Research Report Summary: What’s Hindering HR Success in 2019?

Uncover roadblocks, maximize efficiencies and attain HR strategic goals

 

    

Like any other corporate function, Human Resources (HR) is increasingly asked to deliver greater value than it has in the past. To accomplish this, many HR departments are striving to take on more strategic roles while carrying out their traditional administrative roles efficiently and effectively.
 
So, how is HR faring in these endeavors? To find out, HR.com fielded the What’s Hindering HR’s Success in 2019 survey in partnership with Access, the largest privately-held information management provider in the world.

Here are some major findings from the survey:

At a time when the labor market is tight and skilled employees are hard to come by, employers may be increasingly intent on trying to get more production and performance out of each employee as a means to faster business growth. Taken in aggregate, people/talent remains a top priority as an enabler of most other goals.
 

HR departments spend a large portion of their time on administrative functions. About 71% of HR professionals say two-fifths or more of their time is spent on administrative duties. Moreover, 34% say HR is spending three-fifths or more of their time on these duties. In other words, about a third of them spend the majority of their workday on administrative duties. This supports the idea that HR’s administrative burden is considerable and supports the perception that HR tends to function administratively as opposed to strategically. 

The top priority of HR is acquiring and retaining high-performing employees. And, the second most commonly cited goal relates to raising employee engagement.
 

A substantial majority of HR professionals (65%) suggest that more automation is a means to reduce back-office administrative burdens. Since 55% said that more automation is an HR strategic goal for 2019, it can be safely inferred that many of these organizations are already engaged in automating more HR processes. 

A majority of HR professionals (59%) say “too many inefficient manual processes” is the single biggest barrier to key HR initiatives. Participants also selected insufficient budget (53%) and lack of time (52%) as other major barriers.
 


To learn much more about What’s Hindering HR Success in 2019? survey and to gain 9 key strategic takeaways from this exclusive HR.com industry research, feel free to download the complete report here: