HRD: HR Facing Rising Compliance Strain – Report

For HR leaders, compliance demands are expanding rapidly while governance and technology investments lag behind, according to a recent report.

Three in four (75%) respondents say their compliance needs have changed, according to a survey of 500 U.S. professionals across HR and adjacent functions.

And 54% report that those needs have increased over the past two years, reflecting regulatory expansion, pay transparency rules, data privacy obligations, wage‑and‑hour enforcement and scrutiny of automated decision‑making.

People strategy top challenge

Also, 41% of HR leaders identify attracting and retaining top talent as their primary challenge, according to the  Mitratech survey conducted by 3Sixty Insights of 500 U.S. professionals across HR and adjacent functions.

Meanwhile, 35% cite employee engagement and 29% point to career growth and workforce development as key concerns.

This means HR leaders are being pulled between people strategy and regulatory complexity, says David Deitering, CEO of Mitratech’s HR Solutions division.

“Today’s HR leader must balance two critical mandates: delivering strong people outcomes while also managing an increasingly complex compliance environment,” Deitering says. “Our research shows that while attracting and retaining the right talent remains the top priority, HR professionals are increasingly concerned and distracted by compliance requirements that are constantly changing and expanding for most organizations. That combination is creating pressure for HR teams already operating with limited resources and can prevent them from delivering on their core mission.”