Efficiency in HR teams dwindles amid pandemic

New data has revealed that UK businesses believe their HR and payroll teams are less efficient as a result of the pandemic.

Data shared by Zellis found that four in 10 businesses in the UK and Ireland believe this to be true, with over a quarter sharing that they intend to outsource key HR processes to better manage internal resources.

22% stated that the decline in overall HR efficiency has resulted in increased pressure from the boardroom to speed up digital transformation initiatives.

This means that HR teams will need to prioritise a move to cloud-based operations (28%) and increasing investment in automation, AI and other emerging tech (21%).

While a demand for tech has increased, George Dunnett, chief product officer at Zellis, pointed out that more attention has been placed on the wellbeing of staff, as he said: “The pandemic has put more emphasis on the ‘human’ element of HR, with businesses focusing a lot of time and attention on employee wellbeing, as well as easing the transition to hybrid working.”

However, he noted that this change in focus has likely placed more strain on business-critical HR process such as payroll, onboarding, recruitment and information management.

He explained: “That’s why we’re seeing an increased need to either implement better technology or outsource to specialists in order to ensure the quality and continuity of employee services.”

Elsewhere, respondents shared that they had experienced difficulties with tracking and collecting data on employee time and attendance (27%) and an increased threat to employee wellbeing (26%). In addition, the heightened risk of cyber-attacks (25%) were also listed as challenges presented by hybrid working.

Despite this, 82% of businesses do plan to introduce hybrid working to some extend post-covid, meaning there will be a push to improve HR operations to better suit this way of working.