Time to Put the Human Element Back into Human Resources

Most human resources employees get into the field with wide-eyed expectations that they’ll work to boost employee morale, recruit top talent and optimize overall work conditions. After all, they are the liaison between management and the ‘real’ workers on the ground.

Over the past 15 years, however, that intermediary role has shifted away from guiding company culture toward a primary focus on compliance. A series of regulations from federal, state and local governments have put significant new pressure on companies. HR departments now find themselves focusing on proving compliance and enacting programs that will help the company to meet the latest standards. It has essentially taken the human element out of human resources.

A new generation of HR software has the ability to automate a larger share of the compliance tasks and help companies get back to fostering a stronger, and more productive workforce. There are two driving forces here:

• Cloud apps for Human Capital Management, Payroll and key compliance tasks are giving companies more flexible options at a better cost. Rather than living with outdated features until the next upgrade, cloud apps help keep HR current.

• Those cloud apps are leading to tighter integration of HR processes for a more efficient, enterprise-wide approach. Perhaps no area in business is more interconnected than the various HR functions. Point solutions only create silos, and as we’ve seen, the compliance silo has taken the lion’s share of time and resources lately.

Integration of agile cloud HR apps creates a new efficiency and let’s the HR team get back to playing offense with valuable programs, rather than stuck only on defense with compliance.

Ironically, the HR culture has been the biggest challenge for companies in moving toward a more integrated, automated IT approach. While technically charged with empowering positive change for other departments, HR teams have been resistant to any modifications to their own programs, clinging to old processes.

The good news is that HR has been so slow to adopt new technologies that the industry is now on track for a massive upgrade cycle that should bring more flexible, more integrated cloud solutions to the majority of companies. Most are long overdue and will not be able to hold off much longer. Call it the leapfrog effect.

The even better news is that as compliance functions become more automated, HR teams will get back to the human element of empowering a stronger work culture that both satisfies employees and enhances productivity. That in turn will boost their own job fulfillment as they focus on attracting better talent, building a stronger culture and delivering better bottom line results.