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Technology is changing the nature of work faster than many companies can keep up. Which makes the relationship between HR and IT key to achieving productivity gains while still keeping your employees happy.
Consider AI. People think of it as technology that belongs to IT. While that’s true, there’s an undeniable impact on people, which means you need HR to work with IT to help manage the change. In fact, i4CP found organizations at the forefront of AI adoption are 2.5 times as likely to have HR involve employees in identifying best practices for automation.
So, how do you build a strong relationship between HR and IT?
Start by Understanding the Strengths of HR vs. IT
As an HR exec who has worked for Apple and other tech companies, I have a unique perspective on how HR and IT can work together for good. And it starts by recognizing where each unit excels.
HR places a premium on soft skills like communication and teamwork. We consider how employees and AI agents can co-exist, and how technology affects an employee’s emotional state. Part of our job is reducing fear around tech and making sure everyone can access digital tools. We spend countless hours making sure the right paperwork is in place so people can work and get paid, and we’re happy to do it — even if nobody is going to throw a parade for being in compliance.
IT is different for many reasons, including the fact that they often offer absolutism. While so many questions in the enterprise are answered by “maybe,” IT offers a refreshingly direct approach. “The WiFi is fixed.” “The software patch is applied.” “The ticket is closed.” That steadiness makes employees trust IT, and more broadly, organizational behavior. Another difference is that IT is typically a metrics-driven culture that’s celebrated for their organization-wide impact—but not always recognized for more complex problem-solving that requires patience and empathy.
Start With Your Common Goals
While HR and IT have different approaches and responsibilities, we’re often trying to accomplish the same things. Think about the employee journey, and how HR and IT work together to deliver a smooth experience — from onboarding and delivering a shiny new laptop, through compliance, training and offboarding. This common ground is a great starting point for more collaboration. Other areas where they collaborate include:
- Handling sensitive information. When IT and HR share employee information, I call it an “integrity egg toss” — something that requires extreme care to protect employees’ privacy and safeguard sensitive information. Fortunately, IT and HR are both up for the task.
- Improving employee satisfaction. The digital employee experience (DEX) affects everything from onboarding to enterprise-wide productivity, and both HR and IT are typically involved in making sure employees have the technology they need.
- Accelerating AI deployment while ensuring data privacy. IT is responsible for the technology and data quality, but HR plays a crucial role in addressing employees’ concerns as AI (and AI agents) become more common. And while data privacy is still primarily an IT issue, many HR leaders mention data protection laws and ethical AI use as a challenge of AI implementation, which makes sense given HR’s responsibility to protect and manage employees.
- Supporting remote employees. When employees had a computer on their desk and came into the office every day, life was a lot different for both HR and IT. Now, HR and IT have the additional challenge of managing technology and people from afar.
- Seeing the big picture. One thing I love about HR is that I can see where the company is headed simply by watching how our people adapt and advance over time. Similarly, IT has a view of the entire tech landscape and strategic initiatives. This visibility lets us both see where potential pain points and obstacles may occur, and how we can work together to address them.
How HR Can Bring More Value to IT
Just as IT supports HR by providing digital strategy, secure records and much more, HR can strengthen IT in a variety of ways.
Add Human Context
Especially as AI transforms the way we work, our job is to add meaning and understand “what inspires your people and what type of work they want to do.” People are still the heart of any company, and HR can make sure we’re designing processes and workflows around your employees. As Lenovo noted, “HR executives bring critical insight into employee behavior, expectations, and culture—nuances where IT alone cannot deliver.”
Facilitate Follow-Ups
Part of our job as HR professionals is to ask well-timed questions designed to help employees learn and grow. For example, following a new software rollout or other big digital event, HR should call for a pause and ask IT questions like, “What did we learn?” and “How are we sharing this information enterprise-wide?” When one team can see the outcome and the other can’t, it can breed resentment between teams. HR has the high-level perspective and authority to “poke the bear” by bringing people together for tough conversations, building bridges, and helping everyone talk through issues in a safe environment.
Improve IT Processes and Training
Part of our job — in addition to training and upskilling — is looking for trends. For example, when I see a dozen tickets around a common theme, I might suggest that IT take the time to document everything so leadership can work toward a long-term solution. That’s hard to do when the help desk is slammed, but that’s where HR and IT can work together to find sustainable solutions.
Give IT All of the Information and Context They Need
When HR opens IT tickets with all of the details or background information required, that not only builds trust — it also helps ensure that IT can provide a complete solution. Full transparency can be difficult given the complexity of requests and the privacy issues involved, but helping IT operate as efficiently as possible ultimately provides the best support for our employees. And if people are taken aback when IT asks pointed questions, just remember that IT is probably just trying to understand the current state of what’s happening.
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Schedule Regular Connection Points and Meetings
I have a standing half-hour weekly meeting with my IT counterparts where we talk about what happened the past week, any significant open tickets, and other issues. The consistency is important because we know we’ll always have that time to connect, and because it lets us keep building a common language.
Whether you’re in HR or IT, think about the last time you reached out to your counterparts not because there was a problem, but because you wanted to compare notes and find more ways to work together. Opening those doors (and keeping them open) takes time, but it pays off when you need it most — whether that’s your next AI rollout, a major workforce transition, or a new opportunity to create a competitive advantage.
Editor's Note: For other thoughts on this critical relationship, see:
- Why HR and IT Must Join Forces to Succeed — The overlooked partnership at the center of real AI adoption.
- Creating Exceptional Employee Experiences: Where HR, Communications and Technology Unite — Employee experiences cross departmental boundaries. So to create exceptional EX, multiple departments must work together – with internal comms in the lead.
- Two's Company. Three's a Strategy — Organizations have failed to connect HR, IT and communications since the invention of the org chart. The difference now is the stakes are higher.
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