The human resources function in most companies is taking on a more important role in the light of a fast evolving Maltese labour market.

The strong economic growth experienced by Malta in the last years has led to a lack of availability of employees with the appropriate level of skills and experience, and as Maltese employers have sought to make up for this shortage with the employment of foreign workers, they now have to manage a multicultural workforce.

This is one of the main outcomes that emerge from Misco’s fourth annual survey on HR developments in Malta presented during a morning ‘Misco in the Hot Seat’ event at the Corinthia Palace in Attard, which was attended by over 40 HR professionals and practitioners.

Rebecca Zammit, marketing and opinion research director, said the report was compiled by Misco’s Advisory, Selection and Marketing and Opinion Research units and was based on a survey conducted between August and September among businesses in Malta. “Besides being a contribution to the ongoing analysis of the development of the HR function in Malta, the survey provides an insight into the key HR issues currently faced by companies, based on Misco’s 34 years of experience in this sector.” she said.

Speaking about the HR function today, Ritienne Xerri, a director at Misco responsible for HR Advisory Services and Training and Development Services, said HR has taken a bigger role and this was something confirmed by 79 per cent of respondents, who also said the situation was supported by the fact that HR departments were also becoming larger.

“Whereas in 2016, 14 per cent of respondents had said that the size of their HR department was of more than five employees, this percentage now stands at 32. In 2017, 55 per cent of respondents said that their HR department was made up of fewer than five people, while the remaining 13 per cent said the HR function was shared with other roles.”

Ms Xerri added: “The survey sought to find out what companies consider to be the most strategic objectives of the HR function, as well as the major challenges. In fact, three elements emerged as the key objectives: staff development, staff motivation and staff retention, objectives which all got around 75 per cent of mentions by respondents. Another indication of the increased recognition and visibility being garnered by the HR function is the fact that 60 per cent said that one of their key objectives was to provide support to the rest of management in managing their employees.

“On the other hand, the biggest challenges for HR practitioners remain dealing with salary demands (66 per cent), lack of qualified and experienced staff (48 per cent), lack of interpersonal skills (26 per cent) and lack of job applications (24 per cent). The level of skills, experience and qualifications may be seen as being too low for the salary demands employers are facing.”

The challenges of recruitment are also very real

Reference was also made to changing demographics and changing social values which are posing a challenge to finding the right people for an organisation.

“Therefore, even if employers are finding it hard to find the employee they need, they should not succumb to demands that will be hard for the company to sustain in the future,” Ms Xerri pointed out.

The challenges of recruitment are also very real. In fact, 71 per cent of respondents stated that over the past year they had more vacancies, while only five per cent had none, with another five per cent saying they had fewer vacancies. The remaining 19 per cent said they had about the same number of vacancies.

Joanne Bondin, Misco’s director of the Selection Consultancy Unit, explained that the results of this survey show that the increased number of vacancies is more a result of higher staff turnover. In fact 75 per cent of the vacancies arose to replace departing staff.

“This problem is not limited to specific sectors of economic activity or specific roles, but is a problem felt across the board. Technicians and maintenance people, for example, are very hard to find and companies are having to source employees from abroad.

Yet recruitment difficulties remain mostly due to lack of experience (67 per cent) and difficult salary demands (57 per cent) – two aspects that increased in importance over the past year. Other difficulties include lack of formal qualifications (30 per cent) and lack of interpersonal skills (17 per cent).

“Employer branding remains key towards increasing the chances of attracting the best talent to an organisation. However, performance management and compensation remain equally important aspects that help employers retain talent. In this regard, the most common features in performance management systems implemented by employers include performance reviews (89 per cent), objectives setting (78 per cent), personal development plans (63 per cent) and self-assessments (56 per cent). However, we need to become more creative when it comes to evaluating jobs, how we manage the performance of employees and how to reward employees,” Ms Bondin noted.

Other elements covered by the survey were learning and development. A variety of learning and development practices are used. However, on-the-job training is the learning practice that received the highest number of mentions, followed by internal coaching and mentoring and by conferences, seminars and workshops.

Respondents were asked how they evaluate their training needs. Just over three out of four respondents (76 per cent) mentioned management requests. This was followed by employees’ requests, pinpointed by 68 per cent of respondents. This would indicate that most employers still approach learning and development in a reactive way rather than a proactive way. In fact, only one in three respondents mentioned utilising a ‘training needs analysis’.

Overall, the survey has indicated that HR departments are gradually introducing best practices. The next challenge for HR professionals will be to ensure that such efforts are sustained in the longer term and are not shortlived.

Copies of the fourth Misco Annual Survey on HR Developments in Malta may be obtained by sending an e-mail to advisory@miscomalta.com.

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