Survey report. January CIPD Market Research. Voice of the profession: Middle East

Transcription

1 Survey report January 2015 CIPD Market Research Voice of the profession: Middle East WORK WORKFORCE WORKPLACE

2 We re the CIPD the professional body for HR and people development. We are the voice of a worldwide community of more than 135,000 members committed to championing better work and working lives.

3 Voice of the profession: Middle East Contents Introduction 1 Profile of survey participants 2 Strategic HR priorities 3 Research and information 5 Professional status and qualifications 6 HR skills gaps and training needs 8 Further information and acknowledgements 9 Introduction In autumn 2014, the CIPD commissioned research into the current state of the HR and L&D profession across the Middle East. We surveyed a cross-section of CIPD members and non-members throughout the region, encompassing all levels of seniority and specialisms of HR and L&D. More than 1,000 people completed the survey in just three weeks. The data paints a clear picture of what s important to HR and L&D professionals and how the CIPD can support individuals, organisations and governments to raise HR professionalism and capability across the region in the years ahead. 1 Voice of the profession: Middle East

4 Profile of survey participants Location and sector The majority of respondents are based in the Middle East (see Figure 1) particularly concentrated in the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. In addition, a significant number hold responsibility for the HR function in the region, but are based outside the GCC. Two in three work for corporate/ private sector employers (67%), and the three most common industry sectors are professional/ consultancy services (12%), construction (10%) and financial services and real estate (10%). Eighteen per cent of participants work in the government sector. Experience, specialism and seniority More than half of respondents (53%) have ten or more years experience in the profession. While 43% say their current role is in HR, 22% have a remit which covers L&D as well as HR and 11% focus solely on L&D. Overall, 81% of survey participants work within in-house HR functions of which one in five participants (19%) work in senior roles, either as an HR/L&D director or at senior executive/group level (193 HR leaders in total completed the survey). A third of respondents (34%) are HR/L&D managers, and 18% are in other in-house roles (5% of which work in specialist disciplines such as recruitment, reward or talent). The other 19% of participants work in a variety of consultancy and academic roles or are currently studying HR. Scale and span of control Two-fifths (41%) of the HR/L&D professionals in the survey work in organisations employing 20 or more staff in the function of which 6% have HR functions with more than 250 employees. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 15% have no more than two employees working in HR/L&D. From a span of control perspective, 46% of directors/ senior executives have five or more direct reports, compared with 24% of HR/L&D managers. Twenty-six per cent of HR leaders have 11 or more direct reports. Figure 1: Current work location (%) UAE/Dubai KSA Bahrain Qatar Oman Kuwait UK Other 2 Voice of the profession: Middle East

5 Strategic HR priorities Top HR priorities We asked directors/senior executives and those in manager roles to identify the top three HR priorities for their organisations. Across the whole region, recruitment and selection emerges as the top priority although the number one issue in Bahrain is learning and development. Talent planning and management is the second highest priority, while performance management is placed third. Figure 2 shows the remainder of the top ten priorities. When asked what kinds of professional support they most need to address these kinds of priorities, directors/senior executives and managers alike say they need more access to: international best practice insights and guidance, case studies and benchmarking local research and independent guidance with relevant context from the region professional qualifications and training which are tailored to reflect region-specific practices and culture. HR strategy alignment and outsourcing Three in four directors/senior executives (76%) and 63% of managers believe that their current HR strategy is well aligned with their organisation s overall business strategy, although 20% of managers and 13% of more senior staff feel this is not the case. In addition, 26% Recruitment and selection emerges as the top priority Figure 2: Top three HR priorities (total of all mentions) (%) Recruitment and selection 39 Talent planning/management 35 HR/business strategy alignment Performance management Learning and development 24 Organisation development Employee engagement Leadership development Nationalisation 17 Reward and benefits Voice of the profession: Middle East

6 Nationlisation is the highest priority HR policy issue of respondents (and 24% of HR leaders) cited the need for more research in this area indicating a desire to validate the link between HR interventions and overall business performance. Outsourcing is part of the HR strategy operational plan for 20% of organisations in the region, most commonly involving recruitment/selection work and HR technology/automation. HR-related legislation and policy The highest-priority HR-related policy issue for directors/senior executives in the region is nationalisation, selected by 28% of respondents. Meanwhile, HR/L&D managers perceive diversity and equal opportunities as the key policy priority (36%). Immigration and expat visa regulations are seen as an important priority by 24% of directors/senior executives and 21% of managers. Figure 3: Anecdotal comments on how the CIPD can best help organisations execute effective HR Local networking Support with nationalisation Business consultancy Region-specific research and information Local presence/office Qualifications Toolkits specifically for region Competency framework Best practices/ benchmarks Leadership development Seminars Helping to build business case for HRM Training opportunities locally Middle East employment law Building professional credibility for HR in the region Access to resources/ materials in general Career planning 4 Voice of the profession: Middle East

7 Research and information Specialist topics For the 812 survey participants not in director/senior executive roles, the specific research areas of greatest interest were cited as talent planning and management (30% selected this in their top three), followed by organisation development (28%) and performance management (27%). For directors/senior executives, talent planning and management is also the area of greatest interest (40%), although leadership development/executive coaching (35%) is rated the second most interesting topic of interest. Research themes Forty-six per cent of participants were keen to learn more about the CIPD s Valuing your Talent research and see this applied across the region and 38% of participants are keen to see international research and guidance on HR strategy alignment, operating models, outsourcing and HR service delivery models. Website information When it comes to information resources available online, HR/L&D professionals in the region say their key need is for more regional employment law information (63%), followed by relevant regional research (53%) and information about events/opportunities for networking in the region (53%). Events Where events for HR/L&D professionals are held in the region, respondents said they d get most value from those focused on case studies and best practice examples that are directly relevant to the Middle East (63%). HR/L&D professionals would also like events focused on employment law updates for the region (52%) and news about the profession which is specific to the Middle East (48%). Asked to select the one HR topic which would have most appeal as the theme for an event in the region, HR/L&D professionals are most likely to say aligning HR strategy with business strategy (12%) or leadership development/ executive coaching (10%). HR analytics: 45% are keen to learn more about Valuing your Talent 5 Voice of the profession: Middle East

