A major research project by the Human Capital Forum with technology firm Logica has revealed huge gaps in employers’ ability to match workforce planning to business needs – but also the emergence of an elite of employers that are gaining huge returns from better alignment.

The new research shows that only a small proportion of companies have full human capital reporting – also that these few are better able to map workforce and business needs. Organisations that see HR departments as strategic, rather than purely administrative, are:

• More likely to have workforce and business plans in alignment,
• More able to assess the business impact of absence, such as that caused by swine flu,
• Less prone to skill shortages caused by internal unpreparedness,
• Less likely to face business pressures from insufficient talent,
• More likely to be able to measure returns on human capital investments.

In other findings, almost a third of respondents (27%) were concerned that they did not have the appropriate plans to deal with a recovery in the economy. The absence of usable human capital management (HCM) data means that HR leaders are unable to implement the necessary plans to meet future business requirements.

Some 70% of HR directors questioned feel a lack of clear HR data leads to skills gaps in their business. And over a third of HR departments believe their HR system is not adequate to support business change in response to the potential economic upturn.

‘As we move out of the recession there will be a significant competitive advantage for those companies where HR professionals take the opportunity to become strategic business leaders,’ explained Patricia Taylor, Global HRS and UK BPO Director at Logica.

‘Key to this transformation will be the ability to utilise the data already available within the organisation to make calculated decisions. Too frequently we have found that this sophisticated HR intelligence has proven to be the missing link that has held back HR leaders from playing business planning roles within the organisation.

Philip Whiteley, chair of the Human Capital Forum, said: ‘Our focus groups, held as part of the research programme earlier in the summer, indicated that there was a huge gulf between where many organisations want to be in terms of understanding their workforce; and the reports that they can currently produce. This was underlined by the findings of the wider survey.

‘It’s vital that business leaders see human capital as the core source of value in their companies; and that HR leaders start to become aware of the importance of the data of which they are custodians.’

The report was launched at a London conference attended by around 40 senior leaders from human resources and other business disciplines.

The report is available at: http://www.logica.co.uk/