New global study reveals IT leaders believe combining HR and IT functions is crucial to boosting productivity and engagement amidst a digital workplace crisis.
The modern workplace is grappling with a significant challenge: falling employee engagement and sluggish productivity. This is compounded by an increasingly complex digital environment, with staff overwhelmed by a rising tide of applications – from an average of six in 2019 to 11 today, and a projected 43% increase in the next three years. This ‘workforce crisis’ is prompting radical thinking, with a new global study pointing to a surprising solution: the potential merger of Human Resources and Information Technology departments.
Research from Nexthink, titled ‘The Experience Silo: The Future of HR and IT‘, surveyed 1,100 IT leaders globally. The findings reveal a significant appetite for closer integration: a striking 93% of respondents believe that bringing IT and HR together would increase productivity, boost employee satisfaction, and drive engagement. Furthermore, 64% predict a complete merger of these functions within the next five years. An additional 31% anticipate far closer collaboration, even if a full merger does not occur.
The Drive for Convergence
The study highlights several major benefits expected from such a merger:
- Accelerated Digital Transformation: 85% foresee fewer delays and 94% anticipate more successful outcomes for digital transformation projects.
- Enhanced Digital Adoption: 97% believe it would help employees quickly adopt new digital tools.
- Streamlined Onboarding: 95% expect faster and smoother onboarding for new hires.
- Improved Employee Experience: 93% predict gains in employee productivity, engagement, retention, and satisfaction.
These findings resonate against the backdrop of an estimated $430 billion global economic loss due to disengaged employees. Vedant Sampath, CTO at Nexthink, notes: “This shows that businesses are considering radical changes in response. This isn’t just about smoother onboarding or faster tech support; it’s about fundamentally reimagining the workspace in a way that allows employees to bring their best selves and produce their best work.”
“Virtually every business is facing this crisis of falling engagement and sluggish productivity… This shows that businesses are considering radical changes in response.”
Navigating the Challenges
While the potential benefits are clear, the process of merging two distinct departments like HR and IT would undoubtedly be complex. Respondents identified key challenges:
- Lack of Clear Ownership: 58% cited concerns over new and existing responsibilities.
- Communication Gaps: 50% highlighted poor communication between teams.
- Differing Priorities: 49% noted conflicting departmental priorities.
Despite these potential hurdles, over half (52%) of IT leaders stated their organisation was ‘very ready’ to begin this integration process to improve digital transformation efforts.
The Rise of the CXO?
Intriguingly, the study also reveals a significant shift in leadership perception: a plurality (40%) believe this new merged department should not be led by a traditional CIO or Chief People Officer. Instead, a new role, such as a Chief Experience Officer (CXO), is favoured.
This new function would likely command a much broader remit than either HR or IT individually. Key areas of ownership would include:
- Measuring and improving digital employee experience (62%).
- Ownership of all workplace technology and collaboration tools, including automation and AI (69%).
- Employee digital training (61%).
- Insight over all workforce analytics, such as productivity scores (51%).
As Sampath concludes: “We’re moving towards a future where the employee experience is going to be just as important as the customer experience… The businesses that address these frustrations and properly marry people and technology will be the ones that attract top talent, reduce friction, and build high-performing, adaptive teams.”
“The businesses that address these frustrations and properly marry people and technology will be the ones that attract top talent, reduce friction, and build high-performing, adaptive teams.”
The debate over merging HR and IT signals a recognition that employee experience, particularly in the digital realm, is now a critical strategic imperative. For HR leaders, this represents both a challenge to adapt traditional structures and a significant opportunity to elevate their influence in shaping the future of work.