New research conducted by Strada, the people, payroll and technology leader that simplifies international workforce management, reveals that despite sustained investment in modern HR and payroll technologies, many enterprise organisations are yet to fully realise their intended value. As a result, manual workarounds, legacy processes and parallel systems remain a common feature of payroll and workforce operations.
Strada’s Workforce Possibility Report 2026, released today, finds that 77% of large employers implementing or operating a major HCM platform still depend on manual checks, parallel systems or legacy backups to manage payroll and workforce operations. The findings point to a broader confidence gap: while systems are in place but not yet fully optimised to operate independently, leaving teams exposed to ongoing operational risk and limiting the value of transformation programmes.
The report, based on a global survey of senior HR, finance, operations and technology leaders, also shows that expected gains from transformation programmes are not being realised at scale. Across core payroll and HR outcomes, fewer than three in ten organisations reported significant progress. Just 23% say they have meaningfully reduced manual payroll tasks, while only 21% report a marked improvement in compliance confidence, highlighting a persistent gap between system capability and day-to-day performance.
Enterprise organisations have spent years investing in HR and payroll platforms with the expectation of greater confidence in data, compliance and scalability. Yet for many, this value is not yet fully realised, as complexity, fragmentation and under-optimised operations continue to limit performance and slow execution.
The impact extends beyond operations. 81% of organisations state workforce complexity is now affecting their ability to execute business strategy, underlining how fragmented systems and under-optimised processes are becoming a barrier to growth. Payroll teams continue to reconcile data manually, cross-check outputs, and maintain fallback processes well beyond go live, creating shadow operations that limit efficiency and confidence.
Commenting on the findings, Jenni Flaherty, Director of Payroll Product Strategy, said:
“We’re seeing strong and sustained investment in HR and payroll technology, but many organizations are still in the process of realizing its full value. Our research shows that manual checks and legacy processes persist where systems are not fully optimized or integrated.”
“When these workarounds are embedded, they point to opportunities to better connect systems and improve how they operate day to day. Organizations that focus on optimization and continuous improvement are the ones unlocking greater efficiency, confidence and long-term value.”
The research also reveals that data visibility remains a critical challenge. Only 39% of organizations have real-time visibility of their total global payroll spend, despite it being one of the largest and most sensitive cost bases. In many cases, answering basic workforce questions still requires manual consolidation across multiple systems, increasing the risk of delay, error and poor decision-making.
Strada’s Workforce Possibility Report 2026 draws on independent research conducted among 405 senior decision makers in organizations with more than 1,000 employees across seven global markets. Explore the full Workforce Possibility Report 2026 here: www.stradaglobal.com/workforcepossibility
Notes to editors
Strada’s Workforce Possibility report was conducted independently and reflects insights from senior leaders responsible for HR, payroll and workforce operations within large enterprises across the following markets: UK, North America, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany & Netherlands.
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