Is Technology a Concern In Future Human Resource Practices?
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Introduction
Human Resource is the most significant and most vital departments for any organization. The relationship between employees and employers plays a critical role in forwarding the performance of the organization as a whole. If the human resource department has championed good relations between the employees and the employer, there will be increased productivity from the employees, and loyalty will be boosted. Employers will reap from this relationship by experiencing a lower employee turnover and increased productivity among the employees, leading to more profits, in the words of Craig Bryant; he stated that human resource professionals should always put in mind that employees are like the blood of a company. If they provide a better work plane experience for them, they will pay the company back one hundredfold of productivity. In recent years, the role and skills of Human Resource managers have improved significantly due to the embracing and use of new technologies. Managers can now perform the function of procurement, maintenance, development, and utilization more efficiently. This factor has provided a platform where these Human Resource managers can take up more challenging tasks in the organizations. The growing use of information technology has much promoted the efficiency of activities and processes in human resources. This essay critically validates the merit of technology as a concern for future human resource practice by providing relevant examples of how technology is taking over the current human resource practice and why it might be embraced by future human resource management.
Technology and Human Resource
Technology in the human resource department has increased speed, and reduced costs, as well as an effective and efficient communication system, has been created by technology as well as employee engagement, talent management, training, and learning. With technology being ready in use in today’s Human Resource departments, it is for sure a concern in the future human resource department due to the positive impact it has shown. Traditional human resource management mainly put their attention on supportive personnel activity that included a collection of information about employees, tracking individual performance, and implementation policies. The new human resource management understands business strategy and acts as a strategic partner with other management teams. Bodi (2016) opines that traditionally human resource was commonly viewed as a paper-oriented, non-innovative area where salary and wages decisions are made, employees get hired or laid off and where team building lessons are carried. However, in recent years, the department is changing, and now embracing technology at a faster rate. The author further states that the society for human resource management highlighted employee engagement, talent search and retention, compensation, and developing organizational leaders as a significant human resource challenge. It is these challenges that have sparked innovation and adoption of the technological approach in the human resource department across the globe. It is already known that social media platforms are being used in the recruitment of employees by organizations, and it seems 92% of organizations rely on social media to pick and assess candidates (Bodi, 2016). Jain (2014, p.28) states that there is a significant change in the role played by human resource professionals in the past few years. Ulrich (1997) explains four roles of Human resource as the role of strategic business partners, change agent, administrative expert, and that of employee champion. As a strategic partner. Human resource professionals work together with top management executives to develop and implement business strategies, human resource strategies, and supportive business plans. As a change agent, human resource professionals control organizational changes and play a part in the creation of a new culture that motivates employees. In the role of employee champions, human resource professionals motivate the employees and provide them with training to equip them with skills. This session improves their competencies. Human resources also help in designing organizational capacity to gain an advantage over competitors, reducing costs, and adding value to the organization.
Employee Development
The human resource department in an organization is adopting technology for various objectives. The major goal for technology adoption is to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees through training and development. Several methods have been embraced by organizations to train and equip employees with relevant competencies. The e-learning and e-training programs include the provision of material on the online platform. The use of technology to deliver information research found out that 25% of training hours by organizations are now being done online, which is majorly supported by technology (Miller, 2012). The study also discovered that e-learning enhances flexibility, efficiency, convenience, and decrease cost compared to traditional training methods. Satisfaction is in particular important in e-learning because trainee’s satisfaction is related to post-training motivation and knowledge of the employees.e-learning or e-training is used by human resource professionals to train, design to evaluate the employee’s characteristics. The use of technology in training has been applauded by researchers who argued that online-based instruction and training is of advantage. It offers increased customization, flexibility, and learners’ control (Salas et al., 2005). Other researchers, however, deduced that the use of technology is not sufficient because it alienates employees from one another. Therefore, jeopardizes cohesion and teamwork in an organization, reduces communication between employees, and decreases