Understanding a set of priorities is one thing. Delivering on it is a different matter altogether. Joint research carried out by Deloitte & Touche Human Capital and Human Resources suggests that, while chief executives and their HR directors broadly agree on their organisational needs, the former is not convinced that the latter is delivering the goods on those HR issues that matter most.
What the research shows are the views of chief executives and their heads of HR in nearly 80 organisations on the role of HR in the workplace. Both CEOs and HR directors were asked about the HR issues they regarded as crucial to the success of the organisation, the role of HR directors and the skills of their senior teams and the way in which they measure the success of HR.
This is a piece of research whose time has come, argues Brett Walsh, UK head of human capital at Deloitte & Touche. We wanted to take the current debate about the strategic importance of HR in a competitive business environment a stage further, he says. If you consider that HR is about aligning people strategies with business strategies, then we need to understand from those who are responsible for the business strategy the chief executives what their people priorities are.
CEOs have little doubt about the importance of HR policies. When asked to rank factors that would drive the future success of the business, CEOs considered investment in people to be as important as having an effective overall strategy, more important even than developing new or improved products and services. Walsh believes that this in itself is a sign of progress for HR. Furthermore it seems that CEOs and HR directors broadly agree on their organisational priorities, with the same top 10, albeit in a different order. Walsh says, If we had done this survey four, three, even two years ago, we would probably have got some very different results.'
A full copy of the report "Aligned at the Top? A Survey of CEO and HR Director Views" can be found at http://www.deloitte.co.uk/humancapital
