WALLDORF, Germany, Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Human resource
(HR) managers across global organizations expect to be faced post
pandemic with a bifurcated workforce of remote and on-site workers,
creating challenges balancing employee needs, organizational goals,
policies and culture, according to a survey released today by
Oxford Economics, the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM)
and SAP SE (NYSE: SAP). The report surveyed HR leaders across 10
countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, the United
States and the United
Kingdom.
Some 78% of U.S. respondents and 63% of non-U.S. respondents
said they expect flexible work policies to be a talent
differentiator, according to the report "The Future of Work Arrives
Early: How HR Leaders Are Leveraging the Lessons of Disruptions."
However, more than half of U.S. respondents and 38% of non-U.S.
respondents said that establishing a culture that supports remote
employees will be one of the top three challenges when the pandemic
subsides.
The report also found that despite employee readiness to learn
new skills, few HR leaders are planning to invest in learning
programs for reskilling and upskilling over the next 12 months.
Outside of the United States, only
38% of respondents plan to invest in these programs. That drops to
22% among U.S. respondents.
"While HR leaders across the globe ranked maintaining
productivity as their biggest challenge, it's critical that we not
lose sight of long-term strategies around learning and reskilling,
and diversity, equity and inclusion," SAP SuccessFactors President
Jill Popelka said. "The urgency for
more agile processes, easier access to data and the ability to
support remote work is accelerating digital transformation. It's
critical that leaders develop a culture of continuous learning and
inclusion. This will enable workforces to drive needed
transformation projects, even during a period of unprecedented
change."
More than 80% of U.S. respondents said they were likely to
recommit to corporate culture and value, and practice inclusive
hiring and promotion. However, when compared with other countries,
commitment in the United States to
take specific actions toward these goals is less than other
countries. For example, only 46% of U.S. respondents said they are
likely to adjust wages or salaries to address pay inequities,
compared with 85% in China and 64%
in the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, only 47% of U.S. respondents said they are likely to
change structure or benefits to foster inclusion, compared with 73%
in Mexico and 67% in Spain.
Additional key findings from the report include:
Challenges to Maintain Productivity Could Delay Long-Term
Planning in Reskilling
- Maintaining productivity given new ways of working is ranked as
the biggest challenge for HR leaders. In Brazil, China, Mexico
and Spain, more than 60% of HR
leaders cited this as the biggest challenge.
- Remote collaboration tools will see the most investment, ahead
of analytics, technologies to ease the return to work, such as
testing and tracing, and learning programs for reskilling.
- Additionally, organizations are taking a buy-versus-build
mentality, with most hires in the coming months expected to be new
to the organization, rather than promoted within.
Remote Work Persists, Creating a Two-Tiered Workforce
- Overall, organizations globally agree that remote work will be
a talent magnet in the coming years and is viewed by many as a
long-term investment. For example, 64% of U.S. respondents and 57%
of UK respondents say they expect to have greater flexibility
regarding remote work as a result of COVID-19.
- However, respondents in China,
India, Mexico, Spain
and Germany face different
circumstances and were most likely to say their employees can work
from anywhere but do not have the technology or environment they
need. In these countries, respondents were the most likely to say
they are investing in remote collaboration tools and mobile
platforms.
- Service and field workers, general staff and customer service
workers are also less likely to have the environment or technology
to work remotely, compared to functions such as HR, sales,
marketing and finance.
"This has been a year of dramatic challenges for organizations
around the world, and human resource executives have been at the
forefront of navigating their organizations through this
unprecedented time," said SHRM President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr., SHRM-SCP. "To realize the
future of work, human resource executives and their colleagues on
the leadership team must accelerate their efforts to establish
culture, invest in talent and address diversity, inclusion and
equity to drive their organizations forward. While HR executives
continue to work through these difficult times, there is a great
opportunity to lead meaningful change for the workplace and beyond
as the report shows."
Download "The Future of Work Arrives Early: How HR Leaders Are
Leveraging the Lessons of Disruption" report and the U.S.
country report.
For more information, visit the HR and people engagement area of
SAP.com and the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at
@SuccessFactors and @SAPNews.
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