People SciClub | Trees & HR IT Strategy (01/25)

Executive Summary | At a glance

• Problem: Many HR IT projects fail due to a lack of user acceptance, unclear goals, a lack of impact, or a desire to maintain the status quo. Managers in HR departments either get lost in the details or think too vaguely about strategy development for digitization projects.
• Solution: The Construal Level Shift Method (CSL) combines and clarifies two levels of thinking:
  
  • Low construct level (“trees”): Concrete collection of symptoms
  • High construct level (“forest”): Abstraction to systemic causes
• Result: A comprehensive foundation for developing a sustainable HR IT strategy that takes both the details and the big picture into account, thereby improving the successful implementation of new technologies.

Background | Good to know

HR IT faces a paradox: on the one hand, it is supposed to simplify processes, but on the other hand, increasing digitalization often leads to greater complexity. According to a study by Gartner, only 35% are confident that their current approach to HR technology will help them achieve their business goals.

Our opinion: Many decision-makers either get lost in details (“Why does the tool always crash?”) or think too vaguely (“We need more innovation!”).

This is where the Construal Level Shift method comes in – an approach from behavioral science that combines two levels of thinking to improve problem identification in strategy development:

• Low construct level (“trees”): Concrete collection of symptoms
• High construct level (“forest”): Abstracting to systemic causes

Steps in HR IT strategy development

The development of an HR IT strategy consists of four essential steps:

• Problem identification → Recognizing that (strategic) problems or opportunities exist in HR IT
  • Finding the problem → Validating whether the identified problem is strategically relevant and whether a solution is needed
    
    • Verify the evidence through exploratory empirical data (e.g., discussions with responsible parties or statistics)
  • Frame the problem | CSL active⚡→ Record all relevant symptoms of the problem in concrete terms
    • Collect concrete, detailed symptoms
    • Cluster the symptoms
  • Formulate the problem | CSL active⚡→ Abstract the symptoms to systemic causes
    
    • Link symptoms to overarching patterns and causes
    • Understand and examine causalities
• Development → Develop and prioritize solution approaches and measures based on the identified causes
• Evaluation → Review the feasibility and effectiveness of the strategy
• Implementation → Put the strategy into practice (pilot project if necessary)
  

Did you know?

Based on our expertise and experience, we have adapted the general phases of strategy development even more closely to the specific approach in HR IT projects. For example, we use the CSL method in the “Discovery & Exploration” phase to gain a comprehensive overview of the current challenges and opportunities in HR IT.

Results | New insights

🔬 “Zoom in” | The more specific the problem framing, the more symptoms become visible

• ❓ What does that mean?Start with a detailed collection of symptoms (“trees”): The more specific pain points (e.g., “system crashes during payroll”) you identify, the more complete the problem picture will be
  
  • Study by Park et al., 2024: People who collected details in a targeted manner found 44–104% more symptoms than others

• 👇 Direct practical tip
  Use workshops that focus on specific experiences (e.g., user journey mapping) – avoid premature abstraction

🌍 “Zoom out” | Abstract thinking reveals causes

• ❓ What does that mean? Only when you switch from details to the big picture (“forest”) can you link symptoms to systemic causes (e.g., “lack of system integration” instead of “slow input times”).
  • Study by Park et al., 2024: People with a high level of abstraction derived 30–58% more comprehensive solutions.
• 👇 Direct practical tip
  Analyze symptom clusters with “why” questions (5-why method) and think in terms of strategic goals (e.g., “How does this support our HR 2025 vision or the overall strategy of the company?”)

🔄 Change is what matters | First the details, then the big picture

• ❓ What does that mean?The combination of both levels of thinking (“zoom in” → “zoom out”) leads to:
  • Greater innovation: Undiscovered causes become visible (e.g., outdated process logic)
  • Practical solutions: Technical fixes + strategic levers (e.g., system upgrade + change management)

• 👇 Direct practical tipStructure strategy workshops in phases:
  1. Phase 1 (details): Collect all pain points from different stakeholders – e.g., just facts and observations at first
  2. Phase 2 (the big picture): Form clusters, abstract causes, set priorities

🤔 Why does this method work?

• Proven logic: Similar to the MECE principle (structuring aid from the pyramid principle), CLS reveals gaps that would otherwise be overlooked
• Innovation boost: More symptoms + abstraction = higher chance of identifying new and “silent” problems (e.g., hidden data flows)

🏃 How you can start right away with the insights

1. Symptom hunt: Collect specific HR IT problems for 2–3 weeks (e.g., via surveys, interviews, system logs)
2. Cause check: Ask the team: “What are the three overarching patterns behind these 30 symptoms?”
3. Solution mix: Combine quick wins (e.g., user interface optimization) with long-term levers (e.g., system integration)

👉 Our opinion → The CLS approach can be time-consuming, but it saves time in the long run: Those who invest first to fully understand symptoms and causes avoid expensive misinvestments in unsuitable tools!

