Concern for the well-being of employees, while meeting the requirements and economic constraints of the company. A laborious balancing act that human resources professionals must engage in, more and more of whom are considering giving up their apron… According to a investigation carried out by the research firm Robert Walters, 56% of HR executives expressed the wish to change jobs in the next twelve months. Or ten points more than last year.
The Covid-19 crisis could well be the starting point for the discomfort experienced by human resources managers. Within companies, they were particularly on the front line during the pandemic: when the French economy was put under lockdown, it was necessary to orchestrate the implementation of restrictive measures, manage and explain the integration of a new organization, but also channel the concerns and uncertainties linked to the hitherto unprecedented context.
“There followed a period during which certain sectors such as tech faced phases of rapid growth and decline, sending contradictory signals to employees and reinforcing their need to be reassured,” explains Audrey Silvain, senior consultant. to Robert Walters and author of the article “HRD: an essential role in a constantly changing environment”, which is based on data published in the survey. Result: HR professionals were faced with ever more numerous and urgent requests. Reason why, perhaps, almost four out of ten HR managers hope for a salary increase this year according to the survey.
Juggling between integration and autonomy
In general, and more particularly “recently, HR has often been placed in a delicate position, having to find a balance between the well-being of employees, their performance, all in the service of their company”, explains Audrey Silvain . Reason why it appears “more than ever […] crucial” that managers understand that “the performance of employees and the financial health of the organization are interdependent”. The specialist particularly warns structures: be careful not to sacrifice employees “for the benefit of growth at all costs” And to add: “it’s a marathon, not a sprint”.
Among the recommendations made in the article, one watchword: anticipate crises. To do this, “the HR policy must be developed upstream”, insists Audrey Silvain for whom HR managers must be considered real partners in strategic decision-making.
The specialist recommends in particular not to quibble about autonomy, the primary criterion for satisfaction of human resources professionals according to the survey. “Giving more autonomy, responsibility, trust”: a “central question”, already summarized Benoît Serre, deputy vice-president of the National Association of HR Directors (ANDRH) in The Express last January.