employee satisfaction. Employees may also prefer face to face training over e-learning because e-learning is socially isolating and does not provide timely feedback (Johnson et al., 2008). It is for this reason that some researchers proposed the use of a blended approach that involves the use of both online training and face to face components to increase the degree of connectedness that employees feel, the level of interpersonal communication, and improved control over the learning process. Research on blended learning showed that employees or learners in this setting have higher levels of motivation, better recognition, and higher grades compared to those in traditional or e-learning settings. An optimal learning environment should provide employees with control over the process and its feedback. The advantage of e-learning is that employees have more control over their learning than the traditional setting. Learners’ control is related to satisfaction and learning outcomes. Even though the researcher has challenged technology, new technological advances will improve the effectiveness of e-learning and e-training because more significant levels of inter-personal interaction will be enhanced compared to the current standards. Increased use of mobile technologies and virtual settings will enhance trainee engagement in the training process and increase chances for them to practice and gain feedback
Procurement
According to Jain (2014, p.32), procurement is an essential role that is played by any human resource management in an organization. In the 21st century, hiring or recruitment of employees is becoming more sophisticated and therefore, if not well analyzed, might raise issues in an organization. Employees and employers need information about people who are seeking jobs and information about the position available. Human resource management has adopted technology tools of using e-recruitment website portals, social media sites like linked in, and induction packages to share information about the available job as well as to acquire information about job seekers. On these social platforms, employers will post their open positions as well as the qualifications needed from those who are seeking jobs. Job seekers select the job positions posted by the organizations and apply online on the recruitment portals. This type of recruitment timely, less costly, and allows the job seeker to have control over the recruitment process, unlike in the traditional approach where the human resource professionals took charge of the recruitment has also seen the provision of timely feedback to the job seekers and the employer. The disadvantage of the use of technology is that there is no interpersonal communication between the job seeker and the organization. Lack of interpersonal communication may lead to the employment of individuals who lack the perfect character that human resource professionals need. Sullivan (2014 p.7) states that big is no longer an advantage. It is no longer the big established firms that dominate the small ones; it is all about the fast, innovative, and adoptive firms that dominate the slower ones. The author further adds that if the speed of change outside one’s organization is faster than the rate of change inside the organization, then the organization is in danger because those who are inside will be the last to see the disaster coming. The speed at which organizations are acquiring new employees is what makes technology in human resource management essential.
Compensation and Technology
An excellent compensation scheme motivates and keeps employees motivated to work and, at the same time, enhances loyalty. The human resource does compensation to an organizational structure, and human resource departments’ have embraced the use of technology in compensating employees. Use of payroll, e-compensation, compensation, and flex-reward packages where Information is fed into the online compensation portals where employees and compensation management access and discuss the relevant compensation plans through technology tools used for compensation.
The company can determine the cost to company levels for the compensation plan awarded to the employee. Likewise, employees can also resolve the pay they will get from the company. Payroll and flex-reward packages may make the compensation management more sophisticated, but several other technological tools are now available for assisting the human resource in effective compensation management (Jaini 2014, p.33)
Human resource information (HRIS)
Waugh (2018) states that performance and appraisal of employees is not a light task. It took most of the time when human resource professionals were analyzing an employee based on a discussion with the supervisor or employees of an organization. Technology has, however, made it more comfortable and straightforward to get information and analyze it for the final decision to be made. The use of a software program to evaluate employees can reduce the human resource workload and can minimize the process involved once the details are entered into the software. A human resource software can also be used to have a general view of employee time and attendance. Human resources can track departments that are struggling with people management and where employees need to be added for maximum output to be enhanced. Jain (2014, p.34) asserts that the human resource system is a beneficial function of human resources in modern times information is availed to employees, managers, and other external parties on the intranet and the company portal. The author further alludes that technology has added a new form of transparency and replaced the traditional system of confidentiality. Confidentiality has helped to create an atmosphere of trust and cohesion in organizations. The tools used in the HR information system include company portals, intranet availability of data records of employee self-service, and spread of information across the organization.
