Arlington, Va. – September 23, 2026 -- Eagle Hill Consulting's new HR Technology and Service Delivery Survey finds that 51% of HR professionals spend at least half their workweek on routine, repetitive, or low-value administrative tasks, even as 86% say automation or AI improves the service they deliver to the business.
Fragmented systems undercut technology investment across HR functions
Ninety-one percent of surveyed HR professionals use two or more systems to complete a single task, and 43% rely on three or more. Seventy-eight percent regularly re-enter the same information across multiple platforms, while 68% turn to workarounds such as spreadsheets, shared drives, or manual tracking to get work done.
Senior leaders report frequent breakdowns in HR service delivery
Sixty-seven percent of senior business leader customers surveyed report frequent service delivery challenges, including slow response times, excessive handoffs, and unclear ownership. Eighty-four percent say HR requests often require additional follow-up or rework, and 62% of HR professionals themselves confirm the same pattern of inefficiency.
AI trust is high, but governance gaps persist inside HR workflows
Ninety percent of HR respondents say they trust AI at least somewhat to help them do their work. Yet 37% report frequent integration challenges, 36% say they are often or always unclear how AI-generated outputs were created, and 32% cite recurring problems with incomplete information.
Eagle Hill CEO says broken workflows, not missing technology, are the core problem
"HR's challenge isn't a lack of technology. In many organizations, it's the way work is designed," said Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. She said organizations that redesign workflows before layering on new tools see stronger returns than those automating existing inefficiencies.
Seventy percent say administrative burden blocks strategic HR work
Seventy percent of respondents say time spent on HR administrative tasks prevents them from focusing on higher-value priorities. The survey was conducted by Ipsos from March 3-9, 2026, among 200 full-time HR professionals at organizations with annual revenue exceeding $100 million.