Human Resource Technology: Strategies, Tactics and Techniques
Goals and Challenges of Implementing HR Technology
Successful organization of a firm’s HRs brings about competitive advantage for firms. Also, the sustainability, delivery, and coordination of human resource all rely on technology. The purpose of employing human resource technology, for example human resource portals or user-software is to gain competitive advantage. Studies show that integrating HR technology can improve an organization’s long-lived output and profitability. HR technology not only increases efficiency but also transforms the human resource role. The above goals can be achieved by implementing HR information system (HRIS). Human resource technology can grow output, revenues and profit margin; however, possible challenges could emerge and bring about lawful, moral and monetary connotations for the organization if unmanaged. The challenges are: training on technical and vendor relation skills, demand for data, and isolation between HR people and other staff (Ceriello and Freeman, 1998).
Benefits and Challenges of using Human Resource IS
Currently human resource technology is growing quickly to web-oriented platforms so as to deliver information and services like staff self-service (SSS), e-recruiting, website training, e-testing for applicants and other benefits of web-based management. Numerous firms currently use human resource portals that offer single platform for major human resource roles. Effective HRIS provides a chance to rethink the manner in which a process is carried out, make staff self-reliant, enhances communication between human resource persons and staff, using HRIS also enables quick response to employee issues in large organizations. However, issues like emerging regulations and application practices, need for compliance and/or reporting mechanisms, aligning information system with HR strategies, measuring profitability, and addressing privacy concerns for staff pose a challenge to implementing HRIS in large firms (Ceriello and Freeman, 1998).
In smaller firms these benefits and challenges will change. For instance, the HR professional require to grow technical and vendor knowhow as the role widens for coordinating the HRIS and the expansion of services provided by the system. Also the expansions have facilitated firms to embrace cloud computing. Such concepts provide benefits to small-sized firms that would desire accessing the capacities of large HRIS but cannot afford a complex HR platform (Kavanagh and Thite, 2009).
Business Case and HRIS
A key challenge for human resource experts is the process of changing HR information to forms that management can apply while measuring the HR sector’s contributions towards company profitability. A business case enables an organization to review benefits and setbacks before implementing HR information system. Firms will learn and start utilizing highly complex HRIS interfaces to evaluate bigger quantities of data through a business case. Effective business case should show ways of addressing various issues like management, recruiting, managing talent, workflow organization, HRIS vendors, and outsourcing procedures. Basically, many firms are currently supporting human resource portals that offer widespread HR services (Ceriello and Freeman, 1998).
Business cases aid in leveraging HR technology and thus management must look into the essential human resource procedures performed by such systems. The suggested business case affects various departments utilizing HRIS to distribute human resource roles and information to staff in a better way compared to firms utilizing HRIS only as a human resource regulatory and measuring instrument. Staffs have turned to data users during leisure time and desire equal access and freedom during working hours. Providing workers with access to individual data increases transparency in the HR department and assists workers better appreciate HR functions in the organizational strategy (Kavanagh and Thite, 2009).
In conclusion, HRIS platforms have significantly changed how human resource functions are delivered in organizations. Applied successfully, such platforms make the human resource service more satisfying and capable of precisely communicating how IT and HR sections add value and improve the competitive advantage of the organization.
References
Ceriello, V., & Freeman, C. (1998). Human Resource Management Systems: Strategies, Tactics and Techniques Revised and Expanded Edition (2nd Ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Kavanagh, M. J. & Thite, M. (2009). Human Resource Information Systems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Inc.