LONDON, Dec. 3, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Despite men representing only one-third (37 per cent) of HR professionals, they take over half (53 per cent) of all HR positions at Chief, Vice President or Director level; an over-representation of 43 per cent. Men are 50 per cent more likely than women to aspire to the role of Chief HR Officer.
This is according to the fourth Harvey Nash Human Resources Survey, compiled from the views of over 900 HR professionals across eight countries including the UK.
The progression of women from entry level to senior positions in HR does not compare favourably with other departments. For example, in IT, whilst only one in ten employees is female, the ratio remains the same from entry level through to CIO / Head of IT (source: Harvey Nash CIO Survey 2013 / Harvey Nash Technology Survey 2014). This suggests that although there are less women entering the IT profession, a good proportion of them manage to climb the career ladder successfully, something that their peers in the HR industry appear to be struggling with.
Other key information from the survey
Employee engagement highest priority for 2014: When asked what single HR priority would be the most important in the coming 12 months, employee engagement was ranked highest. Including high performers in succession planning was rated as the most popular approach for developing engagement (53 per cent of HR professionals included this in their strategy), followed by providing access to senior leaders as mentors (52 per cent).
Increased job changing: Almost half (43 per cent) of HR professionals have moved role within the last two years, compared to 32 per cent 12 months ago. At the same time, the proportion of HR professionals staying with their employer for more than five years has dropped to 18 per cent (down from 22 per cent last year).
Online recruitment developing: The use of social media in recruitment and employer branding increased in the last twelve months, however internet job boards, external recruitment agencies and the corporate website remain the most important tools to attract new talent.
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Media Relations contacts: Michelle Smith Harvey Nash plc +44 (0)20 7333 2677
