Over the past decade, HR technology has exploded. What began as a handful of core systems has evolved into sprawling ecosystems of point solutions, bolt-ons, analytics tools, automation platforms, and "must-have" AI products.
The result? Many HR teams now operate bloated, overlapping, and fragile tech stacks that are expensive to maintain, hard to govern, and confusing for employees and managers alike.
Yet simplification often feels risky. Leaders worry that removing tools will mean losing functionality, upsetting stakeholders, or setting HR back years.
The good news: simplification does not have to mean compromise. With the right approach, HR teams can reduce complexity and improve capability.
The Reality of HR Tool Sprawl
Most HR tech sprawl isn't caused by poor decision-making. It's usually the result of perfectly reasonable choices made over time:
- A new ATS to support rapid hiring
- A specialist LMS to fix learning gaps
- A survey tool to capture engagement
- A scheduling or workforce planning add-on
- An AI tool piloted by one region or COE
Each tool solves a problem. But collectively, they create new ones.
Common symptoms of tool sprawl include:
- Multiple systems doing similar things slightly differently
- Manual workarounds to connect tools that don't integrate properly
- Inconsistent data definitions across platforms
- Employees unsure where to go for what
- HR teams spending more time maintaining systems than improving experiences
At a certain point, the stack becomes the problem it was meant to solve.
Why "More Tools" Rarely Equals "More Capability"
A critical misconception in HR technology is equating capability with tool count.
In reality, capability comes from clarity of design, clean data flows, clear ownership, and tools working together rather than simply existing in parallel.
When HR stacks grow organically without an architectural view, the consequences are predictable:
- Features are underused
- Advanced capabilities sit idle
- Reporting becomes unreliable
- AI initiatives stall before they start
In many organisations, less than 40 to 60% of available functionality in core systems is actively used while new tools are purchased to fill perceived gaps.
Step One: Shift from Tool Thinking to Capability Thinking
The path to simplification starts with a mindset shift.
Instead of asking "Which tools do we need?", HR leaders should ask: "Which capabilities must HR deliver, now and in the future?"
Examples of capabilities include:
- Hiring at scale
- Internal mobility
- Performance enablement
- Skills visibility
- Workforce planning
- Manager self-service
- Compliance and reporting
Once capabilities are defined, tools can be assessed as enablers, not heroes.
This often reveals multiple tools supporting the same capability, core platforms already capable of more than expected, customisations masking standard functionality, and legacy tools kept "just in case."
Step Two: Map Your Actual HR Tech Landscape (Not the Ideal One)
Many HR teams believe they understand their tech stack until they map it properly.
A meaningful stack map should include:
- All systems (core, satellite, regional, shadow IT)
- Ownership (HR, IT, vendor, region)
- Integrations (manual, automated, broken)
- Data mastered in each system
- Actual usage vs licensed usage
This exercise alone often uncovers tools with no clear owner, redundant integrations, licences paid for unused modules, and critical dependencies no one realised existed.
You can't simplify what you can't see clearly.
Step Three: Identify Overlap and Redundancy Without Emotion
One of the hardest parts of rationalisation is emotional attachment.
Tools often have internal champions, history and sunk cost, perceived political importance, and fear attached to removing them.
To move forward objectively, HR teams should evaluate tools against consistent criteria:
- Does this tool enable a distinct capability?
- Is it the system of record or a convenience layer?
- Does it scale with the organisation?
- Is it actively used, and by whom?
- Could the same outcome be achieved through configuration elsewhere?
In many cases, the answer is not "remove everything," but rather to consolidate functionality into fewer platforms, retire tools that solved yesterday's problems, and reduce reliance on workaround systems.
Step Four: Design an Intentional HR Tech Architecture
Simplification should not be reactive. It should be architectural.
A strong HR tech architecture clearly defines:
- Core platforms (systems of record)
- Specialist systems (where depth is genuinely required)
- Experience layers (portals, workflows, automation)
- Data and integration principles
- Decision rights for future tools
Key principles of intentional design include one source of truth per data type, minimal duplication of functionality, clear integration ownership, configurable before custom, and global where possible with local where necessary.
This approach allows HR teams to say "no" to new tools without blocking innovation.
Step Five: Simplify the Employee and Manager Experience First
One of the strongest arguments for rationalisation is experience.
From an employee's perspective:
- Fewer logins
- Fewer interfaces
- Clear journeys
- Consistent data
From a manager's perspective:
- One place to act
- Clear dashboards
- Reduced admin burden
Often, removing one tool and improving another delivers a better experience than adding something new.
Technology should fade into the background, not demand attention.
Step Six: Build Governance That Prevents Sprawl from Returning
Simplification without governance is temporary.
To avoid repeating the same cycle, HR teams need:
- Clear ownership of the HR tech roadmap
- Defined intake processes for new tools
- Architecture reviews before procurement
- Ongoing usage and value tracking
- Regular stack health checks
This does not mean slowing HR down. It means ensuring every new tool earns its place.
Simplification Is a Strategic Advantage
In an era of AI, skills-based organisations, and real-time workforce insights, clarity beats complexity.
HR teams with simpler, well-designed stacks move faster, adopt innovation more effectively, spend less on maintenance, deliver better employee experiences, and build trust in HR data and insights.
Simplification isn't about doing less. It's about doing the right things, intentionally, with the right tools.
