Last year, employers faced a sustained increase in workplace unrest as austerity measures, longer working hours, stress and a genuine skills gap took their toll on the UK workforce.
A survey among 550 HR professionals, who looked after a combined workforce of over two million, undertaken by law firm Speechly Bircham and the Management Learning Board at King’s College London revealed growing levels of staff absence, sickness, stress-related problems and grievances.
Expected future increases in working hours were only expected to result in higher staff turnover and even more workplace unrest this year. Two out of five of those questioned anticipated seeing a deterioration in employee relations during 2011, while 29% believed that the number of employee grievances would continue to rise.
Engagement was high on the agenda, with just over two thirds stating that maintaining employee engagement was a priority this year, while the majority hoping to achieve it by ensuring that their leaders and managers were up to the job.
But Speechly Bircham and the Management Learning Board at King’s College London have now launched their questionnaire for the 4th annual ‘State of HR Survey’ 2012. The findings have become an authoritative source of information and have been referenced by industry experts and public policy makers, as well as being used by many organisations to inform HR strategy.
The 2012 research is intended build on the 2011 results by delving deeper than ever before into key issues around employee engagement, managing talent effectively and developing sustainable people strategies, which means that it will be of real interest to HR professionals, business leaders and line managers.
Anyone completing the survey will automatically be entered into a draw to win £250 of John Lewis vouchers. They will also be invited to attend the official survey launch event and be among the first to receive a copy of the findings.
Please help King’s College and Speechly Bircham make this the most comprehensive report yet by completing the survey here. To view the reports from 2009, 2010 and 2011, please visit http://www.thestateofhr.com/.
Richard Giles is senior business development executive at law firm, Speechly Bircham.
