Simplification is one of the most vital levers for People teams in the current economic climate. Here’s how HR can unlock value in FY27 by stripping away unnecessary complexity.

The pressure to do more with less isn’t new for People teams. But as we enter FY27, we’re seeing it sharpen. 

Global uncertainty, the rising cost of living and doing business, shifting expectations around where and how people work – it all lands, eventually, on the People function. When the brief is to deliver more value on a flatter budget, the instinct is usually to add another tool, another program or another process. 

I’d argue the opposite. The most useful thing People teams can do in FY27 is simplify. I’ve seen the power of this over and over again, because simplicity is what makes things stick. A process that people understand from the get-go is a process that gets followed and improved on, not just added to. 

Across the People teams we work with – large, small and everything in between – those adding the most value aren’t the ones doing the most. They’re the ones with the most streamlined processes and deliberate focus. Here’s how they get there. 

1. Understanding where the time goes 

Before you change anything, gather as much data as you can. Spend time upfront mapping your HR processes and being honest about which ones consume hours without much return to the team or business. 

Ask your internal stakeholders what HR processes take them the most time, and what they do and don’t value. 

You’re working to understand: Where does people’s time actually go each month? Which tasks are genuinely moving the business forward, and which ones are just happening because they always have? 

While there is often an element of intuition involved, there’s almost always gold in the data. Credible workforce data is your ammunition for change. 

“Processes and policies accrue complexity quietly over time, until no one remembers why half of it is there. Periodically stripping them back to their fundamental purpose is one of the highest-return things a People team can do, and at a very low cost.”

2. Stripping out inefficiency 

Once you can see where the time goes, the next question is how to get it back.

Automation and AI are part of the answer, and a powerful one. The routine, transactional, rules-based work that’s clogged HR for decades is exactly what these tools handle well: freeing teams for work that needs judgement. 

But not all simplification needs technology. A lot of it is just common sense: going back to the core purpose of a process and asking whether everything in it still earns its place. Do you need seven questions about work-life balance in an engagement survey when one, asked well, tells you what you need to know? Can you recreate your employee policies into one concise and well-presented document rather than maintaining five separate ones? 

Processes and policies accrue complexity quietly over time, until no one remembers why half of it is there. Periodically stripping them back to their fundamental purpose is one of the highest-return things a People team can do, and at a very low cost. 

3. Reorienting towards greater value 

This is where the future of HR lies. As AI absorbs more task-based work across all business functions, People teams that are spending most of their time on operational HR activity and focusing mainly on process-driven compliance will find it harder to prove value to the business. 

Those that are able to clear out the low-value work will have more time for the work that builds capability, lifts engagement, develops talent and moves the business strategy forward. 

This shift from “old HR” – the reactive, administrative, back-office version – to “new HR” – a strategic function that partners with the business to create value through people – will make the People function irreplaceable. 

Assessing FY27 priorities 

With the new financial year ahead of us, organisations are facing an uncertain economic and political climate. 

Against this backdrop, we’re seeing three key HR and People priorities: 

• HR compliance and core programs: Efficient streamlined versions of the essentials, including performance reviews and team engagement, focusing on driving intended outcomes versus just running a process.
• Workforce redesign: This is a genuinely exciting opportunity as we challenge ourselves to consider what high-value tech-augmented work looks like. 
• Productivity gains through AI: A coordinated, measured and monitored program that genuinely delivers a commercial impact and enables your team.

In FY27, doing more with less doesn’t have to mean working harder or cutting deeper. It can mean doing less, but better, by clearing out complexity that has quietly accumulated so teams can focus on more valuable work. 

That’s the opportunity this year. Not another tool or program, but a deliberate decision to simplify. It’s the least expensive change available to most People teams, and often the most valuable. 

Tim Guille is Head of People Advisory at We Are Charlotte and a member of AHRI.

🧰 HR’s career resource toolkit

• Podcast: In this episode of Let’s Take This Offline, Professor Sharon Parker shares insight on how HR can rethink how work is designed for a changing world. 
• Article: The business case for simple thinking at work.
• Article: Streamlining the employee experience to build high-performing teams.
• Learning: Discover how to partner with generative AI in a way that creates maximum value with AHRI’s AI & HR: GenAI Integration Essentials course.