Nearer to home – at least for Bob Little Press & PR – chartered accountants and business advisers firm Rayner Essex recently conducted a business survey in conjunction with the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The survey, which looked at economic trends, business confidence and the business environment in Hertfordshire and is available at: http://www.rayneressex.com/sites/www.rayneressex.com/files/u14/RE0178%20Herts%20Business%20Survey%20AW%20web.pdf, concluded that:

• There are encouraging signs for the Hertfordshire economy, with business confidence levels higher than in other parts of the UK (some 60 per cent of respondents are more optimistic about the business outlook than they were 12 months ago)
• The Government’s austerity measures are given broad approval
• Respondents see their business outlook as being dependent not just on Government policy but also on their own entrepreneurial skills

Comment: Interestingly, sales skills were seen as the most important for organisations in the county – with marketing skills not far behind. HR skills were seen as the least vital for business success.

This is quite a blow for the HR community which has spent many years quietly claiming to be a vital part of the business world. Those in the finance, IT and operational functions – as well as in sales and marketing – seem to have much louder voices when it comes to doing their own PR. It would seem that, to parody a couple of lines from ‘The Brook’ by the Victorian Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson: ‘recessions may come and recessions may go but HR’s ignored for ever.’