The Role of Technology in Transforming HR

The evolution of our modern society has come hand in hand with the evolution in technology. With each passing moment, the technology of the modern world is evolving and with it, Human Resource Management is developing as a more technology-based profession. More and more organizations are looking forward to automate their human resource management in order to keep moving forward with the pace of today’s modern business world.

HRIS (Human Resource Information System) and the e-HR (electronic-Human Resources) are vital in modern organizations. Electronic Human Resource management system is an application of conventional, voice and web technologies to improve HR administration, transactions and process performances. Electronic Human Resource management system provides the HR services such as monitoring and recording systems, automating administrative tasks, and disseminating information on the intranet. The vast reach of HR delivery options enables the Human Resource authorities to combine them to maximize their HR abilities. Some of these delivery options can be:

  • Insourcing
  • Outsourcing
  • Employee relationship management technology
  • ASPs (Application Service Provision) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platforms
  • Interactive voice recognition
  • Performance management
  • E-learning, E-recruitment, E-reward.

It is obvious that concrete data on the workforce can help shape the organizations strategy in a more authentic way.

Human resource management systems helps monitoring and collecting performance indicators of employees .. This enables current capacities to be assessed and future needs to be planned. The HRMS ensures capture of data and its analysis to recognize retention and recruitment issues, provoke action about how problems can be resolved, enlarge the potential recruitment pool and accelerate the administrative processes involved Electronic Human Resource management system can be used here to effectively manage the Salary, Benefits and incentives Disbursement. Electronic Human Resource management system can rationalize, consolidate and monitor employee feedback through automated appraisal records; it can also help with the evaluation of skills and development opportunities with the help of e-learning opportunities.

Electronic Human Resource management system can be used to promote action to support diversity and equality in the company and accurately monitor attendance and other day to day duties. Electronic Human Resource management system can help in medical concerns by providing information on accident reporting at work and the results of risk assessments. Organizations can respond to the increasing external demand for information much faster and more efficiently with the help of e-HR by addressing various duties like; providing data for performance indicators, monitoring and scaling, etc. An effective Electronic Human Resource management system can also reduce duplication and free up Human Resource staff so they can work on more proactive and strategic tasks which support the Organization’s developmental plans.To make a decision to implement Electronic Human Resource management the organization has to think carefully about the objectives of the company and set out a clear specification for what is required, and act according to the budget available. When determining costs, the authority will also need to consider related costs, such as the cost of new hardware,staff training, revisions to processes and how much it might cost to maintain the system.

 

A few advantages of Human Resource Technology are stated below:

  •  Access to HR data – democratization of HR data within the organization to provide single or targeted and/or customized access point. Democratization of Human Resource Data has been one of the most fundamental changes in the practice of Human Resource Management. It grants a rapid expansion of access to these data from inside and outside the organization. A few years ago only the Human Resource staff worked with personnel data, now managers, health insurers, workers, employers, job applicants and even regulatory agencies have access to these data. Human Resource Information System also addresses the needs of diverse access points by providing different type of data for different needs.

 

  • Employee self-service – Employees can manage & maintain their personal data. Employee self-service is a web based portal that provides employees with access to their personal records and their salary details. Employees can easily change and manage their own addresses, contact details, family details, etc. some applications also enables the employees to easily manage their bank account details and provide details of current and previous pay-slips, Employee self-service enables the employees to easily apply for leave and have that application directed to their superiors for consideration. Employee Self-service can operate as a portal or a feature on an employee’s intranet or via a web ASP service.

 

  • Manager Self-service – Tools to allow managers to handle HR transactions online & receive HR reports in real time like performance appraisals, Manager Self-Service puts the data they need at their fingertips enabling them to more closely monitor and direct their team towards the strategic goals of the organization. It also allows a Manager to perform staffing, budget, and other job-related management tasks quickly and efficiently, it can also provide managers with applications and information they need to support the decisions that align with strategic goals

In this evolving market, companies should be aware of the latest technologies in HR to ensure that they don’t get left behind, as their competitors are already experimenting new technologies. Companies need to look at approving technological assistance in the major HR functions such as training, recruitment, performance management, salary structure, employee benefits etc. Human Resource staff needs to be trained and updated on the technological options that are available, select the best options that will make significant difference to their productivity and enable them to be more efficient. Human Resource managers have to be strategic and visionary and not let the opportunities pass by.