In a survey when this question was asked from senior-ranking HR leaders representing 122 large organizations (those with more than 1,000 employees): "What are the most significant barriers to your HR function’s ability to deliver on the organization’s strategic imperatives/objectives?"

The top response (60%) was overload or burnout of employees in the HR function.

There are many ways to lessen burnout, including ensuring that employees use all available time off (or offering more), boosting mental health offerings, providing education on relaxation techniques, and more. But these treat the symptom of burnout; they do not attempt to determine and then resolve the root causes of burnout.

Interestingly, the second most commonly cited (56%) barrier to HR’s ability to deliver on the organization’s strategic imperatives/objectives also happens to be a root cause of burnout: outdated or insufficient HR systems/technology.

There is need for improvement in Technology to eliminate burnout.

The greater adoption of digital technology is what is required in the contemporary world. Doing so has many benefits, including lessening the tactical nature of HR’s traditional role, driving greater efficiencies, and freeing HR to concentrate on issues that deliver strategic impact to the business.

There are several ways that HR systems and technologies can be out of date. Leveraging the latest features from the latest versions of your Human Resources Management System (HRMS), Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Learning Management System (LMS), and more is an obvious first step to consider. Many of these features have been upgraded in recent years as part of the broader workplace focus on employee experience, and this of course includes HR employees and their need for better user interfaces, analytic capabilities, and more to get their work done and improve productivity and efficiency.

Enhancements to technology that enable greater self-service by either business leaders, or in some cases all employees, can also greatly reduce the transactional nature of the day-to-day work of HR professionals. But HR self-service is one part of the broader trend of HR automation, which once implemented can greatly help reduce burnout in HR professionals.

As noted in Automating Work: The Human/AI Intersection, talent acquisition continues to be a leading HR functional area when it comes to implementing automation. Given the current labor market, recruiters and other TA professional are under more stress and pressure than ever. In fact, a recent LinkedIn News item reported that one of the most common roles that recruiters are recruiting for is other recruiters. Consider the following ways in which the talent acquisition process can be automated:

• Handling standard TA workflow tasks, e.g., job posting approval and posting, sending candidate emails, scheduling interviews and sending calendar invites, generating offer letters, etc.

• Using chatbots to assist applicants on the career portal

• Augmenting online interviews, e.g., assessing word choices, facial expressions, personality, etc.

• Screening candidates based on data that identifies the qualities of a successful hire (predictive hiring)

• Eliminating unconscious bias in areas such as race, gender, age, nationality, etc.

• Building job requisitions for hiring managers

• Creating personas for niche/hard to fill roles

• Providing coaching for hiring managers (e.g., real-time tips, reminders, etc.)

While such technology-driven improvements provide clear benefits, including the reduction of burnout for HR professionals, be careful to consider whether the new solution will increase or decrease the potential for bias in the underlying process.