PUT TIME ON YOUR SIDE Streamline HR Processes and

Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business

Put Time on Your Side: Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business | 2

“If I had more staff or the ability to outsource some tasks, I think I would have more time to dedicate to

strategy.”

—Survey Respondent

Time is Your Most Important Resource. Finding it is Your Biggest Challenge.

Your work as an HR professional is to help align the goals of the business with the needs of its people. To be effective, you collaborate with managers and senior leaders to understand their objectives. You ground these conversations in data, business concepts, and financial principles. You pursue continuous learning to bring an up-to date knowledge of best-practices to the programs you create. And, you think ahead, planning for future needs and coordinating talent initiatives to conserve resources while creating impact.

This is the definition of strategic HR. There’s a lot to manage in your role, and, especially in this time of unpredictable change, it’s not going to get easier. So, why does it seem like you spend so much time chasing paperwork instead of focusing on the business and its people? Do you have the time you need to be a high-value strategic partner to the business? Or, are you trapped in a cycle of inefficient processes, an over-burden of administrative paperwork, and a lack of resources, information, or professional development? You aren’t alone. HR professionals routinely report a lack of time as their biggest challenge in making the pivot from tactical work to strategic results.

54%

47%

50%

45%

lack time and people to think strategically in their HR role.

report they do not have enough staff for delegation of tasks.

lack time to commit to professional development.

face challenges balancing their development needs on top of their day-to-day work.

Data for this report is adopted from:

Filipkowski, J. (2019). Talent Pulse 6.1: How to Influence Strategic Decisions. https://www.hci.org/research/talentpulse61

Filipkowski, J. (2017) Talent Pulse 4.4: Developing Sustainable Strategic HR. https://www.hci.org/research/talent-pulse-44-developing-sustainable-strategic-hr

Put Time on Your Side: Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business | 3

Where Does the Time Go?

Some HR roles are more specialized and more tactical than others. Leadership positions, as expected, take on more strategic work than more junior roles. Senior leaders and directors in HR and adjacent functions report spending more of their time in strategic activities than managers. Likewise, managers spend slightly more time involved in strategic activities than individual contributors. Advancing into senior posts, however, and being effective in those positions, requires opportunities for professional development that can build a strategic perspective and the capabilities needed to consult and collaborate, understand the business, and leverage data. Nearly all of those surveyed, 90% of HR practitioners, recognize that they could do more to develop themselves and become more strategic in their current role. Nearly 2 in 5, 39%, indicate that they want to contribute to the organization at a higher level but face significant obstacles in making the pivot from tactical to strategic work.

Senior Leaders

10% or less >10% ≤ 20% >20% ≤ 30% >30% ≤ 40% >40% ≤ 50% >50% ≤ 60% >60% ≤ 70% >70% ≤ 80% >80% ≤ 90% >90% ≤ 100%

19% 17%8% 8% 10% 13% 2%13%

HR Directors

10% or less >10% ≤ 20% >20% ≤ 30% >30% ≤ 40% >40% ≤ 50% >50% ≤ 60% >60% ≤ 70% >70% ≤ 80% >80% ≤ 90% >90% ≤ 100%

13% 13% 13%4% 10% 9% 3%

16%

HR Managers

10% or less >10% ≤ 20% >20% ≤ 30% >30% ≤ 40% >40% ≤ 50% >50% ≤ 60% >60% ≤ 70% >70% ≤ 80% >80% ≤ 90% >90% ≤ 100%

17%8%

14%8% 9% 8% 3%

20%

Individual HR Contributors

10% or less >10% ≤ 20% >20% ≤ 30% >30% ≤ 40% >40% ≤ 50% >50% ≤ 60% >60% ≤ 70% >70% ≤ 80% >80% ≤ 90% >90% ≤ 100%

15%8%

13% 11%4% 4% 4% 1%

21%

Proportion of time performing strategic (vs. tactical) work

Median

Median

Median

Median

19%

17%

18%

10%

Put Time on Your Side: Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business | 4

“Finding enough time to think, plan, and strategize is

a huge hurdle for the ground-level HR professional who, like every other business-person, must respond to

emerging issues.”

—Survey Respondent

Find the Time for What’s Most Important.

