Fundamentals of Human Resource Management - Term Paper Example

? School: Topic: The role of Human Resource Information System in the effective and efficient management of organizations Lecturer: Date of Submission: The role of Human Resource Information System in the effective and efficient management of organizations Introduction Human resource management remains a very important aspect of every organization’s day-to-day running. This is because it is through effective and efficient human resource management that the wheels of the organization grind (Collis and Hussey, 2009). What this implies is that the absence of human resource management would mean an absence of the core resource ingredient that is needed to move the organization from one point to the order. But to most modern organizations, the urge and need to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in human resource management remains a very crucial challenge. Because of this, even though there is the practice of human resource management, this is not done in a very well regulated and coordinated manner that meets the growth and developmental aspiration of the organizations (Pattanayak, 2009). Through various forms of research conducted, the researcher has come to realize that in modern day administration and management of organizations, one element that plays a very key role is the use of information systems. Generally, technology has come to have such an important place in organizational management that the elimination of information systems in the management of organizations means that organizations will be stagnated in their growth and development agenda, just as the absence of an effective and efficient human resource management would lead to. In this research paper therefore, the two phenomena of human resource management and information systems are combined into a term that is rapidly gaining grounds in organizational management, which human resource information system. Essentially, the research paper explores how human resource information system can lead to effective and efficient management of organizations. Overview and Merits of Human Resource Information System In modern organizational management, the use of information technology is obviously necessary and inevitable. For human resource managers therefore, the need for them to wholly go about their traditional human resource management roles such as benefit, payroll, and labor productivity management and also undertake various tasks with information technology becomes very challenging, expensive and time consuming. Pattanayak, (2009) however notes that there cannot be an easy way out with the two options, which are human resource management and information technology. To compliment the two independent roles therefore, human resource information system is introduced as a bridging gap that “seeks to merge the activities associated with human resource management (HRM) and information technology (IT) into one common database through the use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software” (Business Dictionary, 2013). In a much generalized sense therefore, one may view human resource information system as the role of information technology in human resource management. From a more technical viewpoint however, human resource information system goes beyond the mere use of computers and the internet to make the roles of human resource management easier. Human resource information system actually is an independent phenomenon on its own that seeks not just to use information technology in human resource management but make the combined use of information technology and human resource management easier and accessible. For all organizations who would undertake very proactive research and development to identify the human resource information system needs that they are faced with, the advantage is that they would have an effective and efficient human resource management in place. This is because Stewart (2009) has observed that the merger between human resource management and information technology that is done bring about a less capital-intensive system as compared to what would have been experienced if there were two independent modules of human resource management and information systems. Effectiveness is also guaranteed because wherever the use of information system prevails, Dessler (2005) notes that work is done in a much perfect and accurate format. A typical example of this could be cited with two organizations, one of which operates a much manual form of human resource management and another that is into human resource information system. Among the two, it would be noted that the presence and use of information technology would lead to a more accurate undertaking of human resource roles such as payroll management, where an automated system of scaling workers would ensure that inaccuracies associated with employee migration into the right pay levels and other key issues that has to do with benefits are eliminated. Where there is no human resource information system, there is the possibility that human errors will be common and where there is the transfer of personnel responsible for human resource management, consistency with the whole human resource management process is going to be lacking. Approaches to Implementation to the Implementation of Human Resource Information System Experts in human resource information system have generalized human resource information system into two major categories or approaches to implementation. These approaches are however taken when human resource information system is viewed as software or online oriented program. By virtue of this, two approaches that are identified are people system and human resources desktop support services. As the name implies, people system looks more into the affairs of the people that the human resource manager deals with (Collis and Hussey, 2009). By this, reference is being made to the direct management of employees through the use of a specially mounted software or online based program. As a people centered approach, people systems has components such as the management of employee information, where all issues on attendance, paid time off policy, pay raises, pay grades, positions held, performance development plan, human capital development, disciplined actions received, employee success plan, and personal employee information are all considered. When using this approach, the organization puts emphasis on its human resource base and identifies them as a critical component of organizational success that must be managed, monitored and regulated on a constant basis to ensure that the organization records the changes, growth and development it most desires. By use of a software platform, there is a qualitative approach to people system that ensures that the overall performance and usefulness of individual employees is easily telling to the human resource manager. Human