Contemporary and Future Challenges in HRM - Essay Example

Technology and HRM Introduction Human resource department has continued to play an important role in the organization as far as management of the workforce is concerned. Human Resource department has increasingly gained recognition as one of the most important department in the operation of any organization. It has been given the sole duty of dealing with the welfare of the employees in an organization. Therefore it acts as link between the organization workforce and the management. Employees become one of the most important assets of an organization. Having a qualified and competitive workforce can help and organization cut an edge in the market. They help an organization to form a competitive edge in which may be difficult for competitors to have. Therefore the function of the human resource department then becomes central to the operation of any organization. The department is given the role of hiring, supervising and organizing training and development of the workforce. Therefore it is important to the management and development of the workforce. In order to function properly, human resource department comes with particular policies and strategic plans that act as guidelines on how the organization is going to function. These policies and guidelines helps the organization to function properly in light of various workforce need for the organization. In order to ensure that these polices meets the needs for the organization and of the workforce, strategic human resource management (SHRM) has become the cornerstone for planning any human resource activities in an organization. Therefore SHRM has become the central focus to the operation of the human resource. SHRM implies the organized way in which the human resource department and in this case the whole organization comes up with strategies to manage the workforce. It involves taking into consideration a number of perspectives which are important of the operation of the department as a whole. Departing from the earlier HRM practices, SHRM integrates new ways of dealing with issue like selection, training, appraisal and reward which in general reflects the functions for the HR department. The plan that is put forward by the HR department is also implied in the whole organization and it is adopted in the overall growth strategy. It is a broader perspective of the HR department and its functions. One of the key components that have enabled the concept of SHRM to take root has been the changing wave of technology in the market. The use of modern technology has been one of the most important factors that have enabled the human resource department to implement various strategies that have been aimed at making its work easier. This paper will look into how technology has been used in the department and the future operations of the department in light of the changing technology in the market. Use of technology in the HRM department Human resource technology has been emerging in the market as the new discipline which has tried to integrate the use of technology in the function of the HRM department. In this case it has been working to ensure that there is application of appropriate technology in HRM in order to enhance the functioning the department. Technology has affected positively and negative to all the spheres of life. While it may have led to loss of jobs, it has been able to increase efficiency, accuracy and time completion of function. The modern technology especially the evolution in the use of computers can be held responsible for having created an effective work place. There has been reduction of errors as a result of manual computation and at the same time there has been increase effective and timely delivery of the needed data. Technology has found a place to be used in the while organizations. It has dictated the standards of an acceptable modern office whose efficiency is riveted on the amount of advanced technology equipment that have been installed. (Bates 2002, p. 82) The revolution of modern technology has affected all the functions of an organization. In this cse the world has been driven by technology. All the spheres of life have been affected by the changing technology in one way or another. There has been increased automation of the many function of the organization. The human resource department has not been spared either. It is one of the departments in an organization that requires investing in technology in order to enhance its functions. The HR department handles a large of amount of work and therefore to remain effective it has to invest in technology in order to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of it s work HR technology has been working to enhance the use of improved communication and information technology in the functions of the HR department. It has called for increased use of programming of data processing system and through the use of enterprise resources planning software which has enhanced the efficiency of work of the HR department. There are other various human resource financial modules that are well integrated in the work of the organizations. The function of the HR department has been defined as the administration which is a common function to all the departments in an organization. In this case an organization may be carrying our formalized selection, evaluation and payroll process. There has to be an effective management of the human capital which is the utmost function that is entrusted with the department and which is important for the operation of the organization. This has also been shown as one of the most complex and imperative process that can affect the operation and performance of the organization at the same time. Integrated functions of the HR department The HR department as we have said is entrusted with the management of the human capital. We have already seen that this is one of the most complex processes in an organization which can determine how the organization will perform in the future. Therefore there has to be an integrated way in which the department will look at the affairs of the workforce. The wide range of function that are entrusted with the department also calls for the department to have an effective way that can help to integrate all these functions as one. In this case having an effective technology in place can be one of the most important way in which the functions of the department can be integrated together as one. The functions of the HR department are varied but generally involve the tracking of the exiting employees' data. These functions traditionally involve the tracking of personal skills, history, and