8 Professional status and qualifications 71% of HR directors and executives believe the HR profession should be licensed Licensed HR profession Directors/senior executives and managers working in the region are strongly in favour of HR becoming a licensed profession. More than seven in ten in all six GCC countries endorse the view that people working within HR should hold a professional licence and be regulated by an appropriate professional body. This is in sharp contrast to those working with a Middle East remit but based in the UK, amongst whom only 38% hold this view (see Figure 4). HR qualifications HR qualifications are mandatory for specific roles in one in three organisations across the region. As Figure 5 illustrates, the extent to which this is the case varies from a high of 46% in Bahrain to 24% in Qatar. Where organisations do expect employees to hold professional qualifications, this is most likely to be the case for senior roles (76%) and medium-level roles (55%). Lower-level HR/L&D staff are less likely to be subject to mandatory requirements (12%). Figure 4: Participants who believe HR should become a licensed profession (%) KSA Oman Kuwait Qatar UAE Bahrain UK Figure 5: HR qualifications are mandated for HR appointments (%) KSA Oman Kuwait Qatar UAE Bahrain Senior HR roles All HR roles 6 Voice of the profession: Middle East

9 Language Sixty per cent of directors/ senior executives and managers in the Middle East are happy for qualifications to be delivered in English, but 28% would like to see delivery in both English and Arabic. Expenditure Over the next three years, two in five employers (41%) are expected to spend US$5,000 or more per person per annum on formal HR/L&D qualifications for employees in the function. HR competency models Across the region, two in five (41%) organisations have an HR/L&D technical competency framework in place. In the majority of cases, frameworks have been developed in-house (64%) or using an external consultant (23%). Professional body membership Most directors/senior executives and managers feel that it s either important or very important (86%) for HR/L&D professionals in their organisation to be members of an international professional body for HR, so they can keep up to date with best practice, global standards and relevant insight. Despite this widely held view, 60% work in firms where fewer than half the HR/L&D workforce are members of a professional body for HR, while just 22% say that more than half their HR function hold a professional membership of this kind. The majority of the survey participants (70%) already belong to an international professional body for HR. Of the remaining 30%, around three-quarters are thinking of joining such a body in future. The key motivators for joining are professional recognition (40%) and accessing information relevant to working in the profession (36%) although the affordability of membership is also a factor with considerable influence on the decision (44%). HR/L&D professionals in the region who already belong to an international membership body cite a number of advantages, in particular that colleagues recognise that membership adds to their personal professional status (60% feel this is the case). A similar proportion (58%) believe that membership works to their advantage when applying for jobs in the region and that employers in the Middle East generally acknowledge the value of professional membership and professional qualifications (57%). Continuing professional development When it comes to their own personal current professional status, two in three HR/L&D practitioners (67%) in the Middle East say their continuing professional development (CPD) plan is both in place and on track for the coming 12-month period. Only 41% of organisations have an HR/L&D technical competency framework in place 7 Voice of the profession: Middle East

10 HR skills gaps and training needs Business acumen is seen as the greatest skills gap for HR professionals in the region HR skills gaps Across the region, directors/ senior executives and managers identify business acumen as the area where HR/L&D people have the greatest skills gap (31% select this as one of the top three). As Figure 6 illustrates, there are also significant gaps in talent planning/ management skills as well as skills associated with the design and execution of HR strategy. Skills gaps are most apparent among employees in mediumlevel HR/L&D job roles (70%), although there are also needs to be addressed amongst more senior employees (37%) and lower-level staff (44%). Training channels Employers in the region use a mix of approaches to train and develop HR/L&D professionals. The most frequent route is via in-house training (60%). External training providers (27%) are also relatively widely used, and organisations also make use of professional qualifications as part of their development strategy, with 40% using the CIPD, 15% SHRM and 12% ILM qualifications. Training mix Face-to-face sessions are seen as the training format that works best for the region (64%), with 50% also saying a mix of face-toface and online teaching works for their organisation. While 59% are content for short training courses to be delivered in English only, 38% say a mix of English and Arabic better meets the needs of their organisation. Figure 6: Top six skills gaps (total of all mentions) (%) Business acumen Talent planning/management HR strategy design and execution HR metrics and analytics 19 Performance management Financial skills Voice of the profession: Middle East

11 Further information and acknowledgements The CIPD would like to thank everyone who took part in this research and we are now working on a number of follow-up activities in response to these insights. If you would like any more information on this report, please contact us directly: Acknowledgements Rekindle Research Ltd Talentize Middle East FZ LLC Copyright CIPD 2015 All rights reserved Rebecca Normand International Business Manager, CIPD r.normand@cipd.co.uk Matthew Mee CEO Talentize, Regional Consultants to the CIPD, Middle East m.mee@cipd.co.uk 9 Voice of the profession: Middle East

12 Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 151 The Broadway London SW19 1JQ United Kingdom T +44 (0) F +44 (0) E cipd@cipd.co.uk W cipd.co.uk Incorporated by Royal Charter Registered as a charity in England and Wales ( ) and Scotland (SC045154) Issued: January 2015 Reference: 6842 CIPD 2015