Technology and HRM- A Better way of Managing your HR

Introduction

“Human” is the most essential and integral part of a society. The society comprises of all sorts of aspects related to life. These different aspects may include business, social work, entertainment, cultural traditions, family life and many more. These aspects are linked together in a connected system and they revolve around the main subject of all these aspects i.e. human.

Business is the most important aspect of the system as the economy of the system is dependant on it. For businesses, human is the biggest asset of all and therefore it needs to be managed. Businesses at either private or public level have requirement of managing there human resources which comes under the vast field of Human Resource Management (HRM).

The concept of HRM goes long way back in the 19th century. It has undergone various transitional phases since then and has improved. The birth of innovative technological methods and tools has given a spark to HRM by facilitating it and taking it to an entirely different and better level then it was 100 years back.

The implementation of the technology has improved the standards of businesses and its different sectors. It has enabled managers for better supervision of the employees, has raised performance and has inculcated elements of scrutiny, supervision, administration and better management all over.

Hence, technology has become part and parcel of HRM. The maximum utilization and application of technology in HRM have yielded better results. As there is further advancement every now and then in technology, it can be assured that the future holds positive scope for HRM.

This paper would highlight how HRM and technology are interlinked with each other. Apart from that it would show how technology has proved effective in various sectors specifically public sector and what upcoming there are in future.

These are the main activities that come under HRM department. In a nutshell, HRM department has to conduct job analysis which would further include Human Resource Planning as to what type and how many employees are required, then on this basis recruitment and selection would be conducted to get the best employees, these employees would be polished by training and would be compensated by salary and benefits, maintaining performance standards, ensuring that employees meet the various organizational regulations and health safety standards.

The summarized explanation of HRM and its purposes and functions reveal that there is lot of activities that needs to be performed by this department. The effective and efficient HRM has reached to complex stages. Question now arises is that how does technology helps in accomplishments of these purposes and performance of these functions?

Technology has not only brought revolution but technology itself has revolutionized and improved then what it used to be at its initiation. Technology has proved an effective blessing in the managerial setup as it has come up with tools that have changed the working of employees, the roles undertaken by them and how they get their work done. Similarly, HRM is facilitated as the HR manager has found tons of utilization of technology for performance of HRM functions.

Technology and HRM together combine to form processes and systems that are termed as HR Technology or Human Resource Management System. The combination deals as to merge HR activities and functions with technology tools in form of different data processing and software.

The main software in this case is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software which is standardized software. Through this software a database is established with integration of various kinds of information. This database has Human Resource Module which has given an edge to HRM.

HRM requires keeping of records of employees. This has been enabled by HRM system as it has provided with different databases and system through which all past record, activity of employee, his skills, performances and all other relevant information can be stored and accessed to easily.

Technology has enabled high automation of the processes and data. This has been achieved by use of mainframe computers and client servers. All this technology is capital sensitive and requires high amount of investment but as the technology improved and there came client servers and Application Service Provider which have given businesses an ease.

There are various applications of HRM systems in relevance to HRM functions. There is a payroll module which as an automated payroll system. It supervises the employee’s monthly record, his attendance, taxes, deductions and all other payroll activities. All this is automated and after all the rapid calculations the final amount of pay is deduced.

Apart from that there is work time system which facilitates to establish standard work time, gather work time information of every employee and his efforts. There is also benefits administration module which checks the degree of employee performance has contribution and accordingly decides on compensation, insurances, allowances and other benefits.

There is an HRM module which covers various activities and aspect of the human resource management cycle from its initial level of applying of an employee to his retirement. This module keeps records of applicants, capabilities and skills, then the selection, training and compensation management.

Apart from that most famous application of technology for HRM is the online recruitment system. Through this organizations advertise their vacancies and requirements to attract potential candidates to apply. There is also a Learning Management Software which comes under the training module which is used to cater to the training of employees to see how they improve and develop more towards organizational goals (HR Management, 2010).

The above are some of the main applications of technology in the field of HRM. There are many other applications as well which have helped organizations to standardize and improve their HRM departments. Businesses from all the different sectors have utilized the technological aids for their assistance and have yielded more effective and efficient results. Technology and HRM are therefore part and parcel and it is necessary for any organization to adopt innovative technological measures and methods to reap good fruit for its HRM as HRM is the main heart core function of the entire organization.

HRM and Technology, or HR Technology is utilized in different sectors across the globe. Though it has different scope and dimensions which vary from country to country but nevertheless we see HR technology being used in one way or another in different components of these sectors.

The main two sectors classified are known as private and public sectors. In simple terms private sector includes business operated by an individual without the state interference and control for profit. In contrast public sector is controlled by the government state and includes services for the citizens. In both sectors we see that HR technology has its dynamics and applications. A special emphasis would be laid on public sector. In private sectors there come many educational institutes, health centers, services industry, businesses and many others that are run for profit as well as the well being of the citizens. We see that in all these components of private sectors there is a need to supply of human resources and also important is that these human resources should be managed in form of proper training and other managerial activities. In all of these components, HR technology is witnessed.

The first requirement for them is human resource. For this they advertise for recruitment of the potential candidates through online recruitment methods. After this the CVs and resumes of the applicants are gathered online and scrutinized. HR technology helps feeding in the criteria for hiring online and then these CVs are arranged according to this criterion in chronological order. This facilitates selection stage. The mails are generated through this system automatically to the selected candidates. Then these candidates undergo training modules through different learning software which they apply. The record of their compensation and benefits is maintained in form of payroll modules. An entire HRM module is also there which covers all the activities from step 1 to last step.

