When companies are overstaffed, team members are often overwhelmed. There’s too much to do and not enough time or people to do it. Employees end up only being able to tackle the foundational tasks needed to keep the business operational or putting out fires that can’t be ignored. This prevents them from working on strategic initiatives that will make the company better in the long term.

In other words, understaffed teams are so busy trying to keep things afloat in the present, they’re not able to put much time and energy towards improving things for the future. 

This can cause a slew of problems, both for the employees and the business. Think of issues like overworked and overstressed team members, high turnover rates, lower productivity markers, and low job satisfaction and morale. It also prevents companies from investing in and implementing HR initiatives that are critical in building a supportive, functional, and innovative corporate culture—like learning and development; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and employee experience.

So the question is, why, exactly, are HR teams so understaffed? And, what can businesses do to better support their HR teams, even when they’re low in headcount?

Why is understaffing a common occurrence? 

There are a number of reasons why understaffing is so common, particularly in the HR space—one of which is the standard HR-to-employee ratio.

This ratio will vary by company and industry; for example, in a recent LinkedIn post, Pyn’s VP of people strategy Stacey Nordwall reports seeing everything from 1 to 100, 2.5 to 100, and, oddly, 3.4 to 100.

That’s a lot of employees per HR team member, particularly now, when many companies are hybrid or remote and may have employees in different locations, cities, and/or countries. And a distributed workforce can present new HR challenges (like managing multi-state payroll), creating new tasks for HR teams that are already short on people and time.

Understaffing in HR (and across the board) can also be an effect of the current economy. Many industries—and, in particular, tech—are facing major budget cuts and mass layoffs. And in the midst of those budget challenges and lay-offs, they may consider certain HR employees, particularly team members that work on more strategic initiatives (like L&D or DEI) as dispensable. Cutting these more specialized roles leaves behind only a few team members to manage the entirety of HR functions.

Too few HR employees can also be a result of other things, like people going on medical or parental leave, company restructuring eliminating positions, open positions that are a challenge to fill…the list goes on. But whatever the reason for HR understaffing, the challenges that arise from it are often the same.

Having too few HR employees can lead to a slew of organizational issues, including:

• Higher turnover. Too few employees lead to too much work for existing team members. This can put them on the path towards job dissatisfaction, overwhelm, poor work-life balance, and burnout. All of these issues can lead to higher turnover, leaving even fewer HR employees and exacerbating understaffing issues.
• Lackluster company culture. When HR teams are too lean, their focus often shifts to tackling tasks that are critical to business operations (like payroll and benefits). That means that the business loses out on culture champions on the HR team —which can not only impact a business’ ability to attract top talent, but can also drive current employees to quit.
• Employee experience inconsistencies. When team members have more work than they can realistically handle, things can slip through the cracks. The result of this can be an inconsistent experience for employees. 

Supporting an understaffed team with automation

Clearly, understaffing in HR is a problem, both for employees and businesses. But sometimes, there’s just not the bandwidth or budget to bring on new team members.

So, in that situation, how can companies solve the problems of understanding and support their additional staff—without hiring anyone new?

Get clear on strategy

It’s always important to be clear on strategy. But when you’re working with an understaffed team, it’s even more important. Why? Because there are limited employees available to execute on your HR strategy you need to make sure it’s as optimized, specific, and realistic as possible.

Sit down with your leadership team and talk about their goals for HR. From an HR perspective, what do they need to accomplish, and what would fall under the “nice to have” category? What are the long-term and short-term HR goals? What kind of resources will the HR team have available for implementing the strategy and working towards goals? Then, create a strategy that aligns with leadership’s vision.

Some questions you might consider asking include:

1. What are the company's top priorities right now? 
2. If you had 2 top priorities for the People function in the next 6 months, what would they be? 
3. Where is the People function adding the most value to the business (and where is it adding the least)? 
4. What do you think is the strongest asset of our culture (and where do we fall down)? 

