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“Technological optimistic voices want us to believe that, from a technical perspective, the IT
possibilities for HRM are endless: in principal all HR processes can be supported by IT. E-HRM
is the relatively new term for this IT supported HRM, especially through the use of web technology” (Ruel et al.; 2004). For many functions, HR transformation is currently one of their critical deliverables. As with all change, there are huge possibilities and exciting opportunities that lie at the end of the implementation journey. However, the obstacles stand in the way of effective implementation are considerable, and many HR functions lose their way or find that they have failed to deliver the outcomes that were initially anticipated. One of the key themes that the advances around E-HR provide organizations with great opportunities to rethink the way HR management is undertaken in organizations and yet technology driven change is often disconnected from other changes that are needed around capabilities, culture and structure. To transform HR effectively, change needs to be integrated. There needs to be an investment in E-HR, absolutely, but technology is not the end in itself. Technology is only a tool, an enabler, which supports more effective ways of working and of managing the human capital component of business organizations. Before any technology can be effectively deployed, the fundamental approaches to people management must be transformed. In most cases, this involves transforming the way HR management is done in organizations and the repositioning of the HR function: its ways of working as well as the ways in which the HR function interacts with the wider organization and external providers.
Like all professions, Human Resource Management (HRM) has been increasingly affected by the ongoing emergence of new technologies. For instance, the first introduction of the “Human Resource Information System” (HRIS) some two decades ago has brought about greater efficiency and automation for people management. With the great leap forward of web technologies during the past few years, we have witnessed the birth of Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) which, as indicated by experts, is a much more powerful enabler in transforming the role of Human Resource (HR) from an administrator to the more value – adding role of a business partner. But of course, the availability of an enabler doesn’t guarantee the successful transformation.
1.1 THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE
Technology advancement is one of the powerful driving forces. It has reshaped the way we play,
communicate, live, work and also the way business is conducted. The technology and digital
business communications improvements have changed various organizational activities. The way
that organization’s perform their task is currently associated to contemporary concepts such as
digital business, e-commerce, customer relationship management, human resource management
etc. Nowadays, digital business services are being considered as pertinent and prominent parts of
the organization. In other words, the trend of business in service industry is moving towards knowledge or digital based economy. Computers have simplified the task of analyzing vast amounts of data and they can be invaluable aids in HR management, from payroll processing to record retention. With computer hardware, software, and data bases, organizations can keep records and information better as well as retrieve them with greater ease.
Although the “IT bubble” has burst, the web or internet technologies continue to
fundamentally transform our world, driving globalization to a new horizon. There are now several major players that offer enterprise-wide technology solutions. This has enabled the HR function to make its business case for technological investment alongside other support functions, such as finance and procurement. Although there is still likely to be debate in each organization concerning the extent to which e-HR will be adopted, there is now sufficient critical mass to give organizations genuine cost – effective alternatives. Additionally, the core HR Information System (HRIS) backbone offers in-built “best practices” in HR processes and the ability to apply solutions globally. HR not only has the opportunity to utilize technology, but now the means to make a convincing business case for this investment. New technologies allow training to occur at any time and any place. New technology includes the use of computers, software, internet, e-mail, telecommunications, CD-ROMs and DVDs for a wide variety of applications. The internet and the web allow employees to send and receive information as well as to locate and gather resources, including software, reports, photos and videos. The internet gives employees instant access to experts whom they can communicate with and to newsgroups, which are bulletin boards dedicated to specific areas of interest, where employees can read post and respond to messages and articles.
Pursuant to the development in e-commerce and digital business, it is inevitable for HRM functions to be taken into that sphere. Wright and Dyer (2000) concur that new challenges lie ahead for human resources (HR) practitioners in the advent of digital business era. Technology is pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, speech synthesis, wireless communications, and networked virtual reality. Realistic graphics, dialogue, and sensory cues can now be stored onto tiny, inexpensive computer chips. These advances have the potential for freeing workers from going to a specific location to work and from traditional work schedules. But at the same time technologies may result in employees being on call twenty – four hours a day, seven days a week. Many companies are taking steps to provide more flexible work schedules to protect employees’ free time and to more productively use employees’ work time.
So Computerized technology (Digital, ICT, IT, Automation and many more) along with other technological advances has reshaped the world perhaps positively in a significant way. Everything including our way of thinking, living, communicating and working has changed drastically. On a major landscape, our culture, economies, demographics and even society has been affected by these technological changes. Modern scientific inventions and fast changing technologies have changed the face of the universe. Distances between the countries have been reduced and a new era of co-operation and international business has dawned. No nation now can live in isolation unmindful of the state of affairs in other countries of the world. Changing business scenario has cast its spell on all aspects of life and industrial relations have to be judged in the new perspectives. Human resources have to be utilized and nourished in an entirely new grammar of administration and technology. These technological paradigm shifts in business has brought about a colossal change in delivering HR functions, organizational environment, managerial initiatives and employee management in the form of what we call the term, „E-HRM‟.
Today E- HRM has become a tool that facilitates fast, accurate and paperless dispensation of various HRM processes namely: Payroll; Time & Attendance; Benefits Administration; HR Management Information System; Recruiting; Training; Employee Self-Service and many more. Further it empowers both the management and the employee within organization, as they can access the typical HR functions through intranet or other communication networks related to computer technology .“The empowerment of managers and employees to perform certain chosen HR functions relieves the HR department of these tasks, allowing HR staff to focus less on the operational and more on the strategic elements of HR, and allowing organizations to lower HR department staffing levels as the administrative burden is lightened”.