The availability of this information intranet and company portals has given employees and the employer’s easy access to information and getting employee feedback within a short period. Information availability has increased transparency and boosted the morale of employees. Johnson and Geutal (2011, p.14) state that one of the most significant changes in the practice of human resource management has been the “democratization” of human resource information. A few years ago, it was only the Human Resource staff members that dealt with personnel data. Today, employees, supervisors, manager’s health insurers, and even regulatory bodies have access to this information. Human resource portals provide a single customization access channel for each employee in an organization or each job application. The portal allows each individual to access resources and data that are relevant to their situation and work. Most human resource portals are web-enabled to enable employees to access them anytime and from anywhere using smartphones or laptops. Employee self-service is a technological approach where employees access and control their human resource data. According to Johnson and Geutal (2011, p.5), nearly 90% of organizations were planning to adopt this kind of approach. Manager’s self-service tools can also be accessed by a portal where supervisors are allowed to handle many human transactions online and receive reports.
Limitation
Waugh (2014) presents that human resource makes use of data collection and analysis more than any other role. With this in mind, employees feel that their privacy is interfered with and that their data is not safe. If the company uses security cameras to monitor employees, the employees can feel alienated over time and therefore reduce morale and productivity in the long run. The risk of data management may also arise because it may be impossible to pick the most relevant piece of information about an employee out of the one that has been stored in the software (Waugh, 2014). The approach can also pave the way for human resources to misread data and may even assume employees, something that is cleared up when the interpersonal appraisal is done. Gathering too much data is not the right approach; a good practice involves how much should be collected and how relevant is it to the subject matter.
Recruiting
The online technology used by e-recruitment helps the companies attract a more robust and more diverse application pool (Johnson and Geutal 2011, p.8), the objectives of adopting an online recruitment efficiency, and reduction of costs. Online recruitment can cut costs by 25% or more than $8,000 per hire (Johnson and Geutal, 2011, p.8). The second objective is to increase the quantity and quality of the job seekers as it allows the human resource to reach applicants conveniently across the world. The online recruitment as also embraced as an effort to increase the objectiveness of recruiting practices and processes the final objective of adopting e-recruitment is to increase applicants convenience where applicants can easily access information about the company’s culture and opportunities online. By so doing, organizations may reach out to someone who was not looking for a job but may, in the process, discover one and apply due to the ease of application and submission.
Organizations are rapidly embracing e-recruitment tools with a recent study indicating that about 75% of organizations are using technology to improve recruitment and that the number is projected to increase to around 85% in the next years (Johnson and Geutal 2011, p.8). Different companies use different approaches to e-recruiting; examples are a corporate recruiting website, online job boards, industry job boards. Many researchers have paid close attention to how organizations can manage their e-recruitment process and found out that the easy to navigate on the recruitment website is critically important. Job seekers look for efficiency, and ease in navigating and what they will experience will influence their views about the organization’s image and attractiveness. However, it is not only the outlook and user’s friendliness of an organization’s site that matters. The quality of the information provided to job seekers is also essential. Information about culture, organizational support, job descriptions, and work expectations should be indicated.
Limitations
It is without a doubt that e-recruitment has improved efficiency, reduced costs, and improved the management of recruiting in organizations. However, e-recruitment has its setbacks. E-recruitment increases application quality but not quality because the process avails a large volume of applicants. Although e-recruitment expands the recruitment process, the quality and competence of applicants may be lower than the one found in the traditional recruitment methods due to the ease of application and submission. Secondly, the online application of jobs will result in the loss of personal relationships with job seekers. Technology is perceived as a barrier to communication and relationship building (Johnson and Geutal 2011, p.10). Recruitment via online platforms may raise diversity issues and the risk of adverse effects because the process brings the need to assess the diversity of the applicant cockpit. There is a risk that individuals from lower social backgrounds will not be fairly presented in the application pools that are web generated compared to the traditional approach of recruitment.
Employment relations, communication, work environment, and decision making
Technology has been embraced to ensure that organizational development and knowledge management to help in designing of good employee relations that further creates an ideal working environment for employees (Jain 2014, p.33). Technology tools that enhance communication data sharing, data protection, knowledge management, intranet, and team development have been designed and adopted in the human resource departments. Creating an environment that promotes information sharing to ease the flow of ideas from one central point. The quick flow of information enhances better decision making by managers organization and boost active team development and build a better employer-employee relation. Decision making in the traditional approaches was difficult, especially in large organizations, because the vast volume of data was difficult to handle and use it correctly to make sound decisions. Technology has, however, made significant changes in aiding human resources to make the right decisions. Technology tools like a decision support system, Artificial intelligence system, and online analytical process have helped human resource professionals make quick organizational decisions because the tools can break a large amount of data with speed and come up with outstanding results.