As discussed earlier, public sector involves government i.e. it is services provided by the government. Public sector has varying components from nation to nation. Commonly, every state includes military, police, education, healthcare, society services, public education and public roads and transits.

In all these components of the public sector there is a need of proper human resources to run these areas and these human resources need to be managed. HRM is seen in the form of government plans for proper execution and setup of HR plans. The most important of these components undoubtedly is health sector which requires highest expenditure on human resources.

The human resource in health sector is in the form of administrative and managerial staff, doctors, specialists and lower medical staff. There is software available for health sector. This software performs various HR activities. The software provide various HR solutions in the form of user defined answers to the medical problems as well as it provides integration of the entire HRM system in form of HR solutions, Staff Scheduling, Payroll and covers the entire stages from hire to retire.

There are many different examples that can be quoted here such as SAP Environment, Health and Safety Management. This ensures that the Environment, Health and Safety standards are followed properly by the HR and that they comply with it. There are other examples such as Quadrant HR which is also a tool with integrated HR solutions for health care.

The use of this HR technology has improved the health sector and has eased the managerial problems. Through this, the chances of errors in staffing and payroll have decreased and also it has reduced operational expenditure for governments.

There are other examples as well which show how HR technology has helped the Public Sector. There are public sector organizations on various levels such as provincial, national or international levels that require HRM systems. They require some regulatory standards and develop systems and processes through which these standards can be followed. Apart from that there is need of all the HR activities of managing records of employees, payroll, scheduling, benefit administration and all other related HR work.

For this purpose a company PeopleSoft has an HRMS for public sector. This HRMS has enabled the compliance with the regulatory standards and has also fulfilled all other requirements in form of Human Resources, Benefits Administration FSA System, Payroll, Payroll Interface applications and Human Resource Budgeting. Apart from that, their latest release includes a more advanced Web Client and an integrated Online Analytical Processing (The Free Library, 1997).

These are few examples which show that how effective the use of technology can prove if the technology is used effectively. HRM and technology work together and together they create a positive impact that is not only flourishing the public sector but all other sectors where there is always application of HR technology.

These facts show that the future holds prosperous prospects for HR technology in all the fields of a nation as there will always be a need of human resources and their effective management. The next section of the paper will shed some more light on the future prospects of HR technology. The future of HR technology can without doubt be said is good because the conditions around the globe are changing rapidly. The companies must have flexible operating tools at hand to cope up with these changes.

Technology offers the element of flexibility and change to the HRM in form of technologically capable adaptive tools and HRM systems. These systems not only offer effective results but also capability to take on these changes and challenges. But there is always a room of improvement which can be made in HR technology as well.

Improvements can be brought in the form of implementation of better technology by the time. Whenever there is launch of a new technological package which can be helpful to the companies, they must explore it and try to implement it in a way that would facilitate the HR activities. There can be launch of further tools such as Talent Management tools, Strategic HR planning tools, outsourcing components, better payroll systems, online recruitment system, HRM systems, HR modules and overall an entire HR package.

The future of HR technology would have to come up with tools that entail the entire business strategy and accordingly formulate an HR strategy so that it is made sure that organizational goals and HR activities are aligned. This can be possible by developing HRM systems whose processes are not only measurable but they also take it to the entirely different and better level of sophistication.

The future of HR technology focuses on bringing together business and believes in the formation of more integrated functionality. There are components like portals, business intelligence (BI) and talent. These components would solely not be very effective, but if they are integrated, their combined effect would yield good results. There must be specific attention towards talent management along with portals and business intelligence which would enhance the future scope of HR technology for the globe (Systematic HR, 2006).

There are future projects on hand which incorporate the use of technology to enhance the HRM. The effective implementation of these projects would guarantee success of HR technology in future. Human is the basic element of the universe and it is around him that the Earth revolves. Human is a part of society which is part of economy which further is part of the country. Business is the most important aspect of the system as the economy of the system is dependant on it. Hence human is the main resource through which businesses operate, societies flourish, economies prosper and countries improve.

Therefore there is requirement of managing the human resources which comes under the vast field of Human Resource Management (HRM). The infusion of HRM with technology has improved the standards of businesses and its different sectors. It has enabled managers for better supervision of the employees, has raised performance and has inculcated elements of scrutiny, supervision, administration and better management all over.

There are many HR activities which start from advertising online for recruitment, selection, training, compensation, benefits and many more. Technology has facilitated in the form of many different technological tools such as online recruitment, payroll module, training module, benefit administration, HRM system, HR module and many more.

There are many other applications as well which have helped organizations to standardize and improve their HRM departments. Businesses from all the different sectors have utilized the technological aids for their assistance and have yielded more effective and efficient results. Technology and HRM are therefore part and parcel and it is necessary for any organization to adopt innovative technological measures and methods to reap good fruit for its HRM as HRM is the main heart core function of the entire organization. The application of these technological aids has not only facilitated HR activities but has also yielded effective and efficient results.

HRM and Technology, or HR Technology is utilized in different sectors across the globe. The main two sectors are public and private. In components such as military, police, education, healthcare, society services, public education and public roads and transits there is wide range of technological application and aids that we witness for facilitation of HR activities.

These facts show that the future holds prosperous prospects for HR technology in all the fields of a nation as there will always be a need of human resources and their effective management. The improved and new technological aids in future can even further widen the horizon of HR technology in the form of innovative tools such as talent management, business intelligence and many others.