A recent whitepaper of over 800 human resource professionals has revealed that the biggest challenge for HR professionals in the coming year is the search for high quality applicants (64%).
“Employers are having an increasing difficult time finding people with the right skills. With today’s low unemployment rate, workforce planning is, and will likely continue to be, a major concern for HR and one that requires creative and strategic planning and development,” Beth Zoller, legal editor at XpertHR, said.
The other workforce challenges include:
Ensuring employees and supervisors have the necessary skill sets now and for future responsibilities (52%)
Creating a succession plan (50%)
Increasing employee engagement, morale and satisfaction (49%)
Employee retention (40%)
Managing performance and providing professional development opportunities (47%)
Aligning the talent retention strategy with business objectives (43%)
Handling employee mergers and acquisitions (40%)
“Workforce planning is a key challenge for HR and requires an employer to review all phases of the employment relationship from start to end in order to make strategic business decisions that have a positive impact on the employer’s bottom line,” Zoller commented.
It is advised that key stakeholders and members of management should assess the company’s short- and long-term goals and the unique factors affecting the employer’s business and shaping its workforce. Data analytics may be a useful tool to evaluate progress and to understand where and how an employer should focus its efforts as well as to reduce costs.
This article was first published in Human Resources and is reproduced with permission.
