When HR Falls Short > Employee Experience Bridges the Gap

Let’s be honest.

Traditional HR is stuck in the compliance trap and a cycle of fixing the same broken foundations over and over again.

Policies that are outdated…processes that create more admin… compliance over purpose and let’s not forget updating those intranet pages that are 2 years old 😂

It’s understandable when you are in the trenches spread thin across business functions, systems, employee relations, learning, resourcing, hiring and the list goes on…

I’ve been there… in the thick of it with constant shifting priorities, diverse employee needs, broken systems, under-resourcing and a million initiatives with limited budget to change the landscape of how we work.

I say this with love because I know our intentions are in the right place - HR professionals hold a passion for people and…IT IS slowly getting better. 

I also understand this may not always be the case…as there are organisations leading the way, pockets of innovation and teams doing great work.

HOWEVER… it’s 2025 and it’s time to take a realistic view at what really isn’t working and take positive steps towards the future.

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The pitfalls of HR from my personal experience…

1. Our reputation is hit and miss…

Prior to working in the land of people and culture, I worked in sales teams, business operations and bid management. I clearly remember the sentiment when moving into capability and Human Resources…

What I heard?

“As if you are moving into HR” “Your capping your earning potential” “HR is a group we avoid” 

How it translates…

I unfortunately didn’t want be aligned with HR’s traditional reputation and sadly didn’t seem proud of the corporate function I worked for. Often HR can work behind the scenes, “outside” or “on top” of the business making employees feel disconnected to the work we do.

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2. The Compliance Trap

Somewhere along the way, HR became the department of “admin.”

Risk management, business assurance and policy enforcement now take up so much time and admin that the “human” in human resources can get buried.

What I heard?

“Not another mandatory module” “I can’t even get my basic employee data” “HR only turns up when things go wrong or force us to do something”

How it translates…

The amazing work, partnerships and impact people and culture can have may be overshadowed by mandatory requirements, policy and admin burden. All of this work is important and keeps the wheels turning - people need to get paid, policies need to be followed and poor behaviour and lawsuits need to be prevented… but let’s get it right the first time so we don’t have to continuously spend manually labour laying or fixing the foundation.

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3. The Vision vs Change Lag

We set big visionary strategies, we consult, pitch, build buy-in and by the time a big HR initiative is approved, scoped and rolled out - the world of work has already shifted. It’s a battle between “brilliant basics”, “quick wins” and “next gen solutions that will “change the game”.

What I heard?

“What do they even do…” “Another thing we won’t use” “Ohhhh is that your program.. I had no idea!”

How it translates…

Employees aren’t feeling the direct impact and benefits of our work. Being focused on their own role leaves limited time to understand the opportunities available to them and the work P&C are doing. Plus it gets better… once initiatives are rolled out employees often don’t engage or use them… that capability framework, DEI event or survey are getting crickets and blank faces!

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4. Many Masters, Few Enablers

HR needs to be across so many tasks and stakeholders - it makes it hard to do our job effectively. Keeping the needs of the business, c-suite, departments and employees all happy at once is hard! It means we spread ourselves thin, lack enablement to drive long-lasting change and end up delivering watered-down results.

What I heard?

“We need to get approval from every department and buy-in across the board before we start this…” “Let’s do another executive summary pack to get this off the ground” “we’ve hit a roadblock”

How it translates…

Business cases and programs of work are often halted with approvals and endorsement from many parts of the business with diverse expectations. Sometimes there’s a “mismatch” between priorities, vision and what Human Resources sees fit to execute in their strategy. While buy-in is needed…HR should know their stakeholders by the back of their hand and be responding to and driving simple, employee led initiatives that the business is actually asking for. This will help progress initiatives faster and easier.

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5. Over-Reliance on Systems & Process vs Behaviour 

We keep buying shiny new HR tech, implementing programs and hoping it will magically fix culture. Unfortunately nothing is going to change if you don’t effectively engage and support the people utilising the system or educate them on the “why”...

What I heard?

“Employees just don’t use the system properly…” “We’ve ticked the compliance box, but behaviour hasn’t shifted…”

How it translates…

Technology and processes should support behaviour, not replace it. Too often, HR becomes the custodian of tools rather than the enabler of meaningful change. Systems and processes need to be simple, effective and streamlined to make life easier and encourage the right behaviours. Without shifting behaviours or enabling our people, the best tech sits unused and programs fail to stick. The real value to be unlocked is combining the right tools with the right people practices and enablement, so that systems amplify culture rather than attempt to substitute it.

The Fix? Employee Experience (EX)

When done right - Employee Experience (EX) isn’t a just a feel-good trend or “the future of work”. It’s a complete shift in designing workplaces and experiences that are human and actually work. 

Instead of patching cracks, EX goes straight to the root cause, diagnosing problems and implementing projects and programs fast to create value for employees and the business:

• Employee-led change: We consult and respond to engagement insights - involving employees in the process so they feel valued and listened to. When employees shape the change, trust grows and momentum sticks.

  
  

• Start small, fix big: EX targets the pain points employees feel every day and are screaming out for to be improved. It could be a process flow improvement, data insights or uplifting a “moment that matters” throughout their day that could change everything to create positive interactions at work.

  
  

• Change delivered in real time: EX focus on continuous improvement and often can be delivered simultaneously in sprints. This approach beats “once-a-year strategy reviews” or massive projects that take 2-5 years and never see the light of day.

  
  

• Work in Partnership: Our projects often touch many parts of the business, therefore key stakeholders from IT, Communications, Finance, Business Strategies and Employee Champions are often in the project team and can provide their subject matter expertise . The result? Increased success of initiatives, greater buy-in, stronger relationships and acknowledgement for the work we do.

My Take

We don’t need thicker policy manuals or shinier HRIS platforms. We need to stop “fixing foundations”  with bandaid solutions and lack luster initiatives.

We need start delivering brilliant basics, provide value in response to employee feedback and build something worth standing on.

EX is where real transformation and continuous improvement happens - where employees see and feel the difference.

Because when people have the tools, trust, support and environment to do their best work, everyone wins.