Interactive Brokers

My 25 years of experience across HR operations has really shaped how I think about the employee experience. A lot of the thing’s employees care about most are the things they usually do not think about until there is a problem. Payroll needs to be right, benefits need to make sense, systems need to work and employees need to know where to go when they need help.

As companies grow, especially globally, you cannot just keep adding more people to HR to support that growth. You need processes and systems that are consistent, scalable and easy for employees and managers to use. A lot of my focus has been on simplifying that experience, whether that means consolidating systems, reducing manual work, improving access to information or creating better workflows.

At the same time, I do not think standardization means every employee or every country should be treated exactly the same. You still need flexibility for local requirements and individual situations. My view is that HR should manage the complexity behind the scenes so the experience for the employee feels as simple as possible.

Using Automation to Surface What Needs Attention

I think the biggest opportunities are in the high-volume, repetitive work that still takes up a lot of HR’s time. Things like moving information between systems, answering the same employee questions, checking data, reconciling information and handling routine transactions.

There are opportunities across onboarding, payroll, benefits, recruiting, reporting, compensation, compliance and employee support.

One area I am especially interested in is using technology to identify exceptions. Instead of having someone review hundreds of transactions to find the few that may have an issue, the technology should be able to flag what actually needs someone’s attention.

That is where I think automation can really help. It should take away the repetitive work and give HR more time to focus on problems, decisions and employees.

Using Technology without Giving Up Judgment

I do not think technology should replace judgment. I think it should give people better information so they can make better decisions.

There is a lot technology can do well. It can gather information, summarize history, identify patterns, automate administrative work and even make recommendations. But when you get into employee relations, performance, accommodations, investigations, compensation or other sensitive situations, you still need a person who understands the full context.

“HR should manage the complexity behind the scenes so the experience for the employee feels as simple as possible.”

I tend to think about technology in three buckets: what it can automate, what it can recommend and what it should not be making a final decision on by itself.

The goal is not to take people out of HR. The goal is to take some of the administrative work away so HR professionals have more time to use judgment where it really matters.

Connecting HR Systems around the Employee Experience

I think HR operations will continue to become more integrated, more data-driven and more proactive.

For years, companies added different systems for payroll, recruiting, learning, benefits, compensation and everything else. The result was often that employees and HR teams had to figure out how all of those systems worked together.

I think that is changing. Employees are going to expect a much simpler experience. They should be able to ask a question, get an answer, complete a transaction or find what they need without having to understand which HR system or department owns it.

AI will definitely help accelerate that, but I think the bigger change is how HR work itself evolves. HR teams will spend less time processing transactions and more time managing exceptions, looking at data, solving problems and advising the business.

For global companies, there will also be an ongoing challenge of creating consistency while still meeting local requirements. The companies that do this well will not necessarily be the ones with the most technology. They will be the ones that connect the technology, processes, data and people in a way that actually works.

Understanding the Business behind HR

My biggest advice would be to understand the business behind the HR process.

It is easy to become very good at one area of HR, whether that is payroll, benefits, recruiting, employee relations or systems. But as you move into leadership roles, you need to understand how all of those areas connect and how HR connects with Finance, Technology, Legal, Compliance and the business.

I also think HR professionals need to become comfortable with technology and data. You do not need to be a programmer, but you should understand how systems work, how information moves between them and how technology can solve a business problem.

I would also not underestimate the value of actually doing the operational work. You learn a lot by dealing with something that went wrong, fixing it and then figuring out how to make sure it does not happen again.

And finally, be curious and take on things outside of your immediate responsibilities. Some of the best opportunities to grow come from getting involved in something new and learning how another part of the organization works. The broader your understanding of the business becomes, the better leader you become.