So E-HRM is a way of implementing HR strategies, policies and practices in organizations through a conscious and directed support of and with the full use of web-technology based channels. The term E-HRM is used to describe technology’s role in enabling the transformation of solely HR activity. Instead of a centralized personnel team handling everyday tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, these can be handled by the employees themselves or their line manager. The adoption of E-HR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, allowing managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. These can contrast with the shared service enter environment, where the service would normally be expected to be delivered by a customer service operator or other category of HR staff. So to introduce a new technology it is must to know about the employee’s perception. As E-HRM is relatively a new term or new technology, that is why it is necessary to have employees perception on it.
Employees’ perception is basically a combination of two words: employees and perception. Without employees an organization does not exist. They are the real assets of an organization. Without them any technology can’t be applied to the organizations’. Perception is basically the thinking about anything.
Determining the difference between perception and reality is important because perceptions can become reality if corrective measures are not taken .This is imperative when perceptions are negative. Perceptions take shape and judgments are made by the time perceptions are formed. Abi shegenaden (2002) believes that perceptions occur because the amount of information we encounter is growing and we are not able to handle all of this new information, Perceptions are hard to change as they are filed away in memory. To change a perception, a new file needs to be created in memory. Files need to be created in a timely fashion to reduce the risk of negative perceptions becoming reality. Negative perceptions will take value away from the true impact of the new information.
Research indicates perception is different than reality in many cases. For example Pollak (1995) discussed how public perception regarding the spread of cancer is different than reality. Cancer cases, with the exception of lung cancer, have not increased since 1930. The perception that cancer cases have increased is due to the myths regarding cancer threats and poor public policy.
Shuldiner (2006) discusses how auto buyers will spend more money for a foreign car than a comparable less expensive domestic model based on perceptions of lesser quality of the domestic models. These cases display the need to evaluate employees perception to determine perception versus reality. Comparison studies need to be completed to get people to be accurate in their perceptions based on actual information.
The history of E-HRM
The use of computer in HRM dates back to the 1940s. Payroll systems and employee information storage are among the first processes to be supported by the technology (Walker 1980). In America, by 1943 federal tax came into practice and payroll clerks struggled with manual processes which failed to avoid human errors. The urge to increase the efficiency of the auditing department led to a revolution where automated payroll systems were adopted to reduce the burden of HR staff (Fletcher 2005: 11). Walker (1980: 560) describes four stages in the revolution of computers for personnel use. The stages include “the primitives forerunners of the 1940s and early 1950s, systems based on the number crunchers available in the mid-1950s and early 60s, overly ambitious efforts to include data from personnel in master plan management information systems in the 1960s, and external developments, primarily in government reporting requirements, that made personnel data systems a necessity rather than a luxury in the 70s”. The developments continued strongly in 1980s when companies recognized the huge benefits of IT application and new areas like accounting and finance were gradually mechanized (DeSanctis 1986). That is when the term HRIS (Human Resource Information System) has been widely used by both researchers and practitioners. As the 1990s approached, the internet started to emerge and shed a new light on HRM activities. A survey conducted by CedarCrestone (2006) showed that companies broadened the scope of HRM applications and increased their budgets to invest in HR technology. In addition, E-HRM applications have become more sophisticated as a part of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with the integration of financial and other modules (Bondarouk & Ruël 2009). The diffusion of E-HRM in organizations calls for an urgent change among HR to meet the increasing demands of this profession.
MEANING OF E-HRM
People mean different things by the term “E-HRM”. It is a web-based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application technology to deliver an online real-time Human Resource Management Solution. It is comprehensive but easy to use, feature-rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your specific needs. It also refers to the processing and transmission of digitized information used in HRM, including text, sound, and visual images, from one computer or electronic device to another. It will be able to meet the demands of today's Human Resource Management.
Typically, the term E-HR is used to describe technology’s role in enabling the transformation of solely HR activity. Instead of a centralized personnel team handling everyday tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, these can be handled by the employees themselves or their line manager. Crucially, the adoption of E-HR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, allowing managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. These can contrast with the shared service center environment, where the service would normally be expected to be delivered by a customer service operative or other category of HR staff.
Before starting to define E-HRM, it is also important to identify terms that possibly carry similar meanings to the term E-HRM, Wright and Dyer (2000). In addition to E-HR and E-HRM terms are used such as virtual HR (M), HR intranet, web-based HR, computer based human resource information systems (CHRIS) and HR portals. We are excluding HR information systems (HRIS), since there is a fundamental difference between HRIS and e-HR in that basically HRIS are directed towards the HR department itself. Users of these systems are mainly HR staff.
These types of systems aim to improve the processes within the HR department itself, in order to improve the service towards the business. With E-HR, the target group is not the HR staff but people outside this department: the employees and management. HRM services are being offered through an internet for use by employees. The difference between HRIS and E-HR can be identified as the switch from the automation of HR services towards technological support of information on HR services. Technically speaking it can be said that E-HR is the technical
unlocking of HRIS for all employees of an organisation.
DEFINITIONS
As defined by Kettle P and Reilly P (2003), a Computerized Human Resource Information System (CHRIS) consists of “a fully integrated, organization-wide network of HR related data, information, services, databases, tools and transactions.” Such a system can be described as E-HR, meaning the application of conventional, web and voice technologies to improve the HR administration, transactions and process performance.
As stated by Ernst Biesalski “Electronic-Human Resource Management (E-HRM) is a
web based tool to automate and support HR processes. The implementation of e-HRM is
an opportunity to delegate the data entry to the employees. E-HRM facilitates the usage
of HR market places (e-recruitment) and offers more self-service to the employees. EHRM
is a collection of many different technologies.
