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Where did the Time Go? An Inside Look at How HR Spends its Time

If you had to name the busiest person in your office, who would it be? You might say the company CEO, maybe another executive, your manager, the receptionist, and you’d probably throw your name out there, just to be safe.

Whatever names make your list, one person that should definitely be included is whoever manages your company’s human resources.

“HR?” you might scoff. “Why are they so busy?”

We’re glad you asked. If you asked an HR professional to tell you what a typical day would be, they’d be hard-pressed to answer. On any given day you can find an HR professional trying to juggle a wide array of responsibilities, including administering employee benefit plans, ensuring government compliance, processing payroll, conducting performance evaluations, answering employees’ questions about paychecks…the list goes on and on.

Tedious administrative tasks like these take up a large part of an HR professional’s time (about 73.2%, to be exact, according to the Center for Effective Organizations). (For more facts and figures on why HR is so busy, check out our infographic: HR's Time-Consuming Toll On Your Company.)

Bogged down by administrative HR tasks?

Download our white paper to learn how professional employer organizations (PEOs) free up in-house HR professionals to focus on strategic HR functions.

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But what HR professionals really want to spend their time doing is developing strategic initiatives that contribute to the company’s overall success, like creating succession plans and designing completive compensation and benefits plans.

“Strategic Initiatives” You Say? Like What?

  • Succession Plans
  • Competitive Compensation Plans
  • Competitive Benefits Plans
  • Training Programs
  • Wellness Programs

Don’t see anything you recognize? That’s okay…

With an average HR-to-employee ratio of 1:100, it’s hard for many HR departments to find the time to allocate to these initiatives. That’s why HR Outsourcing is one of the fastest-growing industries. For HR professionals looking for a real solution to their time-crunch problem, a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) may be the answer.

PEOs offer expert administrative services in areas like HR compliance, employee benefits, payroll processing and workplace safety. By partnering with a PEO, companies can shift the burden of these mundane but necessary tasks onto the PEO. This gives in-house HR professionals more time to focus on key strategic initiatives and people-facing problems.

As a result, PEO clients can expect higher employment growth rates, better overall employee benefits packages and, in most cases, reduced HR administration costs.

See how outsourcing tedious administrative and HR tasks to G&A Partners helped Mary, a senior HR professional, focus on more strategic HR functions in this short, two-minute video.

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Last Updated

12.02.2014