Conclusion
As discussed in this paper, it is clear that there is a shift in human resource practices from the traditional approach to personnel roles. Recruitment, procurement, compensation, employee relations, decision making, data storage, and analysis to a more modernized and strategic approach that is enhanced by technological advances. The tasks played by human resource professionals have been made easier with the use of technology in communication and the new application software. They can now spend more of their time on policy formulation, strategic planning, and other critical issues. It is no doubt that some human resource activities can be carried out by the use of a computer without physical movement being involved. A good example is the function of recruitment, employee selection, management, and workforce planning that can be managed through the intranet, organization portals, and video conferencing. It appears that the roles of technology in human resource is likely to increase in the coming years. This fact is attributed to the changing scenario in the current practices that will yield new roles like talent acquisition, newer appraisal system, compensation, employee reward systems that will enhance the continued use of technology in human resource management. Newer software and improved technological tools will help Human resource professionals in these new roles. More so, the role of human resources is becoming more and more challenging in organizations; thus, future practices will certainly include technology to enhance effectiveness, reduce costs, and save time by making quick decisions.
References
Bodi, V., 2016. How Technology Is Changing Human Resource Management. [Online] Hppy. Available at: <https://gethppy.com/hrtrends/technology-changing-human-resource-management> [Accessed 30 April 2020].
Conner, J., and Ulrich, D., 1996. Human resource roles: Creating value, not rhetoric. People and Strategy, 19(3), p.38.
Gueutal, H., Stone, D.L., and Salas, E., 2005. The brave new world of EHR: Human resources management in the digital age.
Jain, V.K., 2014. Impact of Technology on HR Practices. International Journal of Informative & Futuristic Research, 1(10), pp.25-37.
Johnson, R.D., and Gueutal, H.G., 2011. Transforming HR through technology: The use of E-HR and HRIS in organizations. Society for Human Resource Management Effective Practice Guidelines Series. Alexandria, VA.
Johnson, R.D., Hornik, S., and Salas, E., 2008. An empirical examination of factors contributing to the creation of successful e-learning environments. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 66(5), pp.356-369.
Miller, L., 2012. ASTD 2012 State of the Industry report: organizations continue to invest in workplace learning. Training & Development Magazine, 66(11), pp.42-48.
Sullivan, J., 2014. A walk through the HR department of 2020. Workforce Solutions Review, pp.7-9.
Ulrich, D., 1996. Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press.
Waugh, B., 2018. Impact of Technology on HR Practices. [Online] Medium. Available at: <https://medium.com/@brainwaugh789/impact-of-technology-on-hr-practices-131633b029f5> [Accessed 1 May 2020].
Self-reflective
Although technology has already taken control of almost all human resource practices, more technological advances in the future will have more impact on human resource practices. Future technological trends will make employee management and talent acquisition on easy task hence saving on time and increasing accuracy in the field like compensation of employees. Future technological trends include increased social networking that incorporates the use of social networking information to support recruiting, communication, collaboration, and training of employees. There may be increased growth of compliance where firms will be forced to adapt the human resource information system to remain compliant use of business, and many organizations will adopt artificial intelligence as a method of critical decision making. Increased data transparency and increasing privacy is also a future trend that can only be achieved through the human resource information system. Web-based tools will also improve transparency as employees can enjoy greater access to their data. New human resource professionals will be needed soon. Professionals who can help put inline human resource practice is already shaped to adopt the technology due to the positive impacts that it is yielding to human resource departments now. The use of technology in the department has seen efficiency levels increase, accuracy, and timely provision of feedback from the employees. Recruitment costs have been significantly reduced by e-recruiting and e-selections done by human resources. However, technology may have some negative impact on the roles of human resources. Still, they are minimal and always can be solved as an example being the use of a blended approach to recruiting new employees. It is these positive impacts that will attract human resource practices to adopt technology in carrying out their duties.