PurpleLine Consulting

In a recent issue of their HR Review, the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) has published their top 6 HR priorities for HR professionals 'as we slowly emerge from the recession.'

They are:

• the future for learning and development, talent management and coaching, as the need for top talent and leadership is greater than ever
• how recession has highlighted the importance of employee engagement to organisational performance, but also in some cases weakened the strength of employer/employee relationships
• the requirement to respond to the generational challenges presented by demographic change – managing both ‘the teenies’ and ‘the oldies’
• the need for line managers to practice in reality the rhetoric of total rewards and best-place-to-work initiatives
• the critical role of effective workforce planning and OD as organisations face up to continuing future uncertainty
• the importance of new forms of flexible working which have moved from being essentially an employee-oriented benefit to a valuable flexible resourcing and cost control strategy.

These are all strategic issues, which many HR teams have had to put on the back boiler while they deal with the day to day operational issues linked to cost cutting and headcount reduction. 

I have swapped the order listed by the IES because I think the top 3 listed here are the biggest priorities.    The first is a good step forward to address the problems of employment uncertainty and lack of trust engendered by employers' responses to cash flow and budget pressures.  The employee ends up as the pawn in the game of chess that ensues.  The third issue is a pressing problem.

Does this list fit with your priorities or are yours different?