Creating People Advantage is a global survey, conducted by the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The main purposes of this survey are to holistically assess the status quo of topics that are the most urgent in terms of improving HR departments’ capabilities around the globe. To provide in-depth perspectives and best practices on key topics for the HR function; and finally, to enable HR leaders to drive future business success.

The Cyprus Human Resource Management Association in collaboration with Professor Eleni Stavrou-Costea, Director of MSc Human Resource Management, University of Cyprus; and Rafaella Kounna, PhD Student in Business and Administration, University of Cyprus, carried out the Creating People Advantage survey amongst its members to further understand the current and future HR tendencies in Cyprus.

The results were presented to the Members of the Association during a webcast that was held virtually on the 16^th of March 2022. The webcast was a great success with more than 60 participants.

During the webinar, the main areas in the field of human resources management (HRM) were presented, as well as the future role of the HRD sector in 5 main areas of business activities in Cyprus were discussed in a panel.

The Panel attendees:

• Panayiotis Thrasyvoulou – Associate Partner | Head of People Advisory Services -Ernst & Young Cyprus Ltd – Professional Services Sector
• Dimitris Katopodis – Store Business Leader – Leroy Merlin – Retail Sector
• Efi Demetriou – HR People Partner – NCR Corporation – Technology Sector
• Marios Christoforou – Head of HR – Themis Portfolio Management Ltd – Financial Services Sector
• Eleni Stavrou Costea – Director of MSc Human Resource Management, University of Cyprus – Academic Sector
• Elli Matsouka – Member of the CyHRMA Board – Coordinator

Globally the CPA Survey 2021 addressed 113 countries across the Globe, and gained 6757 respondents, 71 of which were from Cyprus. The Survey addressed 34 HR topics as presented in the picture below.

Survey demographics

In the case of Cyprus, the demographics of respondents were:

• The industry in which the respondents worked varied: Professional Services, Financial Institutions, Retail, Technology, etc
• 65% work in Managerial Positions, 10% are Individual Contributors
• 37% of the organisations occupy 100 or fewer employees, while 32% occupy between 101 and 1000.
• 71% of the HR departments of the organisations in question occupy 50 or less employees.
• 62% of the organisations have shown positive profit development in 2019, while 48% have shown positive profit development in 2020
• 61% have shown high resilience in light of covid
• 45% of the organisations have increased their workforce size in the past 12 months and 46% of the organisations aim to increase their workforce size in the next 12 months.

Overall, the demographics were not significant factors in the results

Below there are the key findings, as well as insights based on these findings combined with research conducted across the globe on the topics covered by the survey.