The HR function is starting to play an increasingly important role in helping UK organisations with corporate business planning and strategy, according to a study.
A recent poll conducted among 550 senior HR managers in 17 countries by HR consultancy The Scala Group and the ACE Network found that 62% of UK companies now include HR professionals when undertaking high level strategic planning. The figure jumps to 80% among enterprises with more than 7,500 staff.
Janice Caplan, a founding partner of The Scala Group, said: "It is pleasing to see such progress in integrating HR into key decisions. People really are our key resource, increasingly so in a ‘knowledge economy’ and a rapidly changing world."
She added that ensuring HR professionals were continuously involved in the strategic decision-making process would ensure that the use of staff resources was optimised. "I believe this really does herald the development of a wider talent management approach," Caplan said.
Some 59% of UK respondents indicated that they had helped their employers to devise business strategies that would help them tackle the effects of the recession. This figure compared with a mere 38 per cent of HR managers who were not based in the UK.
