Why is HR considered the least productive department?

Human resources departments in the United Kingdom are negatively perceived as the least productive team in the workplace in a new survey.

Ciphr sought the responses of 1,000 employees in the UK to rate themselves, their teams, and other departments in terms of productivity.

It found that only 62% of employees see their HR department as productive or very productive.

Three in four leaders and senior managers rated their HR department as productive or very productive, but this number goes down across the organisation, according to the findings.

Only 62% of middle and lower-level managers perceive their HR teams as productive, and only 61% of non-managers agree with this sentiment.

Meanwhile, the operations department is seen as the most productive team in the organisation, with 76% agreeing they were productive or very productive. For other teams:

• Customer service department (72%)
• Payroll department (70%)
• Sales department (70%)
• IT department (69%)
• Finance/accounts department (69%)
• Marketing department (63%)

Proximity bias affecting HR departments

Claire Williams, chief people and operations officer at Ciphr, said this perception on HR teams could be due to a variety of factors, such as proximity bias.

According to Ciphr, its findings suggest that employees' perceptions of productivity are influenced by how often they work with the teams and the people in job roles they're more familiar with. This is reflected by how employees rated their team, their direct reports, as well as their wider department as some of the most productive in the workplace.

"Much of HR's work happens behind the scenes, focusing on policy development, compliance, employee support, and long-term strategic planning," Williams said in a statement. "This low visibility could lead employees to underestimate the productivity, importance, and impact of HR functions."

Lack of clarity on HR's role

Williams also attributed the low productivity score to employees not completely understanding that HR does for the organisation.

"Many employees view the role as purely administrative, transactional, and compliance-driven," Williams said. "They may only interact with HR when they are first recruited, then for administrative or disciplinary reasons, so they won't necessarily see the broader strategic role HR plays in talent management, organisational culture, and employee development."

Productivity in HR is also not always quantifiable, according to Williams, as their impact is often long-term.

Raising awareness

To address the problem, Williams suggested regular internal comms from HR to increase transparency about their activities and successes.

"You can also use this channel to get employees more involved in HR-led initiatives, such as culture-building activities or feedback sessions, which can help foster a better understanding of HR's role," Williams said.

She also called for the establishment of performance management frameworks, which can be used to introduce objective measures of productivity in the workplace.

According to Williams, these frameworks should include clear and measurable goals, documented performance reviews, transparent metrics and KPIs, and feedback mechanisms.

"That way every employee understands how they can achieve their objectives and track their progress. They can also clearly see how other teams and departments contribute to organisational success," she said.