HR department 'even less loved' than techies

Only the HR department is more unloved than the IT organisation within businesses, according to a survey of senior executives.

A survey of 555 senior executives around the world found that the IT department was rated the second worst of all business functions.

But of all the parts of business reviewed HR faired the worst. The report, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, said: "No other function — not even the notoriously unlovable IT department — came close to being this unappreciated."

Nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of respondents gave IT a poor rating when execs were asked to judge its performance, compared with 32 per cent for HR and 20 per cent for marketing/sales.

And only 37 per cent gave IT a top rating, compared with 53 per cent for the 'CEO favourite', the finance department.

The research sponsored by UK Trade & Investment, also found that organisations plan to prioritise international markets over domestic ones in the next three years.

CEOs responding to the survey said they expected to see an increase in the proportion of their revenue coming from overseas markets - by an average of one-third over the next three years.

Andrew Palmer, the report's author, said in a statement: "As overseas markets become ever more important, companies will grapple with a new set of management challenges.

"Successful firms have to be flexible enough to identify and take advantage of local opportunities, and strong enough to instil a recognisable set of global corporate values."