Mary Gowan has defined Electronic Human Resource Management System (E-HRM
System) as a web-based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application
technology to deliver an online real-time human resource management solution. It is
comprehensive but easy to use, feature-rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your
specific needs.
As said by MS Kauffman “An automation system is a precisely planned change in a
physical or administrative task utilizing a new process, method, or machine that increases
productivity, quality and profit while providing methodological control and analysis. The
value of system automation is in its ability to improve efficiency; reduce wasted
resources associated with rejects or errors; increase consistency, quality and customer
satisfaction; and maximize profit.”
Broderick and Boudreau (1992) defined Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)
as the “composite to data basis computer applications and hardware and software that are
used to collect or record, store, manage, deliver, present and manipulate data for human
resources.”
According to Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise (2002:1), “e-HRM is a way of
implementing HR strategies, policies, and practices in organisations through a conscious
and directed support of and/or with the full use of web-technology-based channels.
Features of E-HRM
The E-HRM business solution excels in modularity
The solution can be accessed and used in a web browser
Security of data, protected levels of access to individual modules, records,documents and their component parts.
Parametricity and customizability
Access to archived records and documents
User-friendly interface
Connectivity with the client’s existing information system (payroll accounting,ERP, attendance registration, document systems…)
Multi-language support
Nature and Scope of e-HRM
E-HRM is designed to achieve the following objectives- to offer an adequate, comprehensive and on-going information system about people and jobs at a reasonable cost; to provide support for future planning and also for policy formulations; to facilitate monitoring of human resources demand and supply imbalances; to automate employee related information; to enable faster response to employee related services and faster HR related decisions and to offer data security and personal privacy.
The scope of e-HRM can be said to encompass- a decisive step towards a paperless office; higher speed of retrieval and processing of data; increased access to HR data and ease in classifying and
reclassifying data; collection of information as the basis for improving the strategic orientation of HRM; more consistent and higher accuracy of information/report generated; fast response to
answer queries; a higher internal profile for HR leading to better work culture; establishing of streamlined, standardized and systematic procedures; more transparency in the system; cost savings achievable through process improvements and due to reduction in duplication of efforts; significant reduction of administrative burden; adaptability to any client and facilitating management; Integral support for the management of human resources and all other basic and support processes within the company and a more dynamic workflow in the business process, productivity and employee satisfaction.
TYPES/ LEVELS OF E-HRM
Wright and Dyer (2000) distinguish three areas of HRM where organizations can
choose to ‘offer’ HR services face-to-face or through an electronic means:
1. Transactional HRM,
2. Traditional HRM, and
3. Transformational HRM
Lepak and Snell (1998) is a fully integrated, organization-wide electronic network of HRM related data, information, services, databases, tools, applications, and transactions that are generally accessible at any time by the employees, managers, and HRM professionals . Wright and Dyer specify three areas of HRM where organizations can choose to „offer‟ HR services face-to-face or through an electronic means: transactional HRM, traditional HRM, and transformational HRM. Lepak and Snell also made a distinction regarding e-HRM, namely, operational HRM, relational HRM and transformational HRM.
Operational E-HRM -Operational E-HRM is deals with the basic administrative activities of the HR department such as payroll, Personnel data management, departmental record maintenance besides others. According to Snell et al. [11], about 75-75 percent of the workload is related to this type of activities.
Relational E-HRM- Relational E-HRM, emphasizes upon HR activities that support a mutual relationship between HR department and other departments both inside and outside the organization. The major activities concerned with this type of E-HRM are e-recruitment, e- learning, E-performance management and so on. Strohmeier , considers relational e-HRM as a means of interaction and networking among different players associated with an organization. About 15-30 percent of HR workload is related to this type of activities .
Transformational E-HRM Transformational E-HRM is the most complex type concerned with the strategic activities of HRM, such organizational change processes, strategic re-orientation, strategic competence management, and strategic knowledge management. “Finally, in terms of transformational HRM, it is possible to create a change-ready workforce through an integrated set of web-based tools that enables the workforce to develop in line with the company‟s strategic choices or to have paper-based materials. It totally depends upon an organization to practice E-HRM policies from any number of these three types to achieve their HR goals.
The theories of Snell et al. (1996) and Lengnick-Hall & Moritz (2003) can be used to get insights in the differences in how IT can be used to support e-HRM. The different types of e-HRM support seem to vary, according the theory of Snell et al. (1996) and Lengnick-Hall & Moritz (2003), on two aspects, namely:
1. The intended impact of the technology
2. The role of IT in supporting an HR activity
These differences in support, allow the creation of a typology with three levels of
e-HRM support. For this research the following typology for the support of e-HRM
activities is used:
1. Informational e-HRM support
2. Relational e-HRM support
3. Transformational e-HRM support
The above mentioned different types of E-HRM activities are differentiated with the help of the table as given (Marco Maatman, 2006) below.
E-HRM goals
Lepak and Snell were refer to the four ‘pressures’ of virtual HRM. First of all, HRM departments are asked to focus on strategic questions. Secondly, these departments need to be flexible in terms of policymaking and practices. Thirdly, HRM departments should work efficiently and be aware of costs (“…a hard line on costs”). Fourthly, HRM departments should be service-oriented towards management and employees. In short, HRM departments must be strategy-focused, flexible, efficient, and client oriented; and all at the same time (Lepak and Snell, 1998).