HR professionals already know what’s important to their organizations. They understand what they should do to become a high-value strategic partner to the business. They just don’t feel like they are as effective in these partnerships as they could be. According to HCI research, creating strategy-based HR solutions involves at least four elements. Not only must HR professionals design the right solution and manage change, but they need to be able to scan their environment for talent management levers that can create impact while bringing their programs to scale. Most HR professionals also rate these elements as very important, but far fewer see themselves as effective.

Important to Strategic HR Self-Reported Effectiveness

70% Design solutions for internal customers 51%

68% Manage change 42%64% Identify and inventory existing and

potential talent management levers 59%63% Scale programs to impact

business results 46%What can HR professionals do close this gap, create the time they need, and expand their partnership with the business?

Put Time on Your Side: Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business | 5

“We need to automate a lot of transactional/tactical

operations so the HR Team can focus on more business-

impacting responsibilities, but the budget has not yet been approved. We are in the process of change as the previous HR function

was strictly transactional. We are working to design and implement new structures, policies, and tools that we

need to operate strategically. I believe as we proceed in the change process things

will get better.”

—Survey Respondent

Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork.

No matter what your level of seniority, it’s still possible to work more strategically and strengthen HR-business partnerships. Roughly half, 51%, have already determined the next steps they will take to create the time they need to build their strategic HR capabilities. Many are working to automate, streamline, and simplify their HR processes and paperwork.

36% 24% 20% They aren’t necessarily increasing their spend to make these changes. Nearly two-thirds, 65%, indicate the budget for their function has either decreased or stayed the same over the past two years. Instead, they are working to optimize processes and opt for tools that connect the right people to the right process, communicate next steps, manage paperwork, and link all of these elements to meaningful metrics while providing quicker turnaround.

The right tool can also offer a means for monitoring progress on HR initiatives, and ultimately, enable better tracking of key performance indicators on strategic plans. Just over half of those surveyed use more than two forms of measurement in their organization (57%). Tools that close the loop on process and measurement save you the time needed across both administrative and analytical activities.

focus on changing processes and relationships.

change or reallocate resources to automate paperwork and allow time for development.

make the case to make additional hires or move to train existing staff.

Put Time on Your Side: Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business | 6

Put Time on Your Side

Your organization may lack budget to increase HR staff. And efforts to change business processes and relationships, while important, can sometimes produce inconsistent results. But HR professionals who use tools to manage their paperwork and reduce administrative overburden can reliably put time on their side. Regardless of HR role or seniority, those who report that they have the right resources and tools, spend more time engaged in strategic work.

*estimate based on a 40-hour week

What will you do with the added hours? Start by taking these action steps to become a high-value partner to your organization: What can HR professionals do to close this gap, create the time they need, and expand their partnership with the business?

Identify the right resources and tools for reducing administrative overburden.

Streamline and optimize business processes to enhance strategic efforts.

Find opportunities for professional development.

Close gaps in capabilities important for your role.

The average HR professional with the right resources

and tools

111 hoursper month on strategic work*

The average HR professional without the right resources

and tools

95 hoursper month on strategic work*

Put Time on Your Side: Streamline HR Processes and Tame Paperwork to Strengthen Your Partnerships with the Business | 7

PeopleDoc by Ultimate Software is committed to putting people first. The PeopleDoc HR Service Delivery platform helps HR teams upgrade the employee experience, improve HR agility, and ease compliance management. PeopleDoc’s cloud solutions provide employee case management, knowledgebase, process automation, employee file management, and employee surveys and sentiment analysis. PeopleDoc is part of Ultimate Software, a leading global provider of cloud-based human capital management solutions serving thousands of customers worldwide. More information about PeopleDoc by Ultimate Software is available at www.people-doc.com.

We founded HCI on three core beliefs:

Aligning human capital strategy with business strategy is the greatest accelerator of organizational success.

Organizations that align human capital strategy with business strategy outperform others.

Human Resources and talent management professionals with the right strategic skill sets and mindsets are uniquely positioned to enable organizations to do this.

The key to this success lies in HR professionals’ ability to become strategic partners in their business by planning, recruiting, engaging, and developing their people. Since 2004, we have built our research-based learning resources on your behalf to achieve that mission. Our certifications, conferences, and on-demand content build strategic capabilities that drive personal and organizational transformation. Learn more at hci.org.

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Publication date: September 2020

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