The Confederation of British Industry’s annual employment trends survey, published in September 2002, argues that the need for flexibility is increasingly driving companies’ human resources strategies.
On 12 September 2002, the Confederation on British Industry (CBI) published its fifth annual employment trends survey, conducted in conjunction with Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The survey, carried out in March and April 2002, reports the responses of 940 private sector employers and covers a range of labour market issues, including key human resources (HR) influences on competitiveness, flexible working, pensions, informing and consulting employees, 'family-friendly' employment arrangements and skills shortages. According to the CBI, 'this year’s survey suggests that HR strategy is increasingly driven by the need for flexibility - to meet customer and employee need.' Key findings are outlined below.
In line with previous surveys (UK0007180N and UK0107139N), a majority of companies see high levels of management and workforce skills as the key drivers of current and future competitive advantage. Flexible working patterns are a factor that 35% of companies expect will grow in importance in the future.
The great majority (96%) of respondents report using at least one flexible working option and 60% used at least three. Part-time work is the most commonly used flexible working practice (80%), followed by job sharing (38%), flexitime (30%) and career breaks/sabbaticals (20%).
The Employment Act 2002 will require employers to consider requests for flexible working by employees with young children (UK0112105N). The CBI reports that that 80% of employers currently consider employee requests to work flexibly. Most (51%) consider requests from any of their employees, though a minority restrict this to mothers (20%) or parents (9%). However, the survey shows that most employers (81%) do not have a formal written procedure for dealing with requests for flexible working. Even for the largest firms, informal arrangements were more common than formal ones.
On pensions, the survey says that 24% of firms have closed their final salary scheme to new entrants in the past five years and a further 12% are considering doing so in the future. Final salary schemes remain the most common form of pension provision (offered by 54% of respondents), followed by stakeholder pensions (49%) and money purchase schemes (43%). Smaller employers are much less likely to have a final salary scheme than larger ones, and more likely to have stakeholder pensions.
In the light of the adoption of the EU Directive (2002/14/EC) on information and consultation (EU0204207F), a notable finding concerns the extent of formal employee consultation procedures. The CBI reports that 35% of companies have permanent mechanisms for informing and consulting employees, such as a staff council. There is a higher incidence of such arrangements among larger firms. Overall, trade union representatives are reported to have a 'modest profile' in consultation arrangements. Over 45% of companies with procedures using employee representatives said that none of them are trade union representatives. However, union involvement is much higher in large organisations.
The proportion of companies planning to introduce formal information and consultation arrangements is 23% - a significant rise from the 2001 figure of 10%, almost certainly triggered by the prospect of UK legislation to implement the Directive from March 2005.
Direct forms of employee involvement are reported to be widespread. Nearly 90% of firms use regular meetings with project groups or teams to keep employees involved. Nearly three-quarters employ electronic communication. Attitude surveys and employee suggestion schemes are also popular, with 44% and 41% of firms using them respectively.
In terms of family-friendly policies, over two-thirds of companies are reported to go beyond statutory requirements in at least one area, with 40% saying they provide emergency time off to care for dependants in excess of the statutory minimum and 27% and 26% respectively providing maternity pay and leave in excess of the statutory minimum. While smaller firms are just as likely to offer enhanced emergency leave as larger firms, extended maternity leave is far more prevalent among larger employers.
Finally, the survey highlights employers’ growing demand for high-skilled employees. The CBI reports that 29% of firms will recruit fewer people without qualifications over the next three years. However, demand for well-qualified employees will grow, with 47% of firms expecting to take on more graduates. Skill shortages affecting recruiting are reported to have had a severe or significant impact on business performance by 30% of employers.