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The Cost of Disconnected HR Systems at a 150-Person Company

Last year, I worked with a fast-growing health tech company of 150 employees. To understand the total cost of each new hire, I reviewed a report of all company laptops and who held them. I discovered that 43 employees and contractors had laptops that were far more powerful (and expensive) than their roles required.

For instance, an accountant had a fully upgraded $2,500 PC, while an offshore developer used a $4,000 MacBook Pro. Over 18 months of rapid hiring, the company overspent about $75,000 on laptops alone.

The financial impact of disconnected HR systems extended beyond hardware. In that same audit, I uncovered over $50,000 a year in unused or duplicate software licenses. By comparison, the new process we designed costs less than $1,000 annually to run.

Laptop ordering relied on an automated workflow with zero visibility for HR. I call this "Automated Chaos": a flawed process that repeatedly makes the same mistake because no one is monitoring the output.

Automation is only as effective as the underlying process. If your organization is growing 25% to 30% annually, this lesson applies whether you have 40 employees or 150.

Where the Laptop Process Failed

When new employees joined, BambooHR assigned them an onboarding task containing a link to a Google Form. Before their start date, they selected a laptop using this form, which automatically generated a Jira ticket for the managed service provider (MSP) responsible for ordering company devices.

IT had approved four laptop models (2 Macs and 2 PCs) that offered standard Business specs and high-performance Engineer specs for each platform. Each job title was mapped to one recommended Mac and one recommended PC, so new hires were supposed to see only those two options, but in reality, this is what ended up happening:

1. The Google Form: The form displayed all the approved laptop options to all employees, so an employee could select whatever device they wanted, even if it wasn’t mapped to their job role.
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2. The Jira ticket: The ticket workflow was supposed to flag any selection that did not match the employee's job title, but IT never implemented that validation logic. As a result, every ticket went straight to the MSP, which simply ordered whatever model was selected.
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3. Replacements: When employees requested replacement laptops, IT processed these manually outside the form and provided whichever device was requested. This occurred most frequently with senior staff. Although the approved PCs consisted entirely of HP models, three managers received Lenovo and Dell laptops because of personal preference. To make matters worse, those custom models cost more than the standard HP options.

Because IT designed and managed the entire process, HR had no access to it. So, no one in HR could verify whether the automated workflow was running correctly.

The True Cost of Automating a Broken Process

Automating a process exactly as it exists today is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in HR. Many HR teams start by simply trying to make current workflows as hands-off as possible.

However, automating a flawed process only repeats the same error every time it runs, while reducing your oversight and control. At this company, that Automated Chaos resulted in 43 incorrect laptop assignments over 18 months before anyone noticed.

Why Disconnected HR Systems Are HR's Responsibility

You might be thinking: “What does HR have to do with a laptop ordering process?” In my opinion, the laptop provisioning process is HR's responsibility for 3 main reasons.

First, it is part of onboarding, which HR manages as part of the overall employee experience. Second, hardware selection rules depend mostly on job roles, and HR is the source of truth of that information. Third, accurate headcount budgeting requires knowing the total cost of each new hire. Passing this process to IT means handing over control of headcount expenses, which belongs with HR.

How We Fixed It

We repaired the underlying process before re-automating it.

1. Rebuild the form: I updated the Google Form to use conditional logic, ensuring employees only saw laptops approved for their specific role. Non-engineering staff, for instance, could no longer select engineering-grade hardware.
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2. Keep the title list current: Working with IT, I verified that every job title was correctly mapped to its designated Mac and PC. We also set up an automated sync so that any updates to titles or departments made in BambooHR immediately updated Jira.
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3. Build the check and test it: IT added mismatch detection logic in Jira, which I thoroughly tested across 7 test scenarios before deployment.
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4. Give HR access to the automations: We connected these systems using Zapier. IT maintained administrative oversight and data governance, while HR gained access to create and edit workflows. This gave HR automated alerts for process errors and clear visibility into device expenditures.
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5. Allow one ordering route: We established a policy requiring all hardware requests to go through the form. The MSP was instructed to reject orders from any other source, with Finance reserving the right to decline payment for unauthorized purchases.

