Log in or become a subscriber

An HR department with a shrinking budget can still deliver value, but it shouldn't be expected to deliver "the gold standard", according to an advisor who recommends resetting expectations now.

"Things are tough all over, and it's not just for HR," says director of Gartner's HR advisory Robin Boomer.

"What we're seeing is that CEOs and CFOs are really focused on what we'd call profitable growth... that combination of managing costs and trying to drive growth or revenue at the same time," he tells HR Daily.

"They're prioritising standardising and automating business processes through digitalisation and then rationalisation, reorganising of support functions, looking at: Are we doing everything as efficiently as possible? Are we resourcing in the right way? Can we get more economies of scale?"

Gartner's research shows that for the majority of HR teams (60%), functional budgets are staying flat or decreasing this year...