the capability of the individual, accomplishments of the individual person the salary history. In this regard the history of each an every employee in the organization is very important as it affect the way the employee is treated and at the same time the future of the employee in the organization. Therefore one of the most important functions of the HR department will be to keep track of this information in a manner that it can be retrieved when it is wanted. From time to time the department needs to evaluate the performance of the employee. This means that there will be a systematic review of the data of each employee. This can be a taxing work especially if the organization has a large workforce. It may involve a lot of manual operation of the data and in a paper work style the department may have to look at various works of individual employee. This may be a lot of paper work that will have to be looked at. The department may be in need to carrying out promotions which will be based on the performance of the employees. This will require the department to have an accurate data that can be to track their performance right from the time they entered the organization up to the time the organization is reviewing their performance. The department will therefore base the promotion of the accuracy and validity of the record of he employees. In this case there is need to reduce the paper work that will be done. Automation of electronic technology like computers can be of much help in this case since it will help the organization to dig into the data very easily and at the same time compare with the performance of the other employee. This means that the work that would have taken more time to review and which may have involved the while HR team can be accomplished by only one person who can then give a report on the performance for review of the rest of the HR team. The other function of the HR department that has required a close integrated monitoring due to its sensitivity has been the issues of the payroll. Handling of the payroll is one of the functions that are shared between the HR department and the accounting department in large organizations while in smaller organizations it may be handled by the HR department. In order to prepare the payroll, the HR department will have to take into consideration the number the workforce in the company and the number of hours they have been working. This may be a tasking duty especially in cases where workers are paid according to the number of hours they have been at work plus the number of overtime hours that they have been working. (Zuboff 1998, p. 76) In this function monitoring the number of hours the employees have been working is not a shared duty. It is the duty of the HR department alone. Therefore it will have to keep an accurate data on the number of hours and days each employee have worked in order to reduce conflict that may arise due to inaccurate calculation of the working hours and days. The issue of payment is a sensitive issue since it has a far reaching effect not only on the motivation of the workforce but also on the overall profit and loss account of the organization. The HR department will determine where the organization pays employees what they are supposed to be paid or they are paid less that they are supposed to get. Therefore having an accurate and cohesive data is very important. This calls for the installation of improved record keeping technology which ensures that employee clocks in the moment they entered for work and at the same time they clock out the time they left the workplace. Installation of such a technology greatly reduces human errors or other favors at the work place and gives an accurate data on the time that employees have been working. Application of technology in HR There are various areas in which technology has been strategically applied in the function of the HR. these include the following areas: Payroll Work time Benefits administration HR management information system Recruiting In the payroll there has been the use of payroll automated machines that process the pay of the employee by gather data on the time the employees have worked. In this function the payroll module works by gathering the attendance and time date, calculate the amount that the employees are supposed to be paid, calculate the amount of reductions and taxes that the employees are supposed to pay, and also generate the periodic pay cheques and employee tax reports. Under this technology there is an integration of various technologies which tracks the data on the time the employees have reported to work and the time they have left the works. There is automated machine that records the time employee enters and leaves the work place. This works through the clocking of the employee cards into the machine. This data then is connected with the automated payroll machines which calculate the amount they are supposed to be paid. The work time module has been successfully use dot gate the standardized time and work related issue. These modules provide a broad flexibility data collection method that tracks the time the employees are working. They also help in labor distribution capabilities through analysis of the time-number of employee related data. Therefore they can be used to predict the amount of time and the number of employees that are likely to accomplish a certain functions. In this case this technology takes into consideration the cost analysis and the efficiency metrics and it primary core operation. (Gary 2008, p. 87) Benefit administration module has been another technology that has been integrated in the automaton of the HR function. Under this technology there is close linkage of data between the payroll section and the benefit administration section and the bank that handles the transaction for the organization. The end result data is then relayed to the benefits organization which receives the benefits on behalf of the government. Under this module there is a data that his fed the computer system that automatically calculate the amount of money that is supposed to be deducted from the employees. This is automatically deducted from the salary of the employees. It is then sent to the organization which received the employee benefits. The HR information management module works as we have mentioned in the above description. It is a module that encompasses various records that are related to the HR department. It records personal information that is related to the employees. The system keeps track of data relating to demographic and address, selection, training and development of the workforce, management of skills and capabilities, compensation