The total fix cost under $1,000 annually, primarily for Zapier licensing. Since implementation, every new hire has received the correct device for their role.

We also collected and sold the unnecessary high-spec laptops, using the proceeds to purchase proper replacements. This reshuffle returned $13,500 in net cash to the company.

What Disconnected Systems Cost in Software Licenses

Software licenses suffered from the exact same problem. Managers filled out a separate request form for every new employee or contractor, even though team members in the same department needed nearly identical tools. Because IT managed everything behind that form, HR had no way to track when or how software licenses were assigned.

I ran the software audit alongside the laptop review to get a complete picture of my client’s overall tech spend. We moved software access to an automated integration between BambooHR and Okta. Now, whenever someone joins or changes roles, Okta automatically grants or revokes their access based on an approved list of tools for each job title and department.

The audit also revealed that employees were buying software on company credit cards, even when we already owned licenses with available seats. I worked with Finance to block subscription purchases on company Ramp cards for anyone without purchasing approval. Together, the audit and cleanup eliminated over $50,000 a year in unused and duplicate licenses.

Reactions from IT, Leadership, and Managers

IT was very defensive at first because their process wasn't working as planned. On the other hand, leadership saw the findings as a positive sign that HR was actively managing company resources and controlling costs.

When I explained the situation to the managers, they understood the reasoning behind reclaiming the laptops and didn't push back. I coordinated closely with IT to minimize any disruption during the transition, and ultimately, everyone was glad we resolved the issue.

What to Do If You Hire a Few People a Year

If you only add a few people each year, setting up complex automations for tasks like laptop provisioning isn't worth the time or maintenance effort. However, you should still establish a structured, repeatable process.

For example, pick a few laptop models the company approves and review the list once a year. Then, you aren't researching a new laptop for every hire or handling custom device requests. The goal is a process that runs the same way every time. If you're still deciding which tools belong in your HR stack at your stage, start with the minimum viable HR tech stack for startups.

How to Audit Your HR Systems This Week

At this company, nobody discovered the issue until I pulled a report for an unrelated task. Here’s what I recommend you do in order to proactively find improvement opportunities in your HR systems:

1. Map your HR tech stack: List every system HR depends on, including your HR information system (HRIS), applicant tracking system, payroll, identity tools like Okta, and the forms or spreadsheets that sit between them. Note what each system can do and who controls it. At the company in this story, IT controlled the whole laptop process, so HR had no way to check it.
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2. Find where the same data is entered twice: Look for every place where information is typed into more than one system, or passed along through a form or email. Connect those systems so one of them is the single source of truth, which reduces mistakes and processing time. For example, managers at this company filled out a separate software request form for every new hire, even though each department needed almost the same tools.
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3. List every automated process: Document every HR process that relies on full or partial automation. Schedule a review on your calendar to audit all of them twice a year.
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4. Check what HR can see: Verify that you can see when each automation runs and whether it performs. If you lack visibility, set up failure alerts, error handling, and routine reporting before building new workflows. If IT owns the systems, agree on a split where IT keeps admin rights and data governance, and HR can create and edit the automations.
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5. Compare what you pay for with who uses it: Match every software license and company device to the person and role that holds it, and look for unused seats or tools bought outside the approved list. This helps you identify any leaks in your process ecosystem. Your HRIS asset records and Finance's spending data are a good place to start.
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6. Close alternative purchasing routes: Establish a single, mandatory path for ordering equipment or acquiring software, and align with Finance to ensure they reject any request submitted through other channels. This eliminates the chance of tools and devices operating outside your process ecosystem.
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7. Rethink the process before automating: Start by defining the outcome you want the process to achieve. Then outline how the current workflow operates, identify what works and what needs improvement, and redesign the process around that outcome before you add any automation. When you do automate, choose only frequent, predictable tasks that follow clear and consistent rules.

If you prefer to have an expert audit your existing automations and fix any issues, book a free HR diagnostic call.

P.S. I’m planning future editions with step-by-step builds for automating HR processes and putting AI to work inside the systems you already use. Which HRIS does your company use? Click one option below, and I’ll start with the platforms most readers choose.