Driving HR Innovation: 5 Strategies for Success
Human resource (HR) departments play a strategic role within organizations, enabling the business to differentiate and grow through recruitment, employee development, company culture, and so much more.
At the same time, the HR department is burdened with endless administrative tasks and paperwork. The stream of employee files, insurance claims, employee certifications, and other documents flooding their desks is endless. As a result, strategic initiatives and innovation often get pushed to the back burner.
To identify ways HR departments can overcome this challenge and attain their strategic goals, Access partnered with HR.com and surveyed over 300 HR professionals across North America. By analyzing the survey responses, we uncovered five areas hindering innovation. Continue reading to discover these problem spots and how HR departments can address them to be more efficient and effective in their roles.
Close to half of survey respondents (45%) cite a lack of technological integration as a significant problem hindering their work. These technological silos make connecting resources and people more complicated and time consuming, and subsequently, they slow down processes and workflows.
To address this challenge, organizations should take a close look at their technology stack and vendor agreements. Assessing which systems are redundant, poorly integrated, or underutilized can reveal opportunities to streamline workflows and improve data flow. Don’t forget to talk with stakeholders who use these tools frequently to see where they experience gaps or weaknesses. Reviewing vendor contracts may also uncover limitations or hidden costs that impede efficiency. There may be opportunities to renegotiate contract terms or partner with new vendors to address the weaknesses you and your stakeholders experience.
Filing, managing, and retrieving documents takes a lot of time. In fact, 51% of the HR professionals surveyed said paperwork and claims issues were significant drains on their productivity.
Start by evaluating how your documents are currently stored and accessed. Are critical files organized in a centralized, searchable digital system, or are they scattered across paper files and multiple platforms? Implementing streamlined workflows, automation tools, and clear indexing practices can significantly reduce time spent on administrative tasks. The more efficiently your documents are managed, the more your team can focus on strategic initiatives, creative problem-solving, and activities that drive real value for the organization.
To dive further into how a centralized document management solution can create space for innovation, read “Three Ways Document Management Systems Improve HR Functions.”
The biggest obstacle preventing HR teams from achieving their strategic goals is a lack of process automation. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (63%) say this is the top challenge they face, and it affects HR’s ability to innovate and thrive.
Think about how much time your team could reclaim by streamlining processes and implementing workflow automation. Updating workflows to connect systems and automate repetitive tasks is essential, as it reduces reliance on paper, manual filing, and other time-consuming administrative work. Start by identifying processes that are repetitive, prone to error, or slow due to manual intervention. Then, explore opportunities to automate these tasks or re-engineer workflows to remove unnecessary steps.
Over half of those surveyed (59%) say that too many inefficient, manual processes stand in the way of HR’s initiatives and success in the organization.
With many HR departments still heavily reliant on paper, eliminating all manual processes at once can feel overwhelming. A more practical approach is to start small. Identify one manual process to streamline or remove and observe the impact. By testing improvements incrementally, you can measure whether the change leads to faster workflows, fewer errors, or better employee experience. As confidence grows, HR teams can tackle additional processes, gradually identifying which tasks are best suited for automation and creating a more efficient, strategic, and innovative-friendly department.
Nearly one in four HR professionals say they spend over 60% of their time on administrative duties. That equates to being over 24 hours a week and surpasses 1,200 hours in a year spent on these duties!
To reclaim that time, start by identifying tasks that don’t add meaningful value and consider eliminating or simplifying them. This might include redundant approvals, outdated reporting, repetitive data entry, or processes that have been kept simply because “we’ve always done it this way.” By cutting out low-value activities, HR teams can refocus their time on initiatives that truly support employees and organizational goals.
HR departments face a delicate balancing act: managing day-to-day administrative work while driving strategic initiatives that support growth, engagement, and innovation. The survey results highlight that inefficient processes, manual tasks, and technological gaps are significant barriers—but they’re not insurmountable. By evaluating workflows, streamlining or eliminating low-value activities, and leveraging technology where appropriate, HR teams can reclaim time, reduce frustration, and focus on initiatives that truly move the organization forward.
Innovation doesn’t happen by accident; it requires intentional action. To learn how Access can assist your organization with streamlining document workflows and improving information access, schedule a call with us.
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