HR professionals cite improvement in employee performance

Wed, April 04, 2012

Employee performance has improved in the past two years, yet individuals are still not working to their full potential, according to a recent poll of leading HR professionals.

In a survey of HR directors from blue-chip companies − employing up to 100,000 people – 92 per cent of those questioned stated they’d seen staff performance improve since the beginning of 2010. However, 83 per cent of respondents still believe employees are not working to their true potential.

The research – conducted by leading training and development provider Instep UK – also revealed three quarters of the HR professionals questioned predict that attracting suitable future talent will become a problem for their businesses over the next few years.

Suzanne Hitchen, founder of Instep UK, commented: "We understand that times are hard for businesses, so it’s no surprise employees are making a concerted effort to consistently perform to the best of their ability. Organisations already invest a lot of time and money developing managers to handle the performance of others. However, it’s widely believed this is something that most companies can still improve upon to get the best out of their employees."

The research was carried out at Instep’s recent learning and development forum. Instep works across a range of sectors with particular specialism in pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing and financial services.