HR information system Essay Example for Free

HR information system Essay Human resource Management is a fundamental part of an organization. The use of technology for the advancement of human resource management has risen extensively from the last decade. In today’s organizations technology greatly influences the managerial processes and techniques in the human resources department. Information Technology has proven itself useful in every area of human life. It is become essential for organizations around the world to use advanced technology in departments of development, maintenance recruitment and various others. The large range of applications provided by IT have become indispensable for any operation and have proven themselves a quality improving and time saving necessity for the organizations desiring development and success. In the human resources management, technology is not only responsible for bringing positive changes but it has also brought a number of issues and challenges for organizations. The most major challenge that a company faces in the process of adopting and implementing these technologies is the restructuring of the HR modules. It is important for the effective functioning of the technologies to be aligned with the HR functions. The creation of a correct management atmosphere is important for the existence of successful and authentic organizations. The research encompasses the challenges and issues that come in the path of organizations while implying IT techniques on HR functions. Research Question How does the implementation of IT effect the human resource management and what advantages or disadvantages an organization faces when applying programs such as SAP? Aim The aim of this research is to determine the use of information systems in order to integrate Information Technology in Human Resource functions and also to outline the role of software programs namely SAP in human resource management and how it is effective in accomplishing this merger between technology and various Human Resource areas. Objectives to Achieve the Aim 1. To outline the importance of introducing Information Technology in Human Resources. 2. To discuss how Information Technology affects the progress of human resource management. 3. To describe the role that SAP plays in implementing technology in human Resources. 4. To explain the processes by which SAP software influences the Human Resource functions of an organization. 5. To determine what are the aspects which ensure the success of the implementation of Information Technology techniques in Human Resource Management. 6. To review the benefits and drawbacks that comes with the introduction of information systems in human resources. 7. To determine the functions of Information Technology within an organization. 8. To identify the nature of challenges and problems that can come in consequence of applying Information Technology techniques across Human resource functions. 9. To study how by the help of several techniques and methods Human Resources can evade these issues and challenges . 10. To summarize how effective is a merger between human resource and information technology to an organization’s development. Background of Research The research is based on the fact that how much advanced technology has become an important part of the business world in modern times. It is not possible for organizations to function properly in any department without the assistance of Information Technology and the tools it provides. Manual methods of management processes and transactions in firms are fast dying and being replaced by faster and surer methods of achieving various tasks that are required to be done. The old techniques cannot compete in today’s fast paced world and every institute should be ready to make the reforms and accept the changes that are brought upon their implementations. They need to hire employees who are efficient in technological operations or familiar with the advanced equipment and take assistance from IT related training  courses like SAP to make their employees aware of the advancements made in the processes of managing every aspect in a company and making them proficient in bringing those methods in their practice to improve the company’s standards and boost its growth. Organizations which do not take advantage from this wave of technology and do not learn to balance on it are sure to be submerged in the growing rate of the use of technology. The Human Resource department has also not lagged behind in this technological advancement marathon. Most organizations have been using one form or other of Human Resource information system over the last decade. In a research conducted in 2002 it has been found that seventy percent of the organizations in Europe use Internet or Intranet to provide Human Resource services to employees. Surveys done in the United Kingdom alone in 2005 by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development revealed that seventy seven percent of companies use HRIS. In a similar research done by Cranfield School of Management in 2003 it found out an even higher number of companies, at eighty two percent, that use HRIS. A human resource information system is able to give various performances ranging from the simple storage of data and communication of information to the entangled process of transactions. With the advancement of technology the functions provided by HRIS have increased and enhanced. HRIS is designed and improved to be beneficial to the functions of Human Resources, line managers, and the entire organization on the whole. If an overall study is done without bias the use of Information Technology has more advantages than problems. It has brought speed, accuracy, efficiency and fewer chances of downfalls in company processes and most importantly has brought a decrease in HR costs. It has also made possible to make Human Resource information available to managers and employees, enabling them to perform uncomplicated human Resource tasks themselves. The implementation of HRIS in order to cut down the cost rates of a company to lessen the burden of transaction and administration on Human Resource functions can lead to a modification in the constitution of HR and allow the function to also play an strategic part in the company. There can be various reasons due to which a company introduces HRIS to influence its functions such as the need to bring improvement to company processes or reduce cost to bring developments in communication and the growth of customer services. Rationale of the research This research has been done to outline in detail to show how the advancement of technology has affected Human Resources. It has raised standards of recruitment, training, data storage and retrieval and performance management. Before the HR recruiting teams had to rely on the print material, namely newspapers, to post ads about jobs get applicants for positions that need to be