Christina van Hoekelen on HR tech transformation and her role at Consultday

With more than a decade of experience in human resources and technology, Christina van Hoekelen has been at the heart of some of the industry’s biggest changes in recent years. We sat down with her to find out how she has been putting her expertise to work since joining Consultday six months ago.

“My colleagues are challenging me to think differently,” says Christina van Hoekelen. “To solve complex problems, sometimes you have to embrace the chaos that comes with driving change.”

Having been in the human resources business for more than 12 years, Van Hoekelen has already seen a huge amount of change. At the start of her career, HR was still “very much a paper-driven function” with printed personnel handbooks, no self-service for managers or employees and a lot of manual administrative work. But “coming from a family with an IT mindset”, Van Hoekelen soon picked up on opportunities where HR technology could transform the function for the better.

She recalls, “Instead of simply digitising old processes, I saw an opportunity to redesign workflows in a way that minimised manual interaction from HR operations. This shift allowed HR teams to focus more on people rather than processes.”

As her career progressed, she noticed that while most companies had invested in HR systems, they often customised them to fit existing policies – rather than optimising processes to align with system best practices. This resulted in heavy maintenance efforts, making it difficult to implement updates or take advantage of new functionalities.

As a result, she increasingly championed automation – not only to reduce administrative workload, but also to free up HR staff to focus on their more strategic tasks at hand.

Growth year

When Van Hoekelen arrived at Consultday, she already was an experienced expert in HR technology and strategy, but despite that, she emphasizes that joining the firm shaped an “absolute growth year” for her – and served as a welcome reminder that there will always be something new to learn in the ever-evolving profession.

She notes, “The past six months at Consultday have been incredibly rewarding. From day one, I felt at home in the dynamic and forward-thinking environment. It’s a place where innovation and collaboration go hand in hand, which aligns perfectly with my passion for HR technology and transformation… I’m grateful to be surrounded by a team that challenges me, supports me and occasionally fuels my caffeine intake when deadlines get intense.”

Consultday is a HR-focused consulting firm which works to design, build, and improve HR processes, with technology at its core. Founded in 2016, the firm is headquartered in the Dutch town of Baarn, and has already offered up plenty of opportunities for Van Hoekelen to put her talents to good use.

“The application of technology can help the HR function enhance its role as a strategic business partner.”

High-impact projects

Currently, she is working simultaneously on two projects. One focuses on digitising workflows by optimising an existing SaaS solution, “ensuring that it fully leverages its capabilities while reducing inefficiencies at the same time”.

Meanwhile, another involves drafting comprehensive requirements and designing end-to-end process flows. This helps the client to ensure clarity on the necessary questions to address when selecting one of the SaaS HR solutions under consideration – and exemplifies what she has enjoyed so much about her decade in this particular niche.

“What excites me most is the interplay between HR, IT and strategy,” Van Hoekelen explains. “It’s not just about system optimization for me. It’s about aligning technology with business goals, ensuring that HR can operate efficiently, strategically, and with agility.”

“At Consultday, we combine deep expertise in HR technology with objective analysis to help clients make sustainable decisions. These projects emphasise collaboration – within our team and with clients – to bridge the gap between HR and IT. It’s incredibly rewarding to drive innovation, challenge outdated ways of working and create lasting impact together.”

Latest trends

Having already witnessed so much change in the HR sector, Van Hoekelen believes there are still several areas where technology can yield massive efficiency boosts. According to her, one of the biggest ongoing challenges is that “many companies still operate with multiple disconnected HR systems, leading to inefficiencies and data silos”. In her opinion, the future of HR tech lies in integration – or “ensuring systems work together seamlessly to help provide accurate management data”, and enabling the further automation of processes to enhance the employee experience.

Artificial intelligence could be central to that process. Noting that “AI is transforming HR and organisations in various ways”, she suggests that at the moment, “the power of AI in HR lies in its ability to reduce administrative burden”, particularly in terms of communication.

“Chatbots that provide instant support for employees and managers,” Van Hoekelen begins. “They can answer HR-related questions and guide them through processes like leave requests or policy clarifications. Then, there are AI-powered meeting assistants which can capture notes, summarise key points, and highlight follow-up actions – ensuring clearer, more actionable decision-making.”

“And finally, AI is also being used to enable personalised communication; ensuring messages are delivered in a way that employees truly understand, whether by simplifying complex policies or translating content into different languages.”

HR as a strategic business partner

The application of technology can help the HR function enhance its role as a strategic business partner – something Van Hoekelen is a strong advocate for. HR serving as a strategic business partner sees the function and its leaders working hand in hand with the broader business, to help define its goals, and identify the actions or activities needed to meet them – including aligning talent in such a way to be successful. 

But like any transformation, adopting these processes into a business will be easier said than done. This is especially the case for HR leaders – who will invariably have so many fires to fight that change campaigns they are meant to be driving can fall by the wayside.

Van Hoekelen explains, “Achieving the role of a strategic business partner is a significant challenge for HR departments, primarily due to the unique complexities inherent in overseeing an organization's workforce. Unlike other departments that often operate with clear, measurable metrics, HR must navigate the nuances of individual employee needs, collective labour agreements and frequently changing legal regulations. This dynamic environment can divert HR professionals from focusing on strategic initiatives, as they become entangled in administrative tasks and compliance issues.”

According to the Consultday expert, leveraging technology such as SaaS solutions can be instrumental in addressing this. These platforms can automate routine tasks and adapt to regulatory changes, thereby reducing the administrative burden on HR professionals, enabling HR to dedicate more resources to strategic endeavours that drive organisational growth.

“By embracing adaptable systems, HR can become true strategic partners, while keeping the well-being of employees at the forefront,” Van Hoekelen concludes.