Hiring and recruiting, handing out paycheques – these are some of the tasks that often come to mind when we think about HR, but human resources teams handle so much more. If you’re like most Canadians, you may not be aware of the increasing complexities and challenges today’s HR professionals face. A new study from ADP Canada and Maru/Blue found that over one-third of working Canadians surveyed have no idea what HR does all day long. While over half of respondents recognize the role of their HR team has become more difficult during the pandemic, there remains a lack of understanding of the complexity and importance of HR’s role.

The survey, which compared insights from both working Canadians and Canadian HR professionals, also found, not surprisingly, that 61 percent of HR professionals believe their role has become more difficult during the pandemic. According to HR professionals, new challenges caused by COVID-19 include protecting the health and wellbeing of employees, ensuring business continuity and staying on top of rapid policy changes. Over half of HR professionals surveyed also cite supporting the transition to remote work and supporting employee mental health as significant challenges. Given these new challenges, 43 percent of HR professionals feel the role of HR has changed because of COVID-19.

Other key findings from the survey include:

Appreciation of HR in Canada remains relatively unchanged:

  • Half (53%) of Canadians feel that HR is appreciated in the workplace
  • 16% feel that HR is underappreciated
  • Millennials (25%) are most likely to believe their HR team is very appreciated compared to the overall working population (18%)

HR challenges related to remote work: 

  • 66 per cent of HR professionals said that ensuring staff have functioning technology at
    home is a challenge during the pandemic, along with ensuring staff are appropriately
    engaged remotely (61%), or managing productivity and performance at home (58%)
  • Challenges of remote work were more prevalent among older HR professionals (55%)

When HR calls, some Canadians still brace for bad news:

  • 15 per cent think they will be told about changes in the workplace
  • 9 per cent think they will be asked to fill out forms
  • 8 per cent think they are in trouble
  • 6 per cent think they will be asked to do something new/above their role
  • Only one per cent believe they will receive recognition for good work