Why do you think Complexity is hindering HR Teams’ Success?

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What seems like a blessing in disguise is also one of the biggest challenges in the business world of employing global workforces diverging in age, gender, education and culture. The modern workforce is far more connected, diverse and collaborative and dynamic than ever before, which have nonetheless created unparalleled workforce complexities that are now impacting the business directly based on a survey conducted by SAP and Knowledge at Wharton.

The survey was conducted among 700 HR professionals from varied industries from different countries, who identified the main factors pertaining to increasing business challenges is due to changes in compliance and regulations, lack of clear focused goals of the top management, underutilized technology or a continuous emergence of new technology and lack of adaptability of technology making it more difficult to collect the right kind of data. The growing gap between what looks good on paper simplifying business processes from what companies actually do or implement is overwhelming worldwide HR professionals, who feel they are not equipped to cope with these business complexities.

Even though business simplification is crucial in today’s world of HR, yet 74% of respondents highlighted business leaders/ HR professionals are unable to align their day- to-day actions with the goals of simplifying business processes and decision making. The problem progresses, as only 27% believe that their top management makes decisions to simplify business processes on a day-to-day basis.

Technology too has not been put to use to its full potential. 60% of respondents feel that technology has not been as useful as it should have been, limiting their ability to meet their strategic goals. This ineffectiveness is due to lack of acceptance of technology by organizations as only 39% of respondents feel that technology has simplified business processes within their organization.

“HR leaders must refresh strategies, streamline processes and embrace new technologies to focus on long-term growth,” said Stefan Ries, chief human resources officer at SAP. “Companies should no longer accept inefficiencies, but challenge the complexities that increasingly permeate today’s workplaces. Simplifying is the new imperative.”

Business simplification is no doubt beneficial to the organization but not inevitable. Majority senior leaders believe that times are changing, and slowly but gradually their efforts to simplify businesses will be strongly effective within 3 years. Technology being the key enabler in simplifying business processes; global business leaders are optimistic about being able to access information from self-service tools, and quick decision making alongside with:

• A more resourceful talent management tool and performance tool
• Use of deeper insight and analytics, to assess the impact of leadership
• Broad learning and development processes and strategies
• Collaborative tools to engage employees and have strong leadership development forums for employees

When companies are considering expansion in newer territories the HR needs to gain understanding of the local market and its labor laws in order to regulate customized policies and communicate these to all employees throughout the organization across all regions. Cultural diversity is usually taken as a challenge even though it has its advantages of being more creative and innovative in solving problems.

While challenging these complexities that are hindering in team success, it is becoming even more important for team leaders to become better and stronger communicators and promote conversation if any business complexities arise, so they can be discussed openly and the problem is addressed before it grows to become a cause of business failure.