Custom Research: The State of HR Information Management

Strengthen a core responsibility with which HR still struggles

Information management is one of the core accountabilities of HR, one that has become even more important as a result of the trend toward remote work arrangements. 

An exclusive study conducted by the HR Research Institute examines how HR departments are handling the challenges of information management. In particular, the focus is on the difference between information management leaders and laggards. By examining the differences between the two groups, we can gain insight into what practices may be most useful.

Key Findings

• There is a distinct need for improved information management.
• There are key advantages to good information management
• Security needs to be addressed in many organizations.
• There is considerable variation in how often organizations conduct HR audits.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to make an impact.
• Remote work disrupts information management for some organizations but not others.

HR Information Management* Trends

There are few organizations (15%) where HR information is excellently managed. In fact, 48% score three or less on a five-point scale, indicating a need for considerable improvement in information management in many organizations
There are many very important outcomes that organizations want from HR information management. Of these, the two most widely cited are information security (78%) and information integrity (74%).

There are many advantages to automating aspects of HR information management. Done well, automation is more reliable and faster than processes requiring a lot of human intervention. Despite these advantages, none of the information management processes are mostly or completely automated in more than half of HR departments. The one process that comes closest is information storage, of which 48% of HR professionals say is mostly or completely automated.  
The large majority (86%) of responding HR professionals experience barriers to good HR information management. What are the primary hindrances? About half (51%) of respondents say that the lack of budget is a barrier to good information management. The next most frequently cited barrier is the lack of enough HR personnel (42%). On a positive note, only a few respondents (11%) say resistance from the Information Technology (IT) department is a barrier. It appears in most organizations IT is aligned with HR in working for better information management.

HR Information Security and Retention

Most (69%) respondents say that employee records could be made more secure. In an era where cyber-hacking is commonplace, organizations are right to be concerned about the security of sensitive employee information. Almost a third of respondents (31%) indicate there are weaknesses in their security such that the information could be—and no doubt should be—made quite a bit more or much more secure. On a more positive note, a similar proportion (32%) believe their records are as secure as possible.
 

Organizations use multiple means of storing employee records and the most popular method remains paper (67%). Cloud-based storage is also popular, used by just over half of respondents (53%). It’s notable that cloud-based systems are now substantially more popular than onpremise systems, used by 34% of respondents.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence

We are beginning to see HR use more AI tools. Just over a quarter of organizations (27%) are making moderate or high use of AI in their HR departments today. This number is expected to grow rapidly. More than half of respondents (58%) say they will make moderate or high use of AI more than 18 months from today.  

The Impact of Remote Work

Larger organizations have had an easier time with remote work arrangements. Among organizations with 1,000 or more employees, only 36% agree or strongly agree remote work has complicated accessing information, compared to 52% of mid-sized organizations and small organizations. 

There is no fundamental reason why information cannot be well-managed in a remote situation. However, it can take organizations some time to adapt to this way of working. Now that remote work has become more commonplace, most managers responsible for HR information should assume that they will need to support systems and processes that work in a remote environment.

To learn more about The State of HR Information Management, we invite you to read the report which includes research insights and 7 key takeaways you can apply in your own organization to help improve skills and career development for HR executives for optimal overall business success.
Notes
^*  For the purposes of this survey and report, we defined information management in the following way: 
Information management refers to how HR-related information is managed throughout its lifecycle. It includes the way employee and other work-related information is captured, stored, classified, managed, distributed, preserved, and deleted. This data can provide valuable input that supports critical day-to-day workflows and enables data-driven decision-making in HR. It includes the process of responding to information requests, managing archiving policies, and deleting older data as dictated by information management policies.
 

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