Study: Execs Acknowledge HR Risk, Fail to Manage It

The Find: You may think the C-suite is worried enough lately, but one survey finds executives are failing to sufficiently fret about one area of risk: human resources.
The Source: Recent research from Ernst & Young entitled "2008 Global HR risk: From the danger zone to the value zone â€" accelerating business improvement by navigating HR risk."

The Takeaway: When Ernst & Young and Matthew Greenwald and Associates surveyed 150 global finance, human resource and risk executives from Fortune 1000 companies around the world, they found something paradoxical: while executives acknowledged the seriousness of HR risks like talent management, ethics and succession planning, they also admitted these risks weren't managed as intensely as others.Some statistics:

Less than half (42 percent) validate and prioritize their HR risk profile
Only 43 percent analyze HR risk coverage by business unit and develop, monitor and enhance their plans
Slightly more than half (56 percent) identify and document the likelihood and impact of HR risks to the organization

The conclusion: "Many organizations are perplexed by the enormity of these issues and do not know how to solve or who should take ownership of these problems," said Chris Lipski of HR Risk Advisory Services.

The Question: Is perplexed a good adjective to describe your company's feeling towards HR risk management?

(Image of risk factory sign by kyz, CC 2.0)

Jessica Stillman

Jessica lives in London where she works as a freelance writer with interests in green business and tech, management, and marketing.

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