How to Audit Your HR Tech Stack in 30 Days
You don’t need six months or a consulting firm to evaluate your HR tech stack. But you do need a structured, outcome-driven plan. A focused 30-day audit can uncover inefficiencies, surface risk, and position your team for smarter tech decisions.
This is not just an operational exercise—it’s a strategic reset.
Week 1: Inventory & Ownership
Owned by: People Ops Lead + HRIS Admin (with support from IT)
Goal: Establish full visibility of the tech ecosystem, ownership, and cost.
Expected Outcome:
- Centralized list of all platforms
- Clear system ownership
- Known costs, renewals, and open issues
What to do:
- List all tools used across the employee lifecycle
- Document system purpose, owner, and users
- Capture contract terms and renewal dates
- Ask IT about shadow tools or legacy access
Why it matters:
You can’t optimize what you can’t see. Without a full map of what you use, you risk duplicating spend, missing deadlines, or losing critical data in forgotten systems.
Don’t have this role? Try this instead:
No HRIS Admin? Tap whoever manages employee data (payroll, People Ops). If it’s a shared spreadsheet, start there.
Week 2: Fit, Friction & Functionality
Owned by: People Systems Manager + HRBPs + IT/Finance SMEs
Goal: Understand where tools are misaligned or creating pain.
Expected Outcome:
- Tool-by-tool usability assessment
- Pain points and redundant tools flagged
- Qualitative input to guide priorities
What to do:
- Interview users across HR, Finance, and IT
- Capture workarounds and manual fixes
- Tag tools as Core, Overlap, At Risk, or Manual
- Log all feedback in one place
Why it matters:
Adoption is everything. A tool that’s technically “working” but ignored by users is a cost, not an asset. You need real insight into where work gets stuck or bypassed.
Don’t have this role? Try this instead:
No HRBPs or People Systems lead? Use a short survey to ask tool users (e.g., recruiters, managers) what works and what doesn’t. You don’t need a title to collect real feedback.
Week 3: Integration, Data & Access
Owned by: HRIS Admin + IT Integration Lead + Data Governance Lead
Goal: Evaluate how systems connect, how data flows, and where risk lives.
Expected Outcome:
- Integration map with status of each connection
- Access issues and data inconsistencies flagged
- Areas of risk or manual duplication documented
What to do:
- Trace key data fields across systems
- Identify tools missing automations
- Review who has access to what—and why
- Assess audit trails, security, and permissions
Why it matters:
Broken integrations create broken processes. Disconnected systems lead to double work, bad data, compliance risk, and frustration for every team that depends on clean people data—especially Finance, IT, and Legal.
Don’t have this role? Try this instead:
No Integration or Governance Lead? Partner with your IT contact. Ask them to walk you through current APIs or exports. Even if informal, document everything.
Week 4: Gaps, Governance & Action Plan
Owned by: People Ops Lead + CPO/People Leadership Team + IT PMO
Goal: Prioritize action to simplify the stack and align to strategy.
Expected Outcome:
- Strategic and tactical roadmap
- Tech/process governance issues defined
- Top 3–5 recommendations tied to business goals
What to do:
- Identify what to retire, fix, or build
- Create a quick-win list and a 12-month roadmap
- Propose new process owners or a RACI if needed
- Share results with leadership for alignment
Why it matters:
Audits mean nothing without action. Tying findings to business goals—scale, cost, data trust—gives you the leverage to act, not just report. This is where HR becomes a systems leader, not just a systems user.
Don’t have this role? Try this instead:
No CPO or PMO? Present your findings to the person who approves HR tech purchases or owns the People function—even if it’s the COO or CEO. You’re giving them clarity they probably don’t have.
Final Thought
A 30-day audit gives you something bigger than a checklist: alignment.
You’ll clarify ownership. Spot risk. Build trust in your data. And create a roadmap that connects tech to real business outcomes.
If you’re short on time, people, or budget—start with Week 1. Even a partial audit is better than flying blind. And the more you do this, the stronger your systems—and your HR strategy—will get.