Companies Waste 17 Hours Weekly Creating HR Reports

Organisations are on average wasting 17 hours a week producing HR reports, according to global research conducted by SuccessFactors, an SAP company.

The study, which surveyed 1,300 HR, finance and IT managers, said that more time is being devoted delivering reports back to an organisation as respondents cite increased demand for workforce metrics.

Around 72 per cent of organisations said their employees are increasingly geographically dispersed, making communication of such reports difficult.

According to the study, 51 per cent of organisations globally are finding the connection of multiple data sets challenging, making reporting more troublesome. As a result, just under a quarter of respondents consider themselves to be ‘very effective’ when it comes to workforce analytics.

“Having the right people, in the right roles, focused on the right things is increasingly recognized as a competitive advantage for companies of every size,” said Shawn Price, president, SuccessFactors, SAP Cloud.

“The speed and global nature of today’s workplaces demand cloud workforce analytics tools that can quickly analyze your current workforce and provide valuable insights so you can predict who you need and where you need them and put the plans in place to address those needs.”

Price said that delays in developing detailed reports on employees will impact HR’s ability to add value to a business.

However, the study revealed that eight in 10 companies believe that cloud computing can benefit HR. Around 32 per cent of organisations said that cloud computing would enable their HR system to scale rapidly while 32 per cent said that it reduced the need for costly upgrades.

“Changes in workforce demographics and changes in the way people expect to be able to work add increasing complexity to the demands on HR systems,” said Price.

“Not only are businesses now expected to provide access to business applications anywhere, any time and on any device, but they also need to address how to create high performing, interconnected remote teams through tools which allow for effective collaboration.”