Is HR Overengineering Itself? The Case for Keeping It Simple.
Since 2023, my work with medium-sized businesses (MSB) across various industries has revealed one consistent theme within the HR functions: a relentless focus on keeping it simple.
Look around the HR landscape today, and it’s easy for these businesses to feel behind. LinkedIn feeds are flooded with talk of AI-powered talent acquisition, hyper-granular benchmarking, complex Standard Operating Processes and multi-stage interviews. Meanwhile, their own “recruitment tech stack” might be a well-organized Excel sheet, a free Zoom account, and a healthy dose of gut instinct.
Yet, here’s the reality: many of these "low-tech" organizations boast incredibly low turnover and fiercely committed teams. They succeed not in spite of their simplicity, but because of it.
The Trap of "Best Practices":
The drive to overengineer HR comes from a good place. Tools like complex ATS systems and AI screeners are designed for massive corporations that process tens of thousands of applications annually. They need systems to manage immense scale and mitigate risk.
The trap for MSB’s is believing these are "best practices" they must adopt. Implementing a tool designed for a 50,000-person company in a 500-person team is like using a fire hose to water a houseplant. It’s overkill and expensive, and likely to destroy a valuable existing culture.
The Real Secrets of Great MSB Cultures:
They Prioritize People Over Process: In a smaller company, the CEO knows everyone’s name. Hiring managers actually read every resume. This allows for genuine human connection during hiring and onboarding, making people feel valued from day one—something no AI can replicate.
Agility is Built-In: A 10-person leadership team can decide to change a bonus structure or tweak a policy in a single meeting. They don’t need months of change management consultations. They just do.
Clarity Trumps Complexity: A simple, transparent goal-setting framework that everyone understands is far more powerful than a convoluted annual review system that managers and employees alike dread.
HR follows the 80/20 Rule - Focus on the 20% of efforts that drive 80% of the results. This implies building genuine connections, providing radical clarity, and recognizing great work. If these simple things are executed exceptionally well, you’ll find the "low-tech" HR function is, in fact, the company’s most powerful engine for growth and retention.
A Note for Large Organizations
This "less is more" philosophy isn't just for MSBs. Large global organizations can absolutely learn from it. The challenge is to deliberately re-inject the human-centric principles that complexity often strips away.
The larger the organization, the simpler and clearer the experience must be for the individual employee. Otherwise, the machine overwhelms the very people it's designed to serve. This can be achieved by valuing Agility over Bureaucracy; Trust over Control; Human Connection over Process and Clarity over Complexity.