🎉 Are you surprised by these results?

Other methods already use similar approaches. Design thinking, for example, distinguishes between convergent and divergent thinking and thus promotes active switching between the two perspectives to avoid fixation and thus deterioration of results. In contrast to design thinking, however, the CSL method has been explicitly validated for strategy development and can therefore make an important contribution to the successful development and implementation of HR IT strategy.

Praxis | Wie Eure Organisation profitiert

Step 1: Problemframing – See the trees

The first phase is about thinking concretely and collecting all relevant symptoms. Here are some questions that can help you:

• Technical problems: What specific technical challenges are there? (e.g. system crashes, slow loading times)
• User acceptance: What feedback is there from users? (e.g. dissatisfaction with the user interface)
• Process inefficiencies: Where are the snags in the HR processes? (e.g. duplication of work, manual data entry)
• ...

Step 2: Problem formulation – See the forest

In the second phase, you switch to the abstract level of thinking in order to analyse the collected symptoms and identify systemic causes. Here are some questions that may help you:

• Systemic causes: What overarching problems could be causing the identified symptoms? (e.g. lack of system integration, inadequate employee training)
• Strategic goals: What are the long-term goals of HR IT? (e.g. increasing employee satisfaction, improving data quality)
• Resources: What resources are available and how can they be optimally utilised? (e.g. budget, personnel)
• ...

Example: The company recognises that the lack of system integration and inadequate employee training are the main causes of dissatisfaction. It develops a strategy that both improves technical integration and provides training programmes for employees.

Case study 1 | We are already largely digitized

Situation: A company has already digitized many HR processes but is now faced with the challenge of better integrating the various systems. In addition, the company's growth has led to the introduction of many different digital solutions in the individual branches. A global master data tool has been in place for a long time but is hardly used.

Application of the method

1. Problem framing: The HR department decides to use surveys and focused interviews to identify the symptoms or pain points and then group them into clusters.
   • Application
     • Employee dissatisfaction with system usage
     • Frequent support requests to the HR department from managers
   • Process
     • Changes to master data must be made manually and reconciled in all other systems
     • Individual process steps depend on several participants
   • Data
     • Data records differ in the tools in terms of how up-to-date they are
     • Global reporting is carried out by manually “collecting” the data records
2. Problem
   • Strategic misalignment
   • → Silo thinking between individual departments
   • Change resistance
   • → Inefficient processes remain inefficient even when digitized

Result: By considering both levels, the problem of digitization can be fully mapped. The parties involved decide not only on new software, but also on comprehensive change management to redesign the process landscape and break down silos. After implementation, employee satisfaction increases, process efficiency improves, and data quality increases. In addition, management can now access real-time data from the HR department.

What was different? Without explicitly separating the two phases, it would have been possible to assume that only a technical problem existed and overlook other causes such as outdated or overly complex processes. Simply digitizing existing processes in new software could have meant that symptoms such as support requests would not have decreased.

Case study 2 | We still need to digitize

Situation: A company is in the early stages of digitizing its HR processes and is looking for an effective strategy that is also suitable for future technologies.

Application of the method

1. Framing: Workshops with as many stakeholders and future users as possible are used to examine the requirements for the new HR IT from all perspectives. External services are used to ensure that important developments and trends in technology are not overlooked.
2. Formulation: The individual requirements are grouped into categories and converted into an HR IT vision and roadmap.

Result: Thanks to the CSL method, the company has succeeded in formulating its strategy in a way that is neither too detailed nor too vague. The involvement of stakeholders and future users increases the likelihood that the new systems and processes will actually be used efficiently and lay the foundation for sustainable digitalization.

Discussion | A critical examination

The Construal Level Shift method offers a structured approach to developing a strong foundation for your HR-IT strategy. However, there are also some stumbling blocks that you should be aware of:

Time required: The method requires time and resources to identify both the concrete symptoms and the abstract causes
→ CSL is therefore particularly worthwhile for large projects that are associated with high investments

Complexity: The method can be difficult to use in very complex environments, as the number of symptoms and causes can quickly become unmanageable
→ Comprehensive problem identification is usually not necessary for smaller projects - a heuristic approach is then usually more effective and efficient

Iterative process: The method is not linear, but often requires an iterative approach in which you switch between concrete and abstract levels of thought
→ If you are already used to agile working, this is less of a problem. Otherwise, you must first develop your work culture accordingly in order to avoid process losses

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