The first ever HR survey in Malta was recently carried out by FHRD & PWC.The need for an HR functionwithin organisations in Malta has grown rapidly in recent years. Organisations have come to recognise the importance of workforce planning especially when it comes to managing talent retention and employee engagement. It is for this reason that FHRD, teamed up with PWC in order to have a snapshot of the current HR situation in Malta. In fact, findings from the HR Pulse Survey show that 84% of surveyed today have a formal HR function. In view of this positive result,the HR Pulse Survey will be conducted on a yearly basis providing a yearly up to datepicture into Malta’s ever growing HR profession.
The HR Pulse Survey was carried out in September 2015 with a number of HR practitioners from different sized organisations and across sectors in Malta. Theaim of the study was to address the various challenges, priorities and areas overlooked by the HR function in Maltese companies. The online questionnaire garnered a total of 85 responses with the majority of respondents (38%) coming from organisations employing 250+ individuals. The survey findings indicate a direct correlation between the size of the organisation and the HR function.
The results indicate that the highest position within the HR function is at senior management level (78%). The majority of respondents believe their HR function to have a strategic approach to HRM striking an effective balance between human vs process and corporation vs employee focus.
The survey goes on to examinethe greatest obstacles affecting the performance of the HR function. Most (54%) reported insufficient resources within the HR team as the greatest hindrance to the performance of its function. In addition, the findings indicate that poor implementation of HR practices by management (49%) and the lack of analytics capability in HR (40%) as being perceived to effect performance. These obstacles are further exacerbated by size with small organisations indicating a lack of resources, both financially and in terms of skills.
Other data from the HR Pulse Survey identifies the top three HR priorities for 2016 with most (55%) listing “Retention of key talent” as their principal priority, followed by the need to create “a high performance culture” (44%) and “employee engagement” (43%).
In addition, the HR Pulse Survey, also sought to identify the status of HR practices in four specific areas namely the level of compliance with employment legislation, the use of HR technology, digital learning and performance management. Resultsshow that 91% of respondents have employment contracts in place. However, this seems to be less pronounced in smaller organisations. The survey also examined disciplinary procedure as Maltese employment law does not lay down the procedures companies must adhere to when it comes to disciplinary matters. The findings reveal that 87% of surveyed organisations as having disciplinary procedures in place regulating disciplinary matters. The number is less significant in smaller organisations.
When it comes to rewarding performance, results show that the majority of organisations (81%) have a formal performance management framework in place with 65% of respondents planning to revise their current performance management framework. 61% of organisations link their performance evaluation with monetary incentives with69% of organisations believe linking reward to performance motivates employees in order to improve performance. However, whilst most organisations recognise the benefits of implementing a performance management system,a significant number still do not measure employee engagement (40%). This is quite surprising asnearly half of the organisations surveyed identified employee engagement as being a key priority area for the coming year. Yet, 36% of the respondents stated that the organisations they work in do not monitor their employee engagement action plans.
Technology is playing an increasingly central role in learning with a proliferation in the use of online training. It has made learning even more accessible to employees. The survey sought to identify organisations’ perception on the use of digital learning and the extent of its use across the various industries in Malta. Findings show that classroom based training remains the preferred method of learning for organisations with 40% relying exclusively on classroom training. However, finding suggest a shift in approach with 56% of organisations indicating a drive towards blended and online training.
The HR Pulse Survey also sought to identify the importance given to technology in the HR function in Malta. Most respondents believe that technology has revolutionised HR with over half of the organisations having an HR information system (59%). Having HR information systems in place makes the HR function more efficient and effective. However only 34% of organisations have a formal HR technology plan in place, in fact 29% of respondents argue that their HR data does not provide insightful information due to poor quality of data. Only 20% of organisations surveyed identified improving HR technology as on of their priority areas for the next 12 months.
Visit the FHRD website to access the full report of the HR Pulse Survey on www.fhrd.org