But we think that they can be reduced to three types of goals, namely:
1. Improving the strategic orientation of HRM
2. Cost reduction/efficiency gains
3. Client service improvement/facilitating management and employees
Out Comes of E-HRM System
E-HRM is a way of thinking about and implementing HRM strategies, policies, and practices. By following a specific e-HRM direction, an organization expects toachieve certain goals: an improvement in the HR’s strategic orientation, an improvement in client focus and satisfaction, and a decrease in costs or increased efficiency. Besides these goals that can lead to anticipated outcomes, a number of so-called ‘overall’ organizational goals can be distinguished regarding an organization’s ‘social capital’. All HRM activities, and therefore also all E-HRMactivities, will implicitly or explicitly be directed towards these ‘overall’ goals.
Beer et al. (1984) distinguish four possibilities:
1.High commitment,
2.High competence,
3.Cost effectiveness and
4. Higher congruence.
These outcomes, in turn, may change the state of HRM in an organization,in to a new HRM state. E-HRM will change the nature of the HR department by making less administrative tasks for the HR department and therefore less administrative positions, more focus on the strategic goals of the organization.
Research Objectives
The objectives of this study are as follows:
To study the E-HRM concept in general
To examine the E-HRM practices followed in SBI in Srikakulam District.
To observe employee perceptions towards Electronic Human Resource Management in STATE BANK OF INDIA Srikakulam District.
To make appropriate suggestions and recommendations for successful implementation of E-HRM practices in SBI to create a favourable organizational climate in order to get effective E-HRM system in the SBI srikakulam District.
SCOPE OF THE PRESENT STUDY
The study aims at analyzing the perception of employees towards the E-HRM practices followed in STATE BANK OF INDIA (SRIKAKULAM) ANDHRAPRADESH.. For this purpose the researcher takes into account the employees of the SBI (SKLM) alone which has not been covered by previous studies.
Benefits of E-HRM
The main benefits of E-HRM are an increase of quality and pace, because the existing administrative processes were slow and inefficient conditional upon mainly paper-based processes.
Standardization: By standardizing the system used within the group and by providing employees with direct access to records, particularly leave records, the company can achieve a significant
reduction in employee queries and reduce the need for HR to undertake data entry of employee records.
Ease of recruitment, selection and assessment: With e-recruitment
the company gets an additional possibility besides the normal application by paper to recruit people over the web in an online-application process. Although this, and like processes, will
always need significant human intervention. E-HRM systems can streamline the process and reduce errors.
Ease of administering employee records: Whether be it leaves, benefits, personal details, accident and discipline reports, etc., it is generally accepted that once everyone can overcome the initial IT phobia, HR and employees will experience fewer headaches and efficiency will rapidly increase.
Reductions in cost, time and labor: Reduced duplication, reduced time spent fixing errors, reduced labor costs through ESS, reduced or no hard-copy entry. Not only manpower can be saved, the processing time can also be shortened. With this e-HRM reaches the prime objective of cost effectiveness.
Access to ESS training enrolment and self development: e-Training can enable employees to search for and enroll in training programs on-line and validating course availability. This can
streamline the training administration process enabling employees to access computer based training. Cost and pace can be individualized as well.
Cost and ESS: ESS reduces the workload of HR department substantially, for instance in the traditional method the employee has to type in a formal leave application get approved from his/her direct boss who will send it to the HR department for further approval. On the other hand, with e-leave, the employee needs only to log in and make his/her leave application and his/her boss will be alerted to approve. Upon approval the leave balance is automatically updated.
Location and timeliness: With ESS, the employee could log in online anywhere and anytime without being in the office and without the leave card could be sitting at the boss’ Table for a few days, lost or buried.
1.8 Theoretical frame work of E-HRM
1.8.1 Introduction
E-HR is the strategic application of web based technologies to HR- related systems that along with other organizational changes will lead to more broadly based access to HR information and wider opportunities for managing the information. (Bryan Hopkins and James Markham, 1998).
Internet and intranet technology offers a number of ways in which HR services
can be managed and delivered. These can be summarized under six broad headings.40
1. A more strategic approach to HR.
2. Better support to management throughout the business.
3. Greater potential for organized collaboration and learning.
4. Enhanced organizational prestige.
5. Reduced administrative costs.
6. A happier workforce.
A more strategic approach to HR
E-HR can help HR to take on a more strategic role by reducing the time needed for administration thereby freeing staff to take on the crucial strategic role, and by providing information for strategic decision making.
Better support to management throughout the business
E-HR can give line managers improved functionality so that they can do their job more effectively and enable much more information to be available at line manager level so that informed decisions can be made quickly.
1. Providing more operational functionality.
2. Providing better-quality information
3. Information and services available everywhere and all the time.
4. Integration of organizational systems.
5. Improved organizational monitoring.
Greater potential for organizational collaboration and learning
1. Learning opportunities can be delivered and managed more easily through e-learning.
2. Business-related information can flow more easily, upwards, downwards and laterally.
Enhanced organizational prestige
Some organizations may consider it as important to be seem as the cutting edge of
technology.
Reduced administrative costs
E-HR systems are often sold on the basis of their ability to reduce HR
administrative costs and also reduce costs in other areas
1. Reducing HR related costs: The traditional method of processing HR information involves a considerable amount of routine clerical work. Depending on the size of the organization, a small army of people may be involved in transferring handwritten information to centralized computer system or in putting pieces of paper in ever-growing personal files. E-HR systems reduce HR costs through reducing the need for routine administration and data putting.
2. Reducing costs through streamlining processes: One of the principle aims of e-HR implementation is to streamline process and reduce the amount of routine
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administrative work carried out across the organization in general and by the HR
Department specifically.
A Happier workforce
Dave Ulrich says that the purpose of the HR Department in any organization is to
develop a “High Performance Work System” (HPWS) by
1. linking selection and promotion decisions to established competency assessments.