filled. More methods like networking were also used but that prevented the human resource recruiters to post jobs on a number of locations and also there was no method to make the ads visible to millions of people. Technology has made the method of recruitment more effectual and makes a much greater impact on HR than the old techniques. Training methods have also improved due to technology. In the past years there was were no ways to come in contact of company information and training programs from far way locations. The training of HR workers in virtual classrooms enables trainers to train larger numbers of people than before. Data storage and retrieval has also had a positive effect by the technological advances. The virtual files are more easily accessible and flexible in matters of changing data according to the wish of the HR professionals. It has become easy to monitor the performance of employees and also to receive feedback from the employees for the progress of the organization. Literature Review Emma Parry (2010) determines in the Benefits of technology in Human Resources Management that the use of technology has grown considerably in the last few years in the Human Resource department. She enhances how the capabilities and performances in the Human resource have gown because of the introduction of HRIM. It leads to take Human resource management to a whole new level. It allows it to emerge with a strategic role after the implementation of HRIM. Johnson and Gueuta (2011) states in Transforming HR through Technology that human resources is becoming a more technology based pr0ofession over the years. In most companies people think of Human Resources department more as a portal than a person. According to the recent researches it has been determined that companies who properly use the technologies provided by Human Resources are far successful and advanced than the ones who don’t.  Julie Bulmash (2012) describes Human Resource technology has advanced over the past decade and discusses the importance of technology on the role of human Resource professionals. And how do they make the function of Human Resources much more efficient, smooth and speedy. Methodology: Methodology refers to the methods of collecting data that have been used in the research. Here it will be briefly explained what kind of data collecting methods have been applied and the reason behind choosing that type of method. This research will be using the qualitative research methods for the collection of data. Data collection Methods To employ the qualitative research approach the questionnaire method of data collection has been chosen. A questionnaire has been created in that method in order to collect data by providing the employee with a questionnaire and he\she are asked to answer the questions given. The questions can be multiple choices or open ended questions. They decide how exactly the analysis of job can be done. This approach is quite effective because people would carefully to put anything in writing without thinking. A questionnaire was given to the employees to determine their opinions on various topics such as Information Technology, hospitality, finance, manufacturing, retail, and defense. The feedback gave a clear view on which areas need to be worked on. Based upon it and a theoretical comprehension of the field of Human resources it became easier to point out the problems that should be discussed on the research and which haven’t been brought to light before. Qualitative research This method of research is a primary source of research. It is exploratory and is used in order to achieve comprehension of fundamental reasons, motivations and opinions. It gives insight to assess the nature of the problem or assist in building of ideas or hypothesis for the secondary research process or quantitative research method. Qualitative research is used also for uncovering of inclinations people’s thoughts or opinions and ponder harder to get to the root of a problem by that. The methods for qualitative data collecting vary according to the form of techniques used.  Whether they are structured or non structured. Conceptual Framework Human resources technology has evolved from the use of paper work and pencil to computers electronic databases and human resource information systems. Internet based technology has played an important role in enabling HR to decrease transactional activities and focus more on playing a strategic role in organizations. The main areas that HRIS system works on are recruitment, employee administration, pension administration, health and safety, data collecting, saving and organizing, compensation and benefits administration, management of the company, employment equity and payroll interface. The functions of HRIS are to create and organize records of employees, reporting of work performances, Hr planning and forecasting, and management of talent, strategic alignment and development of decision power. The role of HR workers has also changed considerably according to advancement of technology. The acquire proficiency now in Human resource technology and its delivery, personal credibility, and vast business knowledge. Current technology will continue to bring advancements in HR performances and will continue to focus on the value that HR brings to an organization. Conclusion The human resource sector has made numerous advances due to technology in the past era and will continue to do so with the changes that are brought by the constant upheaval in the IT world of making things more effective and fast than before. HRIS has made various areas of HR extremely accessible and successful in accordance to the fast paced world of today. The methods of recruiting employees, managerial organization, data storage, training of professionals and more areas have undergone major changes due to the integration of Information Technology in the world of Human Resources. If these changes haven’t been employed and training programs hadn’t been designed to create technological awareness and familiarity it would’ve been a big setback to organizations. It has risen the standards of professionals working in human resources and the organizations have been able to get productivity, creativity, innovation and progress in finances on a whole new  level. HR technology is still going through this evolution of technology as they must use newer and refined methods of generating an organization’s human capital. Human resources would need to continue adopting the latest technological trends in order to keep up with advancements and provide more efficient functions. It will need to use technology to redefine their areas in which they work to derive more productivity. The increment in the usage of portals and intranets and other virtual tools will bring a more great impact on Human resource performance in the near future. Bibliography Storey, J. (Ed.). (2007). 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