Your SLA Dashboard is Lying to You!
Because what you are measuring isn’t the work that matters!!
SLA ≠ Strategy
You know what quietly convinces us that everything’s working?
SLAs.
HR Tickets - we respond. we resolve. we meet the target.
Box ticked. Job done.
It feels efficient. Productive, even.
But here’s the truth:
Meeting an SLA doesn’t automatically mean we are doing meaningful work.
If we are spending time answering questions that a chatbot could - and should handle, that’s not strategy.
That’s repetition with a timer.
And when we define success around speed instead of impact, we risk optimizing tasks that no longer deserve our time in the first place.
🟣 1. SLAs Measure Outputs. Not Outcomes.
Most SLAs are tied to doing the thing, not whether the thing mattered.
You resolved a ticket.
But did the employee feel informed?
Did it improve their experience?
Did it prevent a future issue?
🟢 2. SLAs Create Incentives for Shallow Work
When teams are measured by ticket volume or resolution speed, it creates pressure to focus on quick wins instead of strategic fixes and root cause analysis.
🔵 3. SLAs Don't Account for Emotional Labor
Some HR tickets take longer because they should.
Grief leave, harassment concerns, mental health support - these are complex and deeply human interactions. But if you’re watching the SLA clock, it might discourage the very empathy that HR is built on.
“You took too long on that case.”
misses the point if the employee felt heard and supported.
We keep trying to do the old work faster, instead of asking if it’s the right work at all.
The Paradox of Progress
Let’s say you finally make the right call:
You roll out a chatbot to answer common HR questions like policies, leave, benefits - the kind that usually takes a human 30 minutes to research and respond.
It’s a smart move. Strategic. Scalable.
Your team now has more time for coaching and culture-building.
But your metrics?
They tank.
You didn’t get worse. You got smarter.
But it looks like performance dropped, because your metrics were built for a system you just outgrew.
What HR Needs to Start Tracking
SLAs were designed for a different era -one where volume and response time were perceived as providing “Value”.
But if AI is taking the low-effort work off our plates, then what we do next matters way more than how fast we respond.
Otherwise, we will face huge burnout levels.
Let’s shift our focus.
✅ From: “How fast did we close the ticket?”
➡️ To: “How many tickets did we eliminate with self-service?”
I’ve led many HR application maintenance projects at several consulting firms, and the metric everyone loved?
Ticket counts.
Raised. Closed. Tracked to the decimal.
Prevention isn’t visible on a dashboard - but it’s the smartest work you can do.
If you only track volume, you’ll stay busy... and stay stuck.
✅ From: “Are we hitting SLA targets?”
➡️ To: “Are we creating space for deeper, more human work?”
✅ From: “Are we efficient?”
➡️ To: “Are we impactful?”
Because no one remembers how fast you responded to an email.
They remember how you made them feel.
How you helped them grow.
How did you design a better experience…
Final Thought: Change the Work, Change the Scoreboard
If we are bold enough to rethink the work…
We have to be brave enough to rethink the scorecard.
Otherwise, we will keep “failing” while actually doing the right thing.
So here’s your question this week:
What metric are you still tracking... that no longer reflects the value your team creates?
Creating reports and dashboards that can be automated?
Approving HR workflows just to check a compliance box?
Tracking employee survey completion rates - while ignoring the sentiment behind the responses?
Measuring “time to fill” - without ever asking whether the role was truly necessary or could be reimagined?
Counting the number of training sessions delivered, instead of measuring behavior change?
Celebrating low attrition - without questioning whether the culture supports growth and ambition?
Maybe it’s time to stop measuring speed and start measuring sense.
And maybe the best thing you can do for your team…
Is to let the SLA slip — and focus on what matters more.
Stay curious!