resources desktop support services on the other hand looks more into the administrative aspect of human resource management as against the people centered paradigm of human resource management. It can therefore be said that human resources desktop support services entails support services that are given to the larger human resource center of the organization (Noe and Gerhard, 2007). Taking the human resource desktop support services approach to human resource information system would therefore mean that the organization will pay more attention to office based administration of the human resource management of the organization. Because the focus is taken away from the people or employees, aspects of the human resource center that receive attention includes hardware support, software support, network support, new human resource employee account access, human resource network folders, and human resource document imaging client and server support (San Diego State University, 2013). In most cases, organizations that want to take the human resources desktop support services approach to implementing human resource information system are admonished to take into consideration the presence of a vibrant technical human resource information system team that are inclined with the technicalities that come with the various components of the approach as listed earlier. By using this approach therefore, the organization seeks to put much emphasis on information technology as a way of realizing the human resources ambitions of the organization (Collis and Hussey, 2009). Challenges and Issues with the Utilization of Human Resource Information System However lucrative human resource information system may appear to be, one common fact is that its implementation and use comes with a number of challenges that needs addressing if organizations want to make the most out of their human resource management practices (Noe and Gerhard, 2007). One issue that has become of topical importance in modern literature and discussion is the issue of ethical considerations for human resource information system. It is known that by use of human resource information system, and more importantly by the use of human resource desktop support services, human resource managers and other technical personnel who are responsible for the human resource management of the organization get maximum access to employee data and information. Meanwhile, the use and management of employee data and information continues to become a very important issue in modern labor issues. Challenges with the ability to keep information systems safe and secure from hacking and intrusion therefore becomes very crucial for organizations. As a way of overcoming this challenge, most organizations have resorted to the use of highly secure technology base that makes information system break through very difficult. In some cases also, there have been personal accusations of human resource managers who use data and information available to them for engaging in unauthorized practices for personal gain, all of which are ethically inappropriate. For many up and coming organizations, funding remains another challenge with human resource information system. What this means is that most of these organizations lack the financial capitalization to effectively run a human resource information system. Once this happens, what they do is to leave the running of the process to a third party company or organization who undertakes human resource information system at a much subsidized cost. This may however have its own challenges, which includes a possible case of information intrusion and other forms of information abuses (Dessler, 2005)). As an option for other organizations also, they avoid the use of a hybrid approach that utilizes both people system and human resources desktop services but selects just one of the approaches that best fit their pressing human resource management needs. In some cases also, organizations undertake the implementation of human resource information system from a spiral dimension where they start with the implementation with the most human resource management intensive departments of their organizations before eventually expanding the program to all aspects of the organization (Stewart, 2009). Conclusion The research paper has been discussed along three major themes, all of which seek to bring out a holistic understanding and appreciation of human resource information system as a new paradigm in the management of organizations from a human resource management perspective. From the theme of overview and merits of the human resource management, it can be concluded that the wave of change and newness in organizational development and growth, which is based on information systems, and by extension, technology cannot be excluded for any organization that is really setting itself out to be competitive in the global market. This is because human resource information systems has brought about a new line of ease to the way in which organizational processes, structures and events are put together into a common scheme that ensures that costs that would have otherwise gone into the isolated human resource management of organizations are eliminated. On the theme of implementation also, it can be concluded that for every organization, there ought to be a differentiated approach that critically identifies the needs and aspirations of the organization when selecting approaches to implementation. This is because an overly emphasized human resource information system can lead to excesses and waste that will raise the administrative cost of managing organizations. Where the is a proactive approach towards the identification of approaches that best suit organizations, the fear that human resource information system would bring about waste will be a thing of the past. Finally, the challenges identified in the paper should only be basis for organizations to double their efforts in researching in human resource management to ensure that they avoid some of these challenges. Cited Works Business Dictionary. Human Resource Information System. 2013. Web. November 17, 2013. Collis, Jill and Hussey, Roger. Business Research: A Practical Guide for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students. 3rd Edition. India, Palgrave Macmillan. 2009. Print. Dessler, Gary. Human Resource Management: Strategic Human Resource Management and the HR Scorecard, 10th edition. India, Prentice Hall. 2005. Print. Noe, Hollenbeck and Gerhard, Wreight. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 2nd edition, The McGraw-Hill Companies. 2007. Print. Pattanayak, Biswajeet Human Resource Management, 3rd edition, New Delhi, PHI Learning Private Limited. (2009. Print. San Diego State University. Human Resource Information System. 2013. Web. November 17, 2013 Stewart, Brown. Human Resource Management, Linking Strategy to Practice, John Wiley and Sons. 2009. Print. Read More