HR leaders would rather foster 'more human connection over administrative tasks'
HR leaders believe they are spending too much time on manual administrative work that could be better used for fostering employee connections in the workplace, according to a new report from Payroll Integrations.
The second part of the payroll platform's 2025 Employee Financial Wellness Report, which polled 250 full-time adult employees and HR leaders, found that employers are caught between employees' high expectations and administrative realities.
More than a third (35%) of HR leaders believe they are spending too much time on administrative work, with 33% of respondents saying they spend seven to 10 hours a week on tasks related to payroll and/or benefits management.
According to the respondents, the top challenge with their payroll and benefits program is keeping up with changing regulations and compliance requirements (61%). Others cited budget constraints (42%) and educating employees effectively about their benefits (37%).
"Employers are caught between high expectations and administrative realities," the report said. "The challenge for 2025: reducing admin burden to create space for meaningful support."
Fostering employee connections
Three in five (60%) HR leaders said that freed up time from administrative work would be spent on speaking to employees about their benefit or HR needs. At least half of them also said:
- Increase engagement and relationship-building with employees (58%)
- Educate employees on how to maximise their benefits (56%)
- Provide more individualised support to employees (51%)
- Focus on improving internal processes or innovating (50%)
"The top three desired activities all centre on employee interaction," the report said. "This shows employers want more human connection over administrative tasks."
Employee expectations rising
The findings come as 49% of employees said clearly communicated benefits play a key role in their decision to stay. There is also growing expectation from employees when it comes to their benefits, according to the report.
It found that while 44% feel completely supported in their financial wellness, younger workers want comprehensive financial support as a standard employer responsibility.
In fact, 58% said they are staying in their current jobs because of the benefits they receive.
The top retention benefit is a strong health insurance (67%). More than half also cited competitive retirement plans (53%) and family or parental benefits (53%).
"Employees have growing confidence in their financial wellness and their benefits, which is a strong sign that companies are headed in the right direction with their offerings, but there's still work to be done for employers to fully align with employees' needs," said Doug Sabella, CEO of Payroll Integrations, in a statement.
"One of the biggest ways employers can increase their support is by automating the manual tasks that take up more than a quarter of their workweek to instead focus on employee priorities and ensure benefits are delivering real value."