The answers to these questions can help you figure out where to focus and prioritize—and then craft your HR strategy accordingly.

If, during this situation, it’s clear that your leadership team has unrealistic expectations of HR based on current headcount, it’s important to be honest and straightforward. Let them know that, with such a lean team, there are going to have to be sacrifices—and that they can’t expect the current team to do the work of a larger one. It may be a tough conversation—but having the tough conversation up front is generally easier than trying to explain why you’re falling short of expectations later in the game.

Assign based on strengths

When you’re working with a smaller HR team, everyone has more to do. To increase productivity, assign tasks to team members in alignment with their strengths when possible.

For example, if you have an HR manager that’s meticulous and detail-oriented and enjoys more detail-centric work, you might put them in charge of benefits administration and management (and all the paperwork that goes with it)—while if you have a more extroverted team member, you might assign them tasks that has them interacting with other employees more often (like performance management).

The point is, when people get to work on tasks that align with their strengths, the tasks can feel more engaging and less overwhelming. And when employees are engaged, productivity goes up—which is especially important when you’re managing an understaffed HR team.

Automate as much as possible

Think about the tasks that you and your team members do over and over again. This might be - onboarding new employees (and sending out equipment, notes to managers, and more). Perhaps it’s supporting managers through manager training, setting up cohorts and communicating important messaging about being an effective leader. Maybe it’s communications about engagement surveys or other company-wide initiatives that need broad reach but specific key points. 

What if you could automate those tasks and communications? 

Pyn offers a variety of automation features designed to make HR teams’ lives easier—and free up their time and energy to focus on the work that matters most—including:

• Automating standard employee communications, like onboarding, birthdays, work anniversaries, manager support, or parental leave
• Automating training and L&D sequences and comms (learn how MongoDB automated their new manager training)
• An employee journey mapper that allows HR leaders and managers to look at the entire employee journey—and determine the best ways to prioritize work on a smaller team

Now, automation doesn’t replace employees—and it can’t solve every understaffing problem. But it can take certain tasks off team members’ plates—freeing up their time and energy for more important and strategic tasks.

It’s possible to automate communications for important employee moments and still deliver a personalized employee experience as well. For example, with Pyn, you can customize the content of each message based on different demographic variables. 

Want to learn more about how Pyn can help you better support your organization—even when you’re working with a small HR team? Schedule a live demo.

How to motivate an understaffed HR team

As mentioned, low morale can be a risk for understaffed HR teams. So how can you both support and motivate your employees, even when there are fewer than you’d like?

Have realistic expectations

When your team is understaffed, chances are, there is going to be a lot on their plate. But there is a big difference between “a lot” and “too much.” If you want to keep your team motivated, you need to have realistic expectations.

Make sure that you’re assigning your team members a doable amount of work. Continually check in with them to make sure that they can handle their workload. If they can’t, you should consider tempering your expectations and trying to get things off of their plate.

You should also set realistic expectations with your team—particularly if you’re understaffed because of budget issues, layoffs, or corporate restructuring. It’s hard for employees to be motivated when they feel like they’re in the dark or their job might be at risk. Be as honest and open with them as you can be.

Show recognition and appreciation

It’s always important to show recognition and appreciation for your team. But it’s especially important when you have an understaffed team with limited resources and a significant amount of work.

Let employees know that you appreciate their hard work. Recognize their contributions in the way that feels best for them. (For example, extroverted employees might enjoy being recognized at a team meeting—while more introverted team members might prefer a direct email). Highlight HR’s achievements to your leadership team. This not only shows your current team members that you appreciate them and recognize their hard work, but could also help make a business case for hiring!

Provide ongoing support

Understaffed teams are often overworked—which is why, as an HR leader, they need your support.

Make sure to check in on your employees often. Advocate for them to get them the resources they need. Look for signs of burnout, and when you notice them, encourage employees to take time off and recover. The more you take care of and support your team, the better equipped they’ll be to power through their work. Even when their workload feels like a lot.