2. having strategies that identify that identify and find people needed to help the organization respond to changes in its marketplace.
3. attracting, retaining and motivating high-quality employees.
E-HRM TOOLS
E- Employee Profile: The E-Employee Profile web application provides a central point of access to the employee contact information and provides a comprehensive employee database solution, simplifying HR management and team building by providing an employee skills, organization chart and even pictures. E-Employee profile maintenance lies with the individual employee, the manager and the database manager. E-Employee profile consist of the following:
Certification, Honor/Award, Membership, Education, Past Work Experience, Assignment Skills, Competency, Employee Assignment Rules, Employee Availability, Employee Exception Hours, Employee Utilization, Employee tools, Job information, Sensitive job Information, Service Details, Calendar, Calendar Administration, Employee Locator.
E-Job Design And Job Analysis:
e-Job Design And Job Analysis Information of listing skills and competency mapping are placed on the net System matches the listing skills and competency mapping and produces the output by identifying the employee suitable for a particular task
E-Human Resource Planning:
e-Human Resource Planning Computer programs are developed and used extensively for the purpose of planning human resource requirements based on the data and the information available Programs indicate the number of employees required at each level for each category of the job
E-Recruitment: Organizations first started using computers as a recruiting tool by advertising jobs on a bulletin board service from which prospective applicants would contact employers. Then some companies began to take e-applications. Today the internet has become a primary means for employers to search for job candidates and for applicants to look for job. As many as 100,000 recruiting web sites are available to employers and job candidates and which to post jobs and review resumes of various types. But the explosive growth of internet recruiting also means the HR professionals can be overwhelmed by the breadth and scope of internet recruiting.
E-Recruiting Methods: Job boards, Professional/Career,websites, Employer Websites.
E-Selection: Most employers seem to be embracing Internet recruitment with enthusiasm, the penetration of on-line assessment tools such as personality assessments or ability tests, has so far been limited. A survey has shown that although more than half respondents organizations already use either psychometric or other assessment during the recruitment process, only few of these companies use on-line assessments prior to interview. Fewer still include a core fit questionnaire in the recruitment pages of their websites.
E-Learning: E-Learning refers to any programmed of learning, training or education where electronic devices, applications and processes are used for knowledge creation, management and transfer. E-Learning is a term covering a wide-set of applications and processes, such as web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual class room, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of content via Internet, intranet/extranet (LAN/WAN), audio-and videotape, satellite broadcast, interactive TV, CD – Rom, and more. Training program provides.
Classical and Virtual Learning: This classical learning model especially from non-reversible flow of information. AT the beginning is the pedagogue, which governs the course. For students, pedagogue offers information, knowledge, and educational materials mostly in the representation of educational lecture notes for lessons. For the most part the feedback is weak, inconsistent, or even missing. Virtual education environment by its communications links collects the feedback of participants, simplifies teaching and simplifies teamwork of students with pedagogue. The virtual learning system enables horizontal and vertical communication. For required information, participant can often gets much more information than in classical model of education as here the other participant also share which is not a real happening in the classical model.
Characteristics of E-Learning:
E-Learning outcomes extend beyond learning to strategic outcomes.
E-Learning is much more than e-training for skill outcomes.
E-Learning involves information and communication technology.
E-Learning is about people learning in a given context.
E-Training: Most companies start to think of online learning primarily as a more efficient way to distribute training inside the organization, making it available ”any time”,” anywhere” reducing direct costs (instructors, printed materials, training facilities), and indirect costs (travel time, lodging and travel expenses, workforce downtimes). Attracted by these significant and measurable advantages, companies start to look for ways to make the most of their existing core training available online, and to manage and measure the utilization of the new capabilities.
Characteristic of E-Training:
Rich learning interface.
Personalized training programs.
Training from work place/home
Virtual class room.
E-Performance Management system: A web-based appraisal system can be defined as the system which uses the web(intranet and internet) to effectively evaluate the skills, knowledge and the performance of the employees.
E-Compensation: All companies whether small or large must engage in compensation planning. Compensation planning is the process of ensuring that managers allocate salary increases equitably across the organization while staying within budget guidelines. As organizations have started expanding their boundaries, usage of intranet and internet has become vital. The usage of intranet and internet for compensation planning is called E-Compensation Management.
E-Payroll : The electronic payroll system works with the use of payroll cards. This works the same way as the debit cards in bank accounts except that payroll cards do not necessarily need banks to function. With or without a bank account, a worker can easily receive pay via electronic payroll procedure. It often requires the assistance of electronic payroll institutions in order for employees to fully understand the parameters of how exactly they can receive their pay.
Electronic payroll system is the newest transition to the way workers receive their compensation and more of its wonders can be seen in the future.
E-Benefits :administration models enable HR professionals to track had administer diverse and complex benefits plans and employee benefits programs which may involve housing transportation, medical and health care, insurance, pension profit sharing and stock option benefits such models through internet- based automation can enable HR to improve benefits support and analysis whilst reducing time and costs involved in the administration whilst increasing the consistency of decisions
on compliance issues at all levels across the organization.
E-HR Information:
Human resource information is generated maintained processed and transmitted to the appropriate places or clients with the help of a software with high speed and accuracy in fact this function of HRM is done completely more accurately and perfectly with the help of computers internet
and intranet.
E-Grievance Redressal:
E-Grievance Redressal Employees send their grievance through e-mail to the superior concerned who in turn solves the problems / redress grievances and communicates the same to the employee This reduces the time in the process and avoids face to face interaction.
