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Employment Trends in the U.S. and U.K.

A Survey of HR Professionals

Overview:

MRINetwork, one of the world's largest search and recruitment organisations, commissioned a study with Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) to explore the career paths of today's professional workforce. The study is based on 200 telephone interviews with Human Resource directors or senior executives in the United States and 200 interviews with Human Resource directors or senior executives in the United Kingdom.

According to those surveyed, by the sixth year in the middle-management level, most companies in the U.S. have already decided whether a middle manager has senior-level potential or has become a "career" middle manager. In the U.K., however, the timeframe is even more accelerated, as the study revealed that most middle managers have only four years to advance to the senior level. The study also determined that "career" middle managers are seen as critical to the success of the company.

As a result of the study's findings, MRINetwork has determined that middle managers who aspire to senior positions must carefully evaluate their career choices at the six year mark, including the possibility of moving on to a new company or positioning themselves more aggressively as a senior manager within their own company.

Additionally, as the study found that the majority of surveyed companies promote to the senior level from within, companies hiring middle managers are advised to fully evaluate each candidate's potential for eventually ascending to the senior level. These candidates represent the heart of the organisation and its future senior leadership. Hiring managers must look beyond the immediate needs of the business and requirements of the open position to determine if each individual is a worthy, long-term senior management prospect.

Following are some of the study's highlights:

• According to the executives polled, companies in the U.S. and the U.K. tend to have people in junior positions for about 5 years, middle management positions about 7 years and senior management positions about 8.5 years. However, those polled feel that it is acceptable to move on to another job after only 3 years in junior, 4 years in mid level and 5 years in senior positions. As an employee moves on in his or her career, frequent job changes become less tolerated, therefore middle and senior managers must be more analytical in regards to their career choices.

Average Number of Years in Management Positions

When Is It Okay for Junior Candidates to Move On?

When Is It Okay for Mid level Candidates to Move On?

When Is It Okay for Senior Candidates to Move On?

• The average length of time a middle manager can stay at the same level before being seen as a "career" middle manager is slightly over 5 years in the U.S. and slightly under 5 years in the U.K. This relatively brief period of time indicates that middle managers must make a strong impact within their organisations immediately, if they wish to rise to senior leadership.

How Long Before Being Perceived as Career Middle Manager?

• HR managers in both countries agree that middle management is considered critical to the success of their companies, that they try and promote from within, and that middle managers who are "career middle managers" are highly regarded.
• HR managers in the U.K. indicated that they promote people from middle management to senior management in an average of 4.7 years, compared to 6.3 years for the U.S. The difference is most dramatic between the U.S. and U.K. around 3 - 4 years; One-third of U.K. respondents said they promote from middle to senior management during this time frame compared to only 20% in the U.S. There is also a large difference between the two countries for promotions that take place after 9 years.

How Long Before Promoting From Middle to Senior Management?

• According to the executives polled, the fact that the U.K. workforce tends to move up the ranks faster might be because they are more likely to ask about their chances for advancement during an interview than their U.S. counterparts. HR Directors in the survey indicated that only 41% of middle management candidates in the U.S. ask about advancement opportunities during an interview, compared with 58% in the U.K. Further, 37% of U.K. respondents said the percentage of candidates who asked about advancement has increased in the past five years while only 28% in the U.S. said this number has increased in the past five years.

Asking About Advancement Opportunities in an Interview

Methodology:

The survey is based on telephone interviews with 200 Human Resources Directors or Senior Executives in the U.S. and 200 in the U.K.; each with a substantial role in hiring decisions. The interviews were conducted July 14, 2005 - August 5, 2005 in the U.S. and July 14, 2005 - August 12, 2005 in the U.K. The margin of error for each sample of 200 is plus or minus seven percentage points (at 95% confidence level).