In 2008, the Institute for Employment Studies conducted a study on what Human Resources (HR) customers are looking for. During their research, they collected 840 survey questionnaires and conducted over 100 in-person interviews. In an effort to cover a wide range of industries, participants were surveyed who worked in retail, electronics, local government, health, and civil service. The following are some of the expectations which were revealed by the study.
First, employees felt Human Resources Offices needed to communicate more clearly exactly what they do and how they can be of service to everyone else in the company. It was revealed that many employees find the inner workings of an HR Office to be a complete mystery.
Next, managers within organizations stated they were seeking HR employees who can help them balance the needs and interests of employees and the business. Essentially, they felt that HR should help to remind them that there are real people and real feelings involved when they are implementing company policies. Managers also want Human Resources to regularly inform them of the general employee sentiment and recommend ways to maintain positive relationships between management and staff.
Finally, all customers of Human Resources want HR employees to be proactive, which applies primarily to being able to recognize problems in advance and make suggestions for resolving them. This includes immediately tackling issues between managers and employees, researching best practices and bringing in positive ideas from outside of the business, being assertive if management seems to be overstepping their bounds, training managers on how to better motivate their staff, and working with everyone together to maintain consistency in company ethics, mission, and goals.
Overall, the customers of Human Resources would like to see HR workers move away from seeming to be chained to their desks by paperwork, and be a more visible force for positive change in the workplace.