Are UK companies ready to report on staffing issues

The delayed start date for new UK Operating and Financial Review (OFR) reporting by UK companies has offered a short reprieve - but senior management need to use the extra time to get their houses in order. According to Larry Cucchi, International Managing Director at Peopleclick - the global leader in workforce management technology and services - some organisations are unprepared to deliver strategic information on human capital (one of the required elements of the OFR) to shareholders and will need to work hard to be ready for the first round of reporting in 2006.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) recently called upon businesses to follow the example of companies such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Asda and the RAC, which already report on a wide range of human capital management statistics. According to Cucchi, this is critical if businesses are to demonstrate clearly to investors how they measure and generate value through staff, as well as manage risk.

ìRisk mitigation is one of the biggest boardroom and investor issues today. As employers, businesses affected by the OFR must ensure that they can show they are managing risk in terms of their workforce. This can range from analysis of data on staff hiring, promotion and performance rating, through to proper handling of compensation and termination. Companies should also be anticipating legal liabilities and will need to be able to confirm compliance with new regulations such as the latest raft of EU anti-discrimination legislation.î

Cucchi concludes: ìGiven the concern from some quarters over the amount of time and resources which are being sucked up into compliance and reporting, UK companies should look to the Fortune 500 corporations in the US which have very successfully utilised technology to help them track and report this sort of information about their workforces. There are real opportunities for companies to demonstrate workforce value through the OFR when it comes into effect on 1st April this year: it remains to be seen if they will pick up the mantle.î