Almost half (49%) of employer respondents are concerned about the impact of Brexit on total reward, according to research by Willis Towers Watson.
Its survey of 196 organisations, conducted in July 2016, also found that 49% of respondents are concerned about how Brexit will affect employee engagement and communication.
The research also found that:
- 51% of respondents cite organisational change as a concern following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU).
- 76% of respondents are concerned about how Brexit will affect their workforce.
- 47% of respondents are looking at the HR implications of Brexit, such as business disruptions or delays to corporate transactions.
- 56% of respondents plan to ‘wait and see’ before they take any action to prepare their organisation for Brexit.
- 66% of respondents believe their business in the UK will be significantly affected by Brexit.
- 78% of respondents have started a broad consideration of the implications of Brexit, 33% of respondents have undertaken scenario planning, and 60% have assessed what Brexit could mean for key areas of their business.
Richard Veal, director of talent and rewards practice Great Britain at Willis Towers Watson, said: “The results show that UK business is concerned about the effects of Brexit, but uncertainty appears to be hindering many [organisations] taking immediate action. It is important that [organisations] think about what the next steps should be and get into a more action-oriented state of mind.
“The data implies that many businesses are not assessing the effect Brexit will have on their business structure. This is particularly noticeable in the HR space where the research shows less than half of businesses are creating a specific HR Brexit team, suggesting that HR may be lagging behind other business areas in terms of readiness.”
