Addressing workforce challenges in higher education

Universities are at a crossroads, facing a multitude of workforce challenges that affect employee engagement and retention, mainly declining international student numbers, funding cuts, and increasingly complex pay legislation.

Combined with other workforce trends, like hybrid working attracting highly sought-after talent to other industries, the sector is under constant (and growing) pressure to modernise its approach to HR and workforce management.

A recent report from EY highlights just how important human-centred transformations – where technology is designed to align with the evolving expectations of staff and students – are to higher education institutions.

As the sector navigates these challenges, HR technology has become a critical enabler, helping universities streamline administrative processes, support employee wellbeing, and provide real-time insights into workforce trends.

The impact of HR technology on workforce engagement

Employee engagement is directly linked to operational efficiency, pay transparency, and streamlined HR processes. HR technology helps universities improve engagement by automating payroll and compliance, ensuring staff are paid accurately and on time.

Higher education institutions increasingly rely on integrated HR platforms, such as TechnologyOne’s Human Resources & Payroll (HRP) solution, to:

• Automate payroll and reduce administrative burden, allowing HR teams to focus on strategic initiatives.
• Ensure pay equity and compliance, particularly when employees hold multiple roles across academic and administrative departments.
• Enhance self-service capabilities, giving staff direct access to payroll information, leave balances, and personal records.

According to EY, digital transformation is most effective when it prioritises user experience. Universities that incorporate employee-centric HR solutions not only improve operational efficiency but also create a workplace culture that promotes engagement and wellbeing.

Self-service HR tools: Empowering academic and administrative staff

A critical advantage of self-service technology is that it reduces administrative workloads while enhancing staff autonomy. This means that when implementing these systems, it’s essential to not move the ‘admin’ of data onto managers or employees. Rather, we must seek ways to provide a compelling employee experience and simplify the process.

Proper self-service HR tools empower employees by putting workforce management directly in their hands, allowing staff to:

• Update personal information and manage payroll details without HR intervention
• Submit and track leave requests, ensuring greater transparency
• Manage timesheets, ensuring accurate and timely payment processing.

For example, an academic staff member taking on extra casual teaching hours can input their timesheet data directly, triggering real-time payroll processing without delays or errors. By cutting reliance on manual timesheets, universities create a more efficient and responsive HR experience for employees.

The power of real-time workforce analytics in retention and planning

In a sector where financial constraints are growing, real-time workforce analytics play a vital role in workforce planning and retention. Universities that use advanced HR analytics can:

• Identify workforce turnover patterns and address potential retention issues before they escalate
• Ensure compliance with diversity targets and track workforce composition in real-time
• Track overtime and leave balances to prevent unnecessary payroll overruns
• Align workforce data with institutional budgets, ensuring cost control and operational efficiency.

For example, workforce analytics can reveal trends such as increased staff turnover in specific departments. With these insights, leadership teams can take proactive measures – whether through career development programs, workload adjustments, or compensation reviews – to improve retention.

Moreover, EY’s research emphasises the importance of using analytics to inform workforce planning decisions, ensuring universities align staffing levels with financial forecasts and long-term institutional strategies.

By integrating workforce data with finance systems, universities can make much more informed decisions that support both staff wellbeing and fiscal responsibility.

The future of HR in higher education: Integrated HR and payroll systems

With ongoing financial and regulatory pressures, universities must invest in technology-driven solutions to future-proof their workforce.

Having a truly integrated HR and payroll system, particularly one like TechnologyOne’s that is part of full Campus ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), allows universities to streamline and automate many key processes mentioned in this article.

Universities and education institutions that have embraced integrated HR platforms have reported just some of the following benefits:

• Significant reductions in administrative burden by consolidating multiple systems into one
• Faster time-to-hire with straight-through processing in recruitment and onboarding, removing bottlenecks and unnecessary re-keying of data
• Increased payroll efficiency by processing timesheets and pay data in real-time, allowing payroll managers to focus on complex exception cases instead of manual corrections
• Improved payroll accuracy, reducing overpayments and underpayments while ensuring compliance.

Additionally, having a fully integrated Payroll and Finance system ensures that time can only be recorded against valid cost codes, reducing error handling, eliminating costly reconciliation processes, and improving overall financial management.

Build a stronger university workforce with TechnologyOne

Integrated HR solutions provide a clear pathway to improving employee engagement and retention, ensuring staff feel supported and valued. By embracing automation, self-service HR tools, and real-time analytics, universities can build a more agile and resilient workforce, better equipped to meet the evolving challenges of higher education.

TechnologyOne’s Human Resources & Payroll (HRP) solution is built for the higher education sector. With OneEducation, TechnologyOne supports the operational and educational needs of over 6.5 million students globally and mobilises over 60 per cent of higher education in Australia and New Zealand.

Discover how our technology can transform your university’s approach to employee engagement and retention today.

Andy Cox is TechnologyOne’s General Manager for HR & Payroll Products, leading the development of innovative solutions that help organisations manage the entire employee lifecycle – from recruitment to retirement. With extensive experience in HR Technology and Digital Transformation, he is a strong believer in leveraging technology to create a modern, frictionless employee experience, with highly efficient tools that automate and streamline HR processes. Mr Cox studied Social Psychology at the LSE and has extensive global experience with large international Financial Services companies, as well as Australian-based Universities, Councils and Federal Government Departments.

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