strategy discussions and decision. The mindset of HR is becoming more strategic as well. Across a range of 10 questions which asked respondents where they focus their time, the results were almost evenly split.

Additional key findings from the report show that despite the impact and importance of globalization, HR is involved and consulted on global strategy less than one-third of the time, even when it directly affects the workforce. Interestingly, responses from those in New Zealand and Australia differed from those in North America. HR reports directly to the CEO in 71% of companies in Australia and New Zealand versus 58% in North America. 78% of respondents from Australia and New Zealand claim that HR is either respected or highly respected and occasionally or frequently consulted on corporate strategy versus 64% in North America. 32% from Australia and New Zealand assess their organizations as being well prepared or very well-prepared to address coming talent management challenges versus 18% in North America.

The report also looked at the use of talent management technologies in HR. Recruitment, Performance Management and Learning Systems are the top three HR technologies currently deployed. Over the next twelve months Succession Planning and Performance Management are the most likely to be implemented. However, despite HR’s concerns around talent acquisition, respondents are taking little advantage of “Web 2.0” technologies such as social networking, blogs or wikis.

“We are pleased to see that more and more organizations are using multiple talent management technologies, and plan to implement more in the coming year to address the challenges organizations are facing,” says Sam Hanson, VP of HR at Vurv. “The HR profession must redefine the role of HR in order to provide the organization with the necessary steps to address the complexity of building and retaining great workforces that respond to the challenges of the 21^st century.”

The HR profession is slowly but surely transforming, according to the report. Leaders are coming to realize that HR cannot develop a talent management operation while burdened with the day-to-day work of traditional HR. HR must be expertly managed in order to thrive in the age of talent. When asked to describe their most significant or innovative initiatives in HR or talent management over the previous twelve months, the largest group pointed to initiatives related to leadership identification and development. Talent acquisition related initiatives and those related to implementing technology were second and third respectively.

“’The Role of HR in the Age of Talent’ shows that the most successful organizations make talent management a priority for every leader, manager and supervisor while leveraging the expertise of a reinvented HR group,” says Allen Schweyer, Executive Director at Human Capital Institute. “In a time of expected talent shortages and great challenges in retaining and engaging talent, it is encouraging to see corporate executives look increasingly to HR and talent management technologies to assist in vital business initiatives.”

Vurv provides solutions for recruitment, onboarding, performance management, compensation management and workforce optimization and has helped more than 2,000 companies increase profitability, reduce risk, and retain top talent. Vurv customers include some of the most successful and renowned brands in the world, such as Business Week's Best Place to Start a Career, FORTUNE's Best Place to Work and #1 Most Admired Companies in 8 distinct industries. Companies that use Vurv outperformed the Dow by 35% in the last 5 years.

To download “The Role of HR in the Age of Talent” please visit: www.vurv.com/ageoftalent.

About Vurv Technology

It’s all about the people! Vurv’s on demand talent management software helps address the number one business challenge – finding, hiring and retaining top talent. With comprehensive product offerings including recruitment, onboarding, performance, succession, compensation and workforce transition management, Vurv’s software is fast, flexible and easy to use. More than 1,700 companies and over 4.4 million users around the world rely on Vurv to reduce operating costs, increase productivity and ignite their most powerful resource for innovation and growth. Feel the creative energy, talent and passion at www.vurv.com.