Are We Taking the Human Out of HR?
Human Resources was once synonymous with people-centricity — a trusted function that championed empathy, employee growth, and organizational values. But in recent years, there’s been a noticeable shift. Automation, metrics, and compliance have increasingly taken center stage. While operational efficiency and digital integration are vital, have we tilted too far? Are we stripping away the “human” in Human Resources? And more importantly, what’s the long-term cost?
At ANC Global, we’ve spent years helping organizations recalibrate their HR strategies and understand the necessity of human-centered HR. Below, we explore the emerging disconnect and how to reverse the trend.
The Efficiency Trap: Why Tech Isn’t a Cure-All
From chatbots to algorithmic screening tools, HR tech promises speed, scale, and savings. But efficiency without empathy often leads to disillusioned employees.
Case in Point:
A multinational tech firm replaced human-centered HR interviews with AI-based screening. The result? Bias went unchecked, top talent felt alienated, and the employer brand suffered.
Solution:
Combine tech with tailored human touchpoints. Tools like HR Chatbots should augment—not replace—genuine human interaction.
At ANC Global, we offer digital transformation frameworks embedded with culture coaching, ensuring tools align with human values. Explore our Fit-for-Future Organization Design (FPOD) to balance tech and touch.
Metrics Over Meaning: The Misuse of Data
Analytics are essential. But over-indexing on KPIs like time-to-hire, productivity scores, or absenteeism rates can reduce employees to data points. This mindset drives short-term decisions that miss long-term impact.
Consultant Insight:
We’ve seen organizations with stellar metrics yet high attrition and poor morale. Why? Because numbers rarely capture psychological safety, inclusion, or leadership trust.
What Works:
Integrate Employee Mental Health and Psychological Safety (EMHPS Matrix) indicators into your dashboards. Use CGD Focus Groups to add qualitative layers to your quantitative analysis.
From Culture Champions to Compliance Officers
HR’s expanding legal and risk mandate has led to a rise in procedural gatekeeping. While policy is crucial, an overemphasis can reduce HR to a reactive, transactional unit.
The Cost:
Employees stop seeing HR as a safe space. Trust erodes. Performance conversations feel punitive rather than developmental.
Reframe the Role:
Position HR as capability builders and strategic enablers. Explore our Leadership Assessment Framework (LAF) and Coaching Pathways that rehumanize performance conversations.
Transactional Onboarding, Cold Exits
When onboarding becomes a checklist and offboarding a legal procedure, people feel like cogs in a system.
Research Shows:
Employees who experience meaningful onboarding are 69% more likely to stay for at least three years (Harvard Business Review).
The ANC Approach:
Use our Onboarding Senior Leaders (OSL) program to build early engagement. Ensure warm exits with our guide on Human-Centered Offboarding.
Are Leaders the Culprit or the Cure?
Poor leadership is a recurring theme behind disengaged cultures. If HR is siloed from executive influence, cultural transformation stalls.
Example:
In our Leaders to Follow initiative, we’ve observed that leadership modeling sets the tone for employee experience.
Our Fix:
Tie leadership KPIs to DEI, engagement, and coaching scores. Programs like Transforming Future Leadership (U30) foster human-centric leadership even in high-growth tech settings.
The Real Cost of Dehumanized HR
High Attrition: People leave managers, not companies, especially when HR doesn’t intervene with accountability frameworks.
Innovation Stalls: Inclusion and belonging are the bedrock of psychological safety, essential for risk-taking and creativity.
Brand Damage: In the era of Glassdoor and LinkedIn, employer branding is everyone’s business.
Explore how Employee Value Proposition (EVP) Strategy re-centers the employee experience.
Bringing Humanity Back: What Leading Organizations Do Differently
They don’t just hire for skills. They invest in Individual Development Plans (IDPs) to build career journeys.
They embrace diversity beyond checkboxes. See our Neurodiverse HR Policy Development for inclusive policy design.
They don’t avoid difficult conversations. They train teams in Gender Sensitization and conflict resolution.
And above all, they treat people like people, not resources.
How ANC Global Can Empower Your Business
HR doesn’t need a rebrand. It needs a rebalance. The solution isn’t to reject innovation, but to integrate it with intention.
Want to build an HR function that’s fit for the future and human at its core? Start with a strategic diagnostic session or explore our Culture and Value Playshops that reconnect teams to shared purpose.
Get Started Today
Are you ready to unlock your business’s full potential? Let ANC Global be your trusted HR partner. Our innovative, practical, and sustainable HR solutions are designed to help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business thrive: Get in Touch.
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