planning, and other activities that are all crucial for the running of the HR department. There has been the development of the cutting edge technology that has been important in aiding for the implementation of the above functions of the HR department. The technology provides an efficient way for entry and storage of the relevant database fields and ensures that there is security of the data. In this case it ensures that it is only those who are authorized to access the data are able to access it. Security of data for the HR department is very important for the functioning of the whole organizations. With time there has been diversification of the way in which the HR department applied technology in its operation. Traditionally IT was only applied in the production of the payroll reports which was considered to be one of the most tiresome functions of the department. But with increasing specialization of the department and the departure of the accounting department from the HR, there has been increased need for the HR department to come up with its own computer based data base that can be used to look at the welfare of the employee. However there has been diversification of the application of this technology in the HR infor4matoin system management. This has been promoted by the need to keep track of the performance of all the employees in the organization from the time they start working up to the time they leave the organization. (Wood 1999, p. 377) On recruitment, the use of technology has become one of the most important tools that have been used by the HR department in order to get the most suitable candidate for the job. The internet has become one of the most important tools for the department in the process of recruitment. In this case the internet has been used to advertise for job vacancies and at the same time receive the applicants for those jobs. There have been instances where the whole process of recruitment including interviewing has been carried out over the internet. Online recruitment has been employed as one of the primary method of recruitment by the HR department especially in case where the department is carrion out an international recruitment. This has helped the organist to tap a wide range of talents fro the job. Technology has also been used in talent management as a function of the HR. in this case it has been used to analyze personnel usage in the organization, identify potential applicants for a job, recruit by the use of company-facing listings, carry out online recruiting, and many other functions that enhance the functions of the HR department. (Polly, 2002) Apart from the above function, it has also been successfully used to carry out functions of training and development. In areas where the personnel needs the workers to acquire special skills where it cannot find someone to deliver the training on time, the HR department has been organizing online training where the employees undergoes training while still working. This has been as an effective form of on-job training. The future of technology and the HR department The evolution that has taken place in the market means that the organization will have to take more radical approach to the work of the HR department. In this case technology in the market will have an influence on the future to the HR department. In light of the aching technology, the future of the HRM is also changing very fast. The efficiency of the department in the future will be based on the way it will be able to integrate the emerging technology in the market. (Leigh 2005, p. 673) The increasing use of computers in the world means that the future of the HR department is heading for a dramatic change in its function. There have been arguments that the evolving technology may take the traditional roles that have been entrusted with the department. This is because there will be effective application of online recruitment, management of the workforce as regard keeping of the data and the preparation of the payroll. There is technology in the market that has already promised to take up these functions more effectively. However we have to understand that technology will not take the personal relationship role that is played by the department. This may remain as the only function in the department that will not be taken over by the emerging technology. In this case the department plays an important role of bonding the organization with the workforce a function that may not be easily taken over by the emerging technology. (Khoong 2004, p. 7) But in the future there is a probability of the work of the department being cut down or being made easier by the use of the technology. This means that the importance of the department may continue to decrease with time as technology is successfully applied to play some of the major functions that the department has been playing. Although it will remain relevant to the organization, most of its function may be integrated with those of other department or it may be given more power to swallow the function of other department which are playing a closely integrated role. Conclusion There has been increasing use of technology in the world which has affected all the sphere of life. The management of the organization has also been affected by the emerging technology and there have been increasing automation of most of the functions in the organization. The human resources department being one of the departments which hold a lot of paper work for the organization has also been embracing the use of technology in order to make its work easy. The future of the organization is likely to be affected by the way in which the HR department will embrace the use of the emerging technology in the market. Therefore in the future the functions of the department may be increased or reduced depending on the emerging technology. References Bates, S 2002, Facing the future: Human Resource Management is changing, Harvard Business Review Gary, F 2008, E-HR: Barrier or Trigger for an HRM Transformation Institute of Labor Economics and Industrial Sociology, France, May 2008 Khoong, C 2004, Frontiers of computer technology in human resource management, Harvard Business Review Leigh, R 2005, The future of Human Resource Management, Oxford University Management Reviews, Vol. I, Issue 3, p. 367-413. Polly, P 2002, Technology, Community and the practice of HRM, Retrieved from http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/407675-1.html on 23rd May 2008 Wood, S 1999, Human Resource management and use of technology, International Journal of Zuboff, S 1998, In the age of smart machine: The future of work and power, Basic Books, New York Read More