A summary of the CIPD Research Report
The CIPD has committed to exploring 'the changing role and function of HR' as a major research theme over the next few years. As part of this, the CIPD commissioned the Institute for Employment Studies to undertake research into the career paths of HR professionals. This report was written by Penny Tamkin, Peter Reilly and Wendy Hirsh of the IES and outlines the findings of their research. It is available to purchase online - please visit our bookstore for more details and to find out how to order.
Major transformations in the workplace in the past few years have led to considerable change in the HR function. New HR structures, roles and processes such as shared service centres, outsourcing and HR business partners are thought to have altered career paths for HR professionals in a number of significant ways.
The research had the following aims:
- To gain a clear view of the most common career paths for HR professionals, both generalists and specialists.
- To understand how career paths are changing as new roles and structures appear.
- To obtain views on the most successful routes to the top positions in HR as well as the critical skills, qualifications, experience and attributes that are needed to succeed.
- To uncover the career aspirations of HR professionals and reasons for a choice of HR as a career.
- To clarify how organisations manage and develop HR careers, and what career path models and career development activities are currently being used most successfully.
The research used a variety of methods to investigate experiences and perceptions of careers in HR. The report summarises the findings from:
- a review of the literature examining changes to the HR function and HR careers
- a survey of approximately 1,800 HR practitioners about their careers
- nine in-depth organisational case studies looking at how organisations are managing and developing the careers of their HR professionals. Case study participants included Lovells, Hays HR Services, Centrica plc, Hewitt Associates, Cancer Research UK, Prudential UK, Tameside Metropolitan Authority, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust, and The Home Office.
We hope the research will be helpful to HR professionals at all stages in their careers. In particular, we hope that it will assist them in navigating and developing their careers, as well as helping those who are responsible for the development of staff in the function.
TAMKIN, P., REILLY, P. and HIRSH, W. (2006) Managing and developing HR careers: emerging trends and issues. Research report. London: CIPD.