Mergers of IT and HR can address productivity and engagement challenges, finds Nexthink
According to the latest research from Nexthink, two in three IT leaders believe merging their department with HR can solve several issues. UNLEASH speaks to Nexthink VP of Global Talent, Liz Raymond, to find out how this could reshape the future of work.
As organizations work to address productivity, engagement and skills issues, technology leaders believe marrying IT and HR departments could hold the answer.
That's according to Nexthink's ‘The Experience Silo: The Future of HR and IT’ report, which found the majority believe this could happen within the next five years.
Nexthink VP of Global Talent, Liz Raymond, exclusively tells UNLEASH why shared ownership of important employee issues could a cornerstone of the future of work.
Around two in three IT leaders (64%) believe this could happen within the next five years, according to research from Digital Employee Experience specialist, Nexthink.
Of 1,100 IT leaders surveyed, 93% said that bringing IT and HR together would increase productivity, boost employee satisfaction and drive engagement.
While 31% of IT leaders didn’t foresee a full merger of the departments, they do expect closer collaboration to enhance digital transformation and improve employee experience.
Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH, Nexthink VP of Global Talent, Liz Raymond, says the most striking finding from the research is “not just the appetite for merging HR and IT, but the pace at which leaders believe it’s going to happen”.
“This urgency reflects the scale of the challenge: today’s employees are overwhelmed by complexity, and organizations can’t afford to delay,” Raymond explains.
“What’s encouraging is that over half of respondents say they’re ‘very ready’ to act, rethinking roles and responsibilities to deliver a more joined-up experience.”
A marriage of IT and HR has great potential but new leaders would be needed
IT leaders that are anticipating a convergence between HR and IT see benefits such as reduced delays for digital transformation projects (85%) and more successful outcomes for those projects (94%).
They also highlight potential to help employees quickly adopt new digital tools (97%), quicker and smoother on-boarding for new hires (95%), and improved employee productivity, engagement, retention, and satisfaction (93%).
However, there was no delusion that combining HR and IT would be a simple task.
A lack of clear ownership over new and existing responsibilities (58%), poor communication between HR and IT teams (50%), and differing priorities between the two departments (49%) were among the main obstacles identified by those surveyed.
Meanwhile, there was also an acknowledgement that a newly created department would have a much broader remit than HR or IT on their own, and should be led not by a CIO or Chief People Officer, but a new role such as Chief Experience Officer (CXO).
“As the research shows, closer collaboration or a full merge of HR and IT will be critical to ensuring employees are able to navigate the digital workplace confidently, adopt new tools faster, and stay engaged,” Raymond states.
For HR leaders in particular, now is the time to step into the shared ownership of digital experience and help shape a work environment where people and technology truly work in harmony.”
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John Brazier is an experienced and award-winning B2B journalist and editor, with a strong track record of hosting conferences, webinars, roundtables and video products. He has a keen interest in emerging technologies within the HR space, as well as wellbeing and employee experience topics. Prior to joining UNLEASH, John both led and wrote for various global and domestic financial services publications, including COVER Magazine, The TRADE, and WatersTechnology.
Get in touch via email: [email protected]