Recently, Natural HR undertook a piece of independent research to uncover the current state of HR in the UK. Surveying 219 HR professionals, we hoped to understand the challenges, opportunities and trends emerging from the profession. This was of interest to me, as I have a background in HR and play a central HR role in the current running of Natural HR. The findings shed light on the varied mindsets, anxieties and hopes facing professionals working in organisations ranging from sub-one hundred employees to corporate giants with over 5,000. There were multiple key findings within this report, including on issues of pay, gender and the top priorities of HR professionals, but three things stood out for me:

We’re all concerned about how to attract, hire and retain the best talent. I wrote a blog about the challenges of recruitment recently, so felt reassured that I wasn’t the only one struggling with this dilemma. With unemployment decreasing, and many opting to stay put in large and established organisations due to future uncertainty, the challenge to get the right people into growing businesses seems to be a shared one.

It’s time to hand over the administrative tasks to tech, which is capable of alleviating much of our time to ensure it is used for the more important and strategic activities and decisions. This will, in turn, end the perception that HR is purely an administrative function and will see many more of us take a seat at board level.

Finally, what is apparent from the research is that HR professionals in the UK are passionate about their work and are striving to make a difference to the overall success of their organisation. With clear plans to develop their strategies and stake a claim in those all-important board meetings, one thing remains a constant: the desire of HR professionals to empower, engage and motivate their people to be the best they can be.

The full ‘HR in 2019 and Beyond’ report can be downloaded from https://resources.naturalhr.com/future-of-hr