When HR teams are a strategic partner to the C-suite, their companies are 50% more likely to be highly effective at capitalizing on new opportunities, according to HR advisory firm McLean & Company’s HR Trends Report 2023.
Unfortunately, many HR teams don’t have the bandwidth to focus on strategy because they’re too bogged down with administrative tasks.
“When the right HR tech stack is well utilized, it's a game changer,” said Erika Duncan, cofounder of HR consultancy People on Point. “HR tech allows for insight, line of sight to trends, and drives data-driven decision-making.”
Investing in the right tech can remove those bottlenecks and free up your HR team’s time and energy to focus on larger strategic initiatives and business objectives. Below are four ways HR tech helps people teams work more efficiently.
1. It reduces manual work.
“The typical HR department still struggles with the bottlenecks of data entry, duplication of efforts, and manual — sometimes paper — processes,” Duncan said. But the right HR tech (which includes both cloud-based HR software and mobile apps) can automate those processes and digitize that paperwork, freeing up HR’s time and energy to focus on more important work.
According to the same McLean & Company Report, HR departments who said they went through digital transformation were 1.2 times more likely to be partners in planning and executing strategy for their organizations.
With less time spent on tedious tasks, HR teams can take an active role in guiding strategy within their organization, whether that’s building out a plan to attract top performers, increase employee engagement, or help support current employees in reaching a higher level of performance.
“Through HR [tech]...you can focus on talent management to recruit and build the right skills, manage performance to improve productivity, [and] reduce non-performance through performance improvement plans,” said Phil Lotter, CEO and founder of strategy, business transformation, and change management consultancy Piilo Group. “You can also drive high levels of employee engagement through social HR functionality to improve employee morale.”
2. HR analytics leads to better decision-making.
Combing through the onslaught of qualitative and quantitative data is time consuming, tedious, and ripe for human error. People teams need a high-level overview of critical HR analytics and metrics to make data-driven decisions. By making that data more easily accessible, HR tech can help you better understand your employees and organization, better hit your goals, and address any human capital management-related issues.
AI-powered insights can uncover employee sentiment from engagement surveys and performance review comments, without HR teams having to read through every response.
“When it comes to people, many important decisions are made with limited data, relying on past experiences, judgment, or causal inference,” said Janet Clarey, principal director of HR research and advisory services at McLean & Company.
Data analysis can also create a more fair, equitable workplace, ensuring people-related decisions are made on hard data points, not personal opinions or biases, which can be a problem if access to data is limited.
3. It keeps sensitive information safe.
“HR is unique in that it is entrusted with people data, including personally identifiable and sensitive information,” said Clarey.
If that information is lost or exposed, it can cause serious issues for the company, including compliance issues and security breaches. But organizations have a responsibility to protect sensitive employee information, just as they do for customers. “With employee files and information floating around the business, you are opening your business up to liability,” Lotter said.
HR technology automatically backs up key data and information, which prevents it from being lost or destroyed — for example, if a computer crashes, an employee leaves the company, or a team restructures.
Secure HR tech also allows people teams to control data access, which can prevent information from falling into the wrong hands.“Through user authorizations,” Lotter explained, “technology enables you to give employees access to the information they require,” — without potentially exposing sensitive information in the process.
The point is, “data protection is foundational to the security of all businesses, particularly those with highly sensitive, highly critical, and highly valuable data,” Clarey said.
4. Software keeps HR burnout at bay.
A survey from workplace communication platform Workvivo revealed a staggering 98% of HR professionals reported feeling burned out at work in the last six months.
Burnout can wreak havoc on employee well-being and physical and mental health. As a result, many are considering moving on, with 78% of HR professionals reporting that they are open to leaving their jobs.
Losing burned-out HR team members can negatively impact so much of the organization’s health, including employee experience, learning and development programs, and employee wellness initiatives — which is why organizations should do everything they can to keep top HR performers with the company.
Investing in HR tech can help work feel more manageable, keep burnout at bay, and help HR professionals stay committed to their roles.
Choosing the Right HR Tech for Your Organization
HR technology has the power to remove bottlenecks and empower your HR team’s best work, but only if you choose the right software.
Lattice is an all-in-one platform that delivers what organizations need to support higher levels of performance, increase engagement, manage growth, and hit organizational goals. With Lattice, HR teams can:
- Access the talent and performance management data and workforce analytics they need to make the best decisions for their team
- Support top performers and help them grow within the organization
- Seamlessly implement digital processes for feedback, reviews, OKRs, and goals
- Empower employees and supervisors to manage their own review and feedback processes
Lattice’s features support HR teams with the technology they need to automate HR processes, freeing up their time to focus on strategy and business objectives — while giving them access to the data they need to improve performance, attract and retain top talent, and drive engagement across the organization.
Want to learn more about the right HR tech stack to drive performance and how to choose the right HR software for your organization? Download our How to Build an HR Tech Stack That Drives Performance ebook.
