What Is HR Responsible For?
HR covers a lot of territory as the chart shows. No surprise that benefits and compliance are near universal, but it is interesting that 43% are responsible for safety/security, 10% have operational responsibilities, and 15% wear a facilities management hat.
|
Type of Responsibility |
Percent of respondents indicating they have that responsibility |
|
Employee benefits |
93% |
|
Employment law compliance |
90% |
|
Recruiting and staffing |
89% |
|
Compensation |
87% |
|
Unemployment benefits |
85% |
|
Workers’ comp |
79% |
|
Retirement plans |
72% |
|
Training/development |
68% |
|
Recognition/incentives |
68% |
|
Business ethics/ compliance |
59% |
|
Talent management |
57% |
|
Payroll |
58% |
|
Company events |
53% |
|
Safety/security/loss prevention |
43% |
|
Corporate/internal communications |
42% |
|
Relocation |
34% |
|
Charitable giving & volunteer programs |
29% |
|
Social media/social networking |
16% |
|
Facilities management |
15% |
|
Operations |
10% |
|
Green workplace, energy efficiency |
6% |
|
Other |
7% |
|
None of the above |
0.5% |
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Who Is Outsourcing What?
Of those that outsource any function, the most frequently outsourced function is background/ reference checks at 60%, followed by payroll for 38%. (See chart for details.)
|
Function |
Percent or respondents who outsource that function |
|
Background/reference checks |
60% |
|
Payroll |
38% |
|
Unemployment claims processing |
28% |
|
Workers’ comp |
27% |
|
Benefits administration |
23% |
|
Training |
5% |
|
Recruiting/staffing |
3% |
What Functions Are Offered Self-Service?
The HR function most frequently provided to employees as a self-service feature is the employee handbook, with 65% of our survey respondents offering that as a self-service. Name/address change is self-service for 48% and time/attendance is online for 62%; vacation/PTO requests are available online for 45%.
It is particularly interesting that 27% are doing performance evaluation as a self-service. (See chart for details.)
|
Feature |
Percent of respondents who provide the feature self-service |
|
Handbook |
65% |
|
Time/Attendance |
62% |
|
Benefits |
49% |
|
Name/Address Change |
48% |
|
Vacation/PTO |
45% |
|
Performance Evaluation |
27% |
|
Other |
6% |
What’s the HR Staff to Employee Ratio?
When asked about their HR staff to employee ratio, the most common answer was 1 HR staffer to 50 employees. (See chart for details.)
|
1 HR professional per: |
Percent of respondents |
|
50 or fewer employees |
33% |
|
51- 75 employees |
17% |
|
76 to 10 employees |
14% |
|
101-150, |
15% |
|
151-200, |
8% |
|
201 or more employees. |
13% |
How Have Departments Changed?
No significant changes have been experienced in the last year by 50% of participants in our survey, though 16% of the HR departments have been reduced in size and departmental budgets have been reduced for 15%. ( See chart for full details.)
|
Type of Change |
Percent of respondents |
|
No Change |
50 |
|
More automated |
23 |
|
Size reduced |
16 |
|
Budget reduced |
15 |
|
More Outsourced |
5 |
|
Now shared services |
3 |
Is HR a Strategic Partner?
Over three quarters of our survey participants report playing a role in strategic business planning at their organizations with 37% holding a position of influence within the inner circle. HR plays a major role, though outside the inner circle, for 24% and at least 25% of HR departments play a minor role. HR has no role in strategic business planning for 14% of survey respondents.
How Is HR Viewed?
HR is viewed as a strategic partner by management teams for 29% of survey participants and as a credible business asset for 25%. It’s still viewed as an administrative function, though, for 41%.
|
HR is viewed as … |
Percent of respondents |
|
Administrative function |
41% |
|
Strategic partner |
29% |
|
Credible business asset |
25% |
|
Window dressing |
2% |
|
Other |
3% |
To Whom Does HR Report?
Our survey reveals that HR reports to a variety of executives with 40% reporting to the CEO or owner of the business. Another 22% report to the President or Executive Director and 15% report to the Chief Financial Officer, while 9% report to the head of operations, 7% to the head of administration, and 2% to in-house legal department.
How Many Hours Do HR Managers Work?
|
Number of Hours per Week |
Percent of respondents |
|
20 hours or less |
1% |
|
21 – 30 hours |
2% |
|
31 – 39 hours |
5% |
|
40 hours per week |
21% |
|
41 – 50 hours |
53% |
|
51 – 60 hours |
16% |
|
61 – 70 hours |
3% |
|
70+ hours |
1% |
What Big Challenges Lie Ahead?
Myriad challenges face our survey respondents. Recruiting leads the pack at 21% with health care second at 16%. Rounding out the top three is employee motivation and retention.
About the Respondents:
Participants—HR managers and directors account for 52% of the survey participants who self-identified, other HR professionals make up 28%, and 20% are in other areas with HR responsibilities. Eighty-five percent of respondents are in exempt positions and 73% have 10 or more years of HR experience.
Number of employees—The majority of our survey respondents provide guidance to small or medium size employers with 59% providing HR services to a workforce of 1-250 employees and another 16% providing guidance to 251-500 employees at their organizations.
Industries—Almost half (48%) of the participants are in service industries; 18% are in agriculture, forestry, construction, manufacturing, or mining; 10% are in wholesale, retail, transportation, or warehousing; and 24% are in real estate, utilities, or “other.”
Organizations—A total of 713 organizations participated in this survey, conducted in August 2012. Of those who identified themselves, 58% are privately owned, 6% are public entities, and 33% are government or nonprofits. Sixty-one percent are located in labor markets with a population that exceeds 500,000.
Exempt vs. Nonexempt—Among our survey respondents, 65% have less than 5% salaried nonexempt employees, 66% have a workforce of at least 50% hourly nonoffice workers and 31% have a workforce that is at least 50% salaried exempt employees.
Looking at this from another angle, the average percentage of salaried exempt employees for those responding to our survey is 37% and 11% is the average for salaried nonexempt. The average percentage of hourly office employees is 20% and 32% is the average for hourly nonoffice workers.
Labor relations—Of the survey participants, 18% have employees that belong to a union with 2% having a 90-100% unionized workforce and 1% having a workforce that is 5% or less unionized.
Department Size
The majority of HR departments represented in our survey are small with 36.3% being an HR department of one and departments with 2-3 HR professionals accounting for 32.2% of survey participants. Departments with 4-6 comprise another 13.2%, and 4.7% have departments with 7-10 on their staff.
| Number in HR Department |
Percent of respondents |
|
1 |
36.3% |
|
2 to 3 |
32.2% |
|
4 to 6 |
13.2% |
|
7 to 10 |
4.7% |
|
11 to 20 |
6.4% |
|
21 to 25 |
2.7% |
|
26 to 30 |
0.6% |
|
More than 30 |
2.7% |
|
0 |
1.2% |
Upcoming survey topics include Employee Leave, Holidays, and Benefits.
Thanks to all who participated in the survey!
I’d love to know what the 0.5% who do “none of the above” in the responsibilities chart DO do! More seriously, I’m surprised how many are charged with facilities management duties like safety and security. I hope they’re getting compensated accordingly.