HR professionals face shifting priorities, challenges and opportunities

As HR professionals at small and medium-sized businesses continue to focus on employee productivity and make decisions based on performance metrics, the majority feel their department truly has the ear of the C-Suite in helping to drive overall strategy, according to the 2018 Paychex Pulse of HR Survey.

Asked to identify their primary role, the top choice cited by HR leaders was “strategic partner” — “I provide valuable insights to the leadership team that influences company decisions.” The percentage of leaders who felt their job was primarily administrative – “My job consists of mostly paperwork and data entry” — was just 12 percent, a slight decrease from 2017.

Commensurate with being viewed as a strategic partner within their organization, the top HR priorities for 2018 are evaluating workplace productivity and efficiency (90 percent); having staff training and development programs (88 percent); focusing on company culture to drive results (85 percent); trainings for discrimination and harassment (83 percent); and leveraging data to create optimal profiles to attract the right talent (71 percent).

More and more HR departments at small to medium-sized companies are adopting tech-based HR solutions, and those that did use them most for record-keeping (75 percent); time and attendance (58 percent); and benefits administration (58 percent). However, some tasks are still completed manually, particularly onboarding, performance management, and travel and reimbursement.

“HR leaders who do not currently use third-party services highlighted two areas in which this technology could really help: recruiting/hiring and regulatory compliance,” the authors write. “Sticking to manual processes could mean lost opportunities for many leaders. Automation saves time and money and improves record-keeping.”

More HR professionals are relying on analytics this year, with 95 percent currently using them, compared to 90 percent in 2017.

HR leaders use analytics to track employee benefits, time off, and training (90 percent); defend their decisions to senior management (85 percent); make more informed decisions (83 percent); and understand how to communicate with employees (77 percent).

More than half (58 percent) of HR leaders say they use artificial intelligence tools such as voice recognition, chatbots and virtual reality, but only 46 percent of those who do rate their use as effective.

“The task ahead is for HR professionals to expand and refine their use of this important technology,” the authors write. “This approach will help them to stay in front of the competition.”

The five most-cited HR challenges in 2018 include keeping up with regulations (38 percent); tracking employees’ time (38 percent); complying with regulations (35 percent); offering competitive benefits (33 percent); and retaining talent (31 percent). When asked specifically about challenges related to hiring, HR professionals cite finding qualified candidates (56 percent); finding candidates who fit their company culture (41 percent); and retaining their best employees (41 percent).

“Managing the burden of administrative tasks without losing focus on hiring is a key success factor for HR professionals,” the authors write. “In a tightening labor market, HR professionals need to find an efficient means of managing these time-intensive tasks.”

Companies continue to offer nontraditional benefits to help attract and retain employees in a tightening labor market. Flexible scheduling is still number one, yet slightly fewer companies provided it in 2018 (39 percent, compared to 43 percent in 2017). “HR leaders are also moving away from using regular free meals as an employee perk — though it was the second-most common benefit in 2017, it dropped to eighth place in 2018,” the authors write.

Seventy-two percent of companies had virtual/work-from-home employees in 2018, and 56 percent of leaders believe they offer these workers effective support.

“Younger respondents in particular indicated more confidence in their ability to support these types of arrangements, with 76 percent expressing confidence in the support they provide,” the authors write.

Other key findings include:

– The majority of leaders (83 percent) say they focus on company culture to drive results. For many companies, this starts on or before day one — 34 percent foster engagement by creating an onboarding experience that accurately conveys company culture.

– In 2017, HR leaders are far less likely to be comfortable supporting the HR needs of millennials when compared to Gen Xers and baby boomers. This is not as much of a problem this year, as perceived support for all generations hovered around 51 percent.

– HR continues to expand, with more than half of departments planning to add full-time employees this year (up from just over a quarter in 2017). Only 27 percent of departments are planning on adding part-time workers this year.

Not surprisingly, company policies are under a microscope more so than ever, according to the survey.

“Societal trends and priorities are driving changes to employee protection policies,” the authors write. “Eighty-three percent of companies now have a discrimination and harassment policy in place, and 65 percent updated theirs within the past 12 months. Additionally, 67 percent re-evaluated their pay practices this year to ensure gender equality.”