\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
HR needs a reset. Let me explain.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, HR departments have spent billions on platforms, processes and programs promising transformation<\/a>. Yet at many organizations, the experience on the ground still looks the same.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Managers are overwhelmed. Teams feel disengaged. And too often, \u201cstrategic\u201d HR initiatives fail somewhere between the C-suite and the frontline.<\/p>\n That disconnect is HR\u2019s \u201clast mile\u201d problem.<\/p>\n Chief human resources officers (CHROs) and their teams excel at crafting strategy and standing up systems. But HR hasn\u2019t moved the needle where it matters most: enabling frontline managers to drive results through better decisions<\/a>.<\/p>\n If CHROs are serious about impact, they must extend their reach and empower those managers by closing the gap between strategy and execution. AI can help make that happen<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why HR stands at a crossroads \u2014 and how it can fix its last-mile problem.<\/p>\n For organizations serious about results, managers \u2014 the people on the frontlines, not in HR \u2014 are the linchpin.<\/p>\n They account for about 70% of the variance in team engagement<\/a>. When managers thrive, teams are more productive, profitable and resilient. When they struggle, disengagement ripples through the org.<\/p>\n And many managers are struggling. Manager engagement fell below 30%<\/a> in 2024, while overall employee engagement dropped to about 20%, costing an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity.<\/p>\n Why? Managers are being asked to do more than ever. They now oversee twice as many people<\/a> as five years ago while dealing with hybrid teams and constant change \u2014 often with little training or support.<\/p>\n The healthcare sector, which my company serves, offers a clear example. A large stud<\/a>y of frontline hospital managers found that broader spans of control are linked to worse work-life balance and higher intent to quit.<\/p>\n Managers represent the last mile of corporate performance \u2014 where strategy meets execution. And despite decades of HR effort, they\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n If you look at how HR spends, it\u2019s easy to see how we got here.<\/p>\n Big human capital management rollouts, employee self-service portals and digital workflows were designed to make HR more efficient. They mostly succeeded, but they did little to improve the quality of managers\u2019 decisions about people and work.<\/p>\n Take performance management systems, which report on how employees are doing but rarely shape better outcomes. On their own, these tools have little influence<\/a> on how managers hire, coach, allocate talent or respond to signs of burnout and attrition.<\/p>\n To be fair, people analytics teams have made progress getting better data into managers\u2019 hands. Still, organizations that do this well remain the exception, not the rule.<\/p>\n The challenge is that people analytics tools are built for HR, not frontline managers. They don\u2019t reflect what leaders need to make better daily decisions.<\/p>\n Those managers don\u2019t want another dashboard. They want context and confidence. That means being able to explore what their options for the best people decisions truly are, the potential consequences of their decisions, what others have done, and what the leadership team has prescribed \u2014 all backed by hard data, not mere intuition.<\/p>\n Static charts and quarterly reports don\u2019t deliver that.<\/p>\n For CHROs, closing this last-mile gap requires bold action \u2014 with a little help from AI.<\/p>\n HR departments need a new mission \u2014 one bigger than compliance, record-keeping and cost-tracking. That North Star isn\u2019t just talent impact\u2026 it\u2019s business results.<\/p>\n HR must become outward-looking. Instead of simply reporting on employee performance, how can it drive productivity? Managers \u2014 not HR\u2019s internal needs \u2014 must be the focal point of its delivery model. That means working backward from a day in the life of a manager. What can help them make better talent decisions every day?<\/p>\n Today, CHROs have a golden opportunity. AI is changing not just how their department operates but also the nature of work itself \u2014 and they\u2019re at the crux of that shift.<\/p>\n Fortunately, many CHROs get it. In a recent survey<\/a> of HR leaders on 2026 priorities, harnessing AI to revolutionize their work topped the list.<\/p>\n The key is ensuring AI doesn\u2019t become another way for HR to optimize efficiency while staying in its traditional lane. Instead, HR must view it as a true management system that extends strategic intent into everyday people decisions.<\/p>\n Think of AI as a new nervous system for the company, one that puts an end to the \u201ctelephone game\u201d that dilutes talent strategy as it moves from CEO to manager. AI enables a direct flow of insights up and down throughout the organization.<\/p>\n That gives managers real-time information to make better decisions \u2014 for example, contextualizing Jira or Salesforce data to assess employees\u2019 contributions and inform pay and incentive choices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But AI isn\u2019t simply a switch you turn on. Making it a company\u2019s management system requires breaking down organizational and data silos. The CHRO needs to form strategic partnerships with the CFO and the CIO.<\/p>\n When HR, finance and IT work together, companies can combine people data, business data and AI-powered analytics to surface real insights. For example, we worked with a luxury retailer that integrated HR data with point-of-sale systems across hundreds of locations. Leaders could see which store managers\u2019 training correlated with higher sales and scale that program companywide.<\/p>\n Blending people and business data is key to improving corporate performance, but it requires overcoming challenges around privacy, security, governance and entrenched ways of working.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this moment demands HR rise to the occasion \u2014 moving beyond administration<\/a> to connect people across the org with the data and insights needed to drive business impact.<\/p>\n But of course, insights mean little if frontline managers lack the tools to understand and use them.<\/p>\n Usability and accessibility are paramount. Dense spreadsheets \u2014 inscrutable to almost anyone but analysts \u2014 aren\u2019t the answer. Managers need on-demand, data-backed, strategy-driven answers.<\/p>\nThe last mile is the frontline manager<\/h2>\n
Why dashboards and legacy HR tech can\u2019t fix the last mile problem<\/h2>\n
Step 1: Reset HR\u2019s North Star<\/h2>\n
Step 2: Rethink HR\u2019s relationship with AI<\/h2>\n
Step 3: Be the bridge builder in your org<\/h2>\n
Step 4: Give managers tools that actually serve their needs, not yours<\/h2>\n