The Order of Certified Human Resources Professionals (CHRP) has published an HR portrait of Quebec's world of work by surveying companies in terms of leadership, culture and commitment, talent management and cost control. Here are the survey’s highlights.
The ‘HR Barometer’ study was conducted for the first time this year. “We had already conducted smaller reviews, on specific issues, but nothing this large,” says Alexandre Dumouchel, CHRA and spokesman for the Order.
Given the high response rates obtained from both employees and employers, the study is likely to return next year, says the spokesman.
Quebec employers and employees were polled on four major themes: leadership, culture, commitment to talent management and cost control.
“To identify these topics, we used a mixed approach. We were inspired by the Quebec context, but also the priorities set out by the Conference Board of Canada,” explains Dumouchel.
Here are the results.
Strengths
Major surprise: Dumouchel said that the Order was pleased to learn that the culture and commitment components earned an A grade. The vast majority of employees (80%) are proud to work for their organizations, and 78% have “the feeling of contributing to the success of the organization,” states the study.
The leadership component received a B grade, which is also nice. However, the Order emphasizes that there is a weakness in employee recognition. And this comes from the organizations themselves: half of them feel they “do not show enough gratitude to their employees.”
“Recognition does not only mean giving out bonuses at the end of the year,” notes the human resources advisor. “There are other options: saying thank you, highlighting successes, praising an employee’s merits before the Board.”
Weaknesses
Quebec organizations have more difficulty with talent management and cost control, two components for which they received a C grade.
In fact, companies struggle to organize the succession of their businesses. The intention is there, but real action is not: only 40% of companies have defined a succession strategy and this percentage slipped below 25% in organizations with fewer than 100 employees.
Added to this is a communication problem. For when a company has a succession plan, 75% of employees do not. “Greater transparency, however, has its advantages,” says Alexandre Dumouchel. “It has been shown that an employee who is part of the succession plan is much less likely to resign.”
Since a high turnover rate directly affects cost control, the other weak point of the survey, organizations doubly benefit from tackling this issue head on.