More than half of companies have restructured their HR function in the last year and more than 80% have done so in the last five years, according to research from The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Institute of Employment Studies (IES).

The study found that the majority of respondents say that the most common difficulties encountered in restructuring the HR function are in defining roles (42%), having insufficient resources (40%), dealing with skills gaps (38%) and having ineffective technology (35%).

Vanessa Robinson, CIPD organisation and resourcing adviser, says: “Structural change has been driven largely by a desire to make HR a more strategic contributor to business success. There has been a drive to make it more business-orientated, more accountable and to demonstrate value for money. 

 “One major obstacle preventing progress rests with the balance between what are and should be HR and line manager responsibilities for people management and development. Three-quarters of HR professionals would like to go further in the transfer of people management responsibilities to the line.”

The survey findings will be launched at this year’s CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition which takes place from 18-20 September in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. See www.recruiter.co.uk for daily news from the conference.