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Men are 43 per cent more likely to take the top position in HR - Harvey Nash HR Survey 2014
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.
The survey looked at the ultimate career ambitions of men and women
in HR. Men are 50 per cent more likely to aspire to the Chief HR Officer role,
and 72 per cent more likely to aspire to a C-level role outside HR. They are
also more likely to change job to gain a seat on the board (29 per cent more
likely) and to increase their salary (21 per cent more likely).
Despite clear differences in long-term career ambitions, the short-term
job priorities and aspirations for men and women are very similar. Both rate
‘interesting work ‘ and ‘being valued by the business’ as the two main factors
in job satisfaction; they also broadly agree on how successful they are in
their own role, as well as the priorities they and their team are being set by
the board.
The Harvey Nash HR Survey suggests that the success of men
achieving senior positions is less to do with differences in job performance or
strategic influence, and more to do with men having clear, sometimes ambitious,
career aspirations.
Lisa Wormald, Director, Harvey Nash HR commented: “Given how well represented women are in HR,
you could be forgiven for thinking that gender diversity is not an issue. What
this research shows is that there is hidden challenge in promoting female senior HR talent. From my own
experience of recruiting senior HR professionals it is very clear that women
are equally capable as men in performing their role. However when it comes to their career, men
tend to be more confident and driven about ‘throwing their hat into the ring’ for
senior opportunities. If women want to take more of the top roles in HR they
need more of that male ‘naked ambition’.”
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.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About the research:
(i) Survey conducted online by Harvey Nash between
22 August 2013 and 11 October 2013 amongst 918 Human Resources professionals
from businesses across the world. This is the 4th in a series of annual HR
surveys conducted by Harvey Nash to identify emerging trends and issues in the
Human Resources sector.
(ii) For more information about the survey and to
request a full copy of the results, please visit www.harveynash.com/hrsurvey or email robert.grimsey@harveynash.com
Media Relations contacts:
Michelle Smith
Harvey Nash plc
michelle.smith@harveynash.com
+44 (0)20 7333 2677
About Harvey Nash
Established in 1988, Harvey Nash has helped over
half the world's leading companies recruit, source and manage the highly
skilled talent they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive, global and
technology driven world. With 4,000 experts in 40 offices across Europe, Asia
and the U.S. we have the reach and resources of a global organisation, whilst
fostering a culture of innovation and agility that empowers our people across
the world to respond to constantly changing client needs. We work with clients,
both big and small, to deliver a portfolio of services: executive search,
professional recruitment and outsourcing.
To learn more, please visit www.harveynash.com.
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