E-HR Audit:
E-HR Audit The standard human resource practices or the desired HR practices are fed into the computer The data and info regarding the actual practices are also fed into the computer The software automatically completes the HR audit and produces the audit report. The HR manager can then modify the report by deleting or adding any comments
E-Employee self-service(ESS): ESS, is a feature that is available with most modern HRIS. ESS allows employees to take care of many different human resources-related and job-related tasks that would otherwise need to be completed by human resources personnel or management. Employee self-service can help some companies to save labor hours and increase efficiency, but the option may not be right for every company.
The Pre-requisites and challenges of e-HRM
As always, technology comes with its inherent risk- that of huge set up
costs, overkill and loss of the “human touch”, security of information
generated, managing the data, monitoring and feedback, etc. The
decision to go in for e-HRM involves a lot of brain racking sessions and
utmost care and caution. It would not at all be proper to deduce that
simply installing e-HRM software will work as a magic wand for the
company. Hence, first and foremost it is very important for the HR
professionals to get comforTable with the technology before they make
other people see the value of such tools.
The Pre-requisites of e-HRM
1.Commitment to change management from the start of the project
Change management is mandatory. There are too many horror stories of
technology initiatives that did not work when they are treated totally as a
technology implementation. Many organizations develop special change
management teams. Involvement of the change management team is
necessary from the start to ensure that adequate documentation and
communication occurs early in the project and continues throughout the
project.
2 .Presence of an IT Culture – an important condition
Companies must first figure out whether they need e-HRM before
calling in consultants to implement solutions. Organizations seeking
enhanced transparency go for e-HRM. The software provided by
vendors needs to be tailored to organizational requirements. A lot of
research and in-depth study and analysis need to be done to ascertain
the feasibility of the project especially in terms of the cost factor and
the sustainability of the project. Only those firms, which are thoroughly
prepared for e-enabling HR, should go for it. This presupposes the
presence of an IT culture, the HR department as a process owner, being
clear about the objectives of e-HRM, choosing the right design and
implementation partners and a willingness to spend hours training
employees on the optimum use of the portal.
3 .Culture of Knowledge management
A point to make note of is that Knowledge management (KM) and e-
HRM go hand in hand. Tacit knowledge without e-HRM will tend to
reside within people and manuals, making learning difficult. Godrej
currently has an MS Share-Point knowledge portal, which serves as KM
system among cross-functional teams. Knowledge management at P&G
is all about “Team spaces” provided to all teams to capture and
integrate learnings by each individual in a team. It also has “functional
websites” where information about each functional area is shared on a
website to capture learnings and share it.
4 .Involvement of all the stakeholders early on to gain their buy-in
This is an important pre-condition for any e-HRM venture to be initiated
and to be implemented successfully
5 Communication of the value of any technology solution to the users
Communicating the value of any technology solution for both the
organization and more importantly for the people who will use the
solution is necessary. This communication must be in the users’
language.
6 .Clarity regarding on the part of all users question- “What’s in it for me?”
Managing the venture successfully requires not just implementing the
technology but also managing the expectations of all to be affected.
7 Adequate training to the users
Assuming that self service is supposed to be so easy to use that no
training is required would be to a major blunder. The process changes
typically need to be absorbed into the organization’s way of doing
business and training is the way to make that acculturation. Training
each target audience is a necessary pre-condition.
Allocating at least 15% of the overall project budget to change
management, training and communication can make a substantial
difference toward the organization’s perception of success. Allocating
adequate time, resources, and budget to training, communications, and
change management will make the difference toward achieving a
positive user community perception of a successful HR technology
project.
Challenges of E-HRM
Among the most prevalent issues facing management are control, business requirements, and best practices. Some of the major challenges that have been identified are-
• Cost Implications: Costs tend to be proportional to requirements and the type
of organization. Given the costs, companies must e-enable only those
operations that are vital, essential or desirable.
• Aligning the e-HRM system with the business requirements: ERP applications vary widely in their allowance for control, typically assuming either a corporate or business-unit locus of control. Hence management must consider the ERP’s stance on control to ensure it will meet the business requirements of the company.
• Security of the information generated: A company needs to ensure that outsiders or competitors should not access the information. In this context proper vendor selection is a critical condition to ensure confidentiality.
• Managing the data: Managing the huge amount of data generated through HRMS is a relatively new challenge for companies.
• ‘Overkill’ and loss of the ‘human touch’: Another challenge is the avoidance of ‘overkill’ and loss of the ‘human touch’. It should not be the case that in a bid to be techno-savvy we neglect the human side.
more so difficult: E-HRM is more so a challenge for the traditional companies
which need to bring about a change in the mindsets to a large extent. These
companies as compared to those in the IT sector, BPOs etc. are having a tougher
time getting people to speed up on these e-HR tools.
• Customization to be taken up in the right perspective: Most of the packages
are of international standards and based on best practices. Hence customization is huge in the Indian context and needs to be taken up in the right perspective.
Customizations can also be costly and maintaining and upgrading customizations
can be cumbersome.
• Training the users a crucial issue: Training the users is many a time a long
drawn out process, as many people do not find them to be user friendly.
• The Return On Investment (ROI) on an e-HRM project to be justified: The ROI
on an e-HRM project is the projected cost reduction brought about by the system and its impact on revenue/profits over time. The e-HRM initiative should align itself with the overall HR and IT strategy and ultimately, with the business strategy to ensure ROI.
• ERP to function along with other systems to be successful: Companies wanting to integrate their value chains with the business activities of their suppliers, business partners and customers typically have to implement systems other than ERP like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and others.
• Continuous monitoring and feedback: Continuous monitoring and feedback are
critical for the success of any e-HRM effort in an organization.
Implementation of E-HRM: There are five main phases in the implementation of the E-HRM business solution.
Analysis (Infrastructure)
Analyzing the existing infrastructure with regard to quantity of data and classification of business activities.
Business processes in the company
After the existing processes have been analyzed, the options for automating these processes in the client’s environment are proposed. Finally a project plan is developed based on the model of the processes identified.
Implementation
After the fundamental analysis of the processes in the work team, individual modules are deployed in the client’s environment. With modular design a gradual implementation is possible. Company-specific functionalities are discussed with the client and built upon request.
Implementation and Training
A complete knowledge of the components of the solution is a key factor for successful implementation. The entire team of project managers, information technology professionals and human resources specialist are thus involved in user training and implementation.
Maintenance
Fast technological development and development of new modules make cooperation after the implementation indispensable. A maintenance contract typically includes:
• Technical support experts available by phone, through e-mail or on-site
• Adaptation of existing modules or development of new ones
• Application software adjustment to changes in the system environment or Operating system
• Functionality improvement and software upgrades in the form of new versions
• Consultation about further development of the system.
Consequences of E-HRM for the HR department
E-HRM will assume an active role for line management and employees in
implementing HRM strategies, policies, and practices. In terms of the more operational
and information processing work, such as administration, registration and information
distribution, there will be less demand for HR people
E- HRM costs lower and improve efficiency by
1. Reducing paperwork and streamlining work flow,
2. Automating redundant HRM tasks,
3. Empowering employees to embrace a self- service HRM delivery system,
4. Keeping the company workflow fully informed about all important HR
compliance issues and corporate events,
5. Speeding up the response time of HRM systems
6. Ensuring that more informed decisions are made.
7. Improving time management, E-HRM can become a new destiny in terms of HRM. In the first place because of the opportunities it creates to put employee-management relationships in the hands of the employees and line managers. In the second place because information technology creates possibilities to design HRM tools and instruments that would not be possible without this information technology
E-HRM IMPLICATIONS Computer technology has streamlined our way of living, working, communicating and even the way of conducting business .The emergence of Information technology in business world has significantly changed the way how HR departments handle their record keeping and information sharing process. Today, more HR functions are becoming available electronically or done over the internet. Everyday organizational tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, which were earlier performed by skilled professionals are now being handled by the computers. Moreover, in addition to performing the traditional tasks of accounting and pay roll calculations, computers are now being engaged to maintain easily accessible employee data that are valuable for job placement and labor utilization, to track and report affirmative action activity, employee training, compensation management etc. A large number of HR managers are now using internet to recruit personnel, conduct research using electronic data bases, send e-mails and also engage in valuable networking and discussions on line. Adoption of e-HR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, change the way many HR managers operate and allows managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. E-HRM improves the strategic orientation of HRM, helps in Cost reduction/efficiency gains, improve the Client service and facilitating management and employee [7]. The main objective of e-HRM is to facilitate the monitoring of human resources demand and supply imbalances within an organization. This system eventually automates employees‟ related information and leads to faster response to employees‟ related services and HR related decisions. E-HRM also offers the potential to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness within the HR department, and allow HR to become a strategic partner. Above all, it provides data security and personal privacy to the users which are the most in demand concept in today‟s world. e-HRM provides an opportunity to improve HR services within both employees and management perspective as well as facilitates efficiency and cost effectiveness within HR department.
THE GLOBAL E-HRM SCENARIO
Human resources as a function has evolved into Human Capital Management (HCM). Where Human Resources was the responsibility of a centralized, or sometimes decentralized department, Human Capital Management is the job of everyone in the business, from employees to executives. Today, every Human Resources department is in the midst of a seemingly endless transformation, one that not only encompasses the function of the Human Resources department, but also its role within the business, the relationships it maintains, and the technology it uses and is responsible for deploying. It is clear that transformation of Human Resources
is inevitable. More and more, businesses are realizing that people are the only true differentiating
factor in long-term competitive success.
The Cedar Crestone survey (2008-09) on the state of HR technology adoption covering organizations across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia chalks out a roadmap followed by most organizations that have an ERP-based HRMS as their foundation. (Refer figure 1)
Figure 1 shows that the roadmap followed by most organizations that have an ERP-based HRMS as their foundation is as follows- Administrative Excellence, Service Delivery Excellence and
Performance Excellence. Some of the major highlights as per the Cedar Crestone Survey on the
state of HR technology adoption 2008-2009 are –
• Topping the list of initiatives are activities around metrics and analytics.
• Administrative applications are very mature with some movement from inhouse to software-as-a-service solutions, hosting, or full business process outsourcing.
• Service delivery applications continue to be adopted. A move to a service center approach with an HR-oriented help desk is a key differentiator.
• Web 2.0 innovations are the arena of early adopters. Organizations using social networking for recruiting and branding had double the sales growth of organizations without these tools.
• The learning management application in any combination with other talent management applications is linked to the strongest revenue growth.
• An integrated talent management approach with service delivery, talent management, and business applications on the same platform as the core HRMS is a best practice.
• The stance organizations are taking regarding sourcing is not one of total business process outsourcing where processes and systems are lifted and shifted to an outsourcer. It is still one of selective outsourcing.
• Change management continues to be the one key differentiator towards achieving a successful HR technology project or sourcing change.
• Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) organizations are generally at the leading edge of technology adoption in the APAC region. The top automation under way includes portals and employee and manager self service. The top talent management initiative is learning management
• North Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) respondents have above average adoption of manager self service and thus are achieving some of the stronger benefits of service delivery automation.For talent management applications, then deployed training enrollment, learning management, and competency management.
• The South Asia (India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand) respondents particularly among the Indian organizations are strongly focused on aligning employee performance with
organizational objectives and implementing the performance management application. They are also implementing competency management and succession planning. In fact, the organizations are further along than the other countries of the region in talent management application adoption. Indian organizations are much further along than any other country in their adoption of the Hroriented help desk. As leading outsourcing firms serving the rest of the world, many of these organizations use this technology to serve customers, and are also applying it to their own
employee base. Finally South Asia respondent organizations are quite a bit further along than other regions in their adoption of the business intelligence applications, with the most work being done among the Indian Financial Services organizations.In India the pioneers in adopting and apparently in benefiting from the E-HRM initiatives have been companies in the IT, BPO and retail banking sectors where employee numbers run into tens of thousands. But now even traditional FMCG companies are following suit. HR departments in many non-IT companies are also adopting e-HRM. The HR outsourcing business opportunity is large and India is likely to garner a larger and larger piece of this pie in the future. India, with its intrinsic geographic positioning, is emerging as a viable destination for HR outsourcing companies to set up
their businesses. Experts say the basic reasons hampering the growth of HR outsourcing in India
are confidentiality and cost factors. Moreover, the fear of losing jobs, losing control over confidential data, ethics and quality of outsourcing vendors, security breaches and overall confidence in the vendors deters many organizations. The biggest problem - and this is why the HR outsourcing industry in India is on the back foot - is the government and the industry's failure to tackle issues like data security and data privacy. Some established service providers like SAP have adopted a phased approach to introducing the on demand software as a service (SaaS) model.
E-HRM has become an inseparable part of the functioning of almost all the large business players in the Indian scenario. It helps in integrating the widespread activities of organizations by enabling connectivity between different organizational functions and providing accurate and timely personnel information on-line and round the clock.
“Technological optimistic voices want us to believe that, from a technical perspective, the IT
possibilities for HRM are endless: in principal all HR processes can be supported by IT. E-HRM
is the relatively new term for this IT supported HRM, especially through the use of web technology” (Ruel et al.; 2004). For many functions, HR transformation is currently one of their critical deliverables. As with all change, there are huge possibilities and exciting opportunities that lie at the end of the implementation journey. However, the obstacles stand in the way of effective implementation are considerable, and many HR functions lose their way or find that they have failed to deliver the outcomes that were initially anticipated. One of the key themes that the advances around E-HR provide organizations with great opportunities to rethink the way HR management is undertaken in organizations and yet technology driven change is often disconnected from other changes that are needed around capabilities, culture and structure. To transform HR effectively, change needs to be integrated. There needs to be an investment in E-HR, absolutely, but technology is not the end in itself. Technology is only a tool, an enabler, which supports more effective ways of working and of managing the human capital component of business organizations. Before any technology can be effectively deployed, the fundamental approaches to people management must be transformed. In most cases, this involves transforming the way HR management is done in organizations and the repositioning of the HR function: its ways of working as well as the ways in which the HR function interacts with the wider organization and external providers.
Like all professions, Human Resource Management (HRM) has been increasingly affected by the ongoing emergence of new technologies. For instance, the first introduction of the “Human Resource Information System” (HRIS) some two decades ago has brought about greater efficiency and automation for people management. With the great leap forward of web technologies during the past few years, we have witnessed the birth of Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) which, as indicated by experts, is a much more powerful enabler in transforming the role of Human Resource (HR) from an administrator to the more value – adding role of a business partner. But of course, the availability of an enabler doesn’t guarantee the successful transformation.
1.1 THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE
Technology advancement is one of the powerful driving forces. It has reshaped the way we play,
communicate, live, work and also the way business is conducted. The technology and digital
business communications improvements have changed various organizational activities. The way
that organization’s perform their task is currently associated to contemporary concepts such as
digital business, e-commerce, customer relationship management, human resource management
etc. Nowadays, digital business services are being considered as pertinent and prominent parts of
the organization. In other words, the trend of business in service industry is moving towards knowledge or digital based economy. Computers have simplified the task of analyzing vast amounts of data and they can be invaluable aids in HR management, from payroll processing to record retention. With computer hardware, software, and data bases, organizations can keep records and information better as well as retrieve them with greater ease.
Although the “IT bubble” has burst, the web or internet technologies continue to
fundamentally transform our world, driving globalization to a new horizon. There are now several major players that offer enterprise-wide technology solutions. This has enabled the HR function to make its business case for technological investment alongside other support functions, such as finance and procurement. Although there is still likely to be debate in each organization concerning the extent to which e-HR will be adopted, there is now sufficient critical mass to give organizations genuine cost – effective alternatives. Additionally, the core HR Information System (HRIS) backbone offers in-built “best practices” in HR processes and the ability to apply solutions globally. HR not only has the opportunity to utilize technology, but now the means to make a convincing business case for this investment. New technologies allow training to occur at any time and any place. New technology includes the use of computers, software, internet, e-mail, telecommunications, CD-ROMs and DVDs for a wide variety of applications. The internet and the web allow employees to send and receive information as well as to locate and gather resources, including software, reports, photos and videos. The internet gives employees instant access to experts whom they can communicate with and to newsgroups, which are bulletin boards dedicated to specific areas of interest, where employees can read post and respond to messages and articles.
Pursuant to the development in e-commerce and digital business, it is inevitable for HRM functions to be taken into that sphere. Wright and Dyer (2000) concur that new challenges lie ahead for human resources (HR) practitioners in the advent of digital business era. Technology is pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, speech synthesis, wireless communications, and networked virtual reality. Realistic graphics, dialogue, and sensory cues can now be stored onto tiny, inexpensive computer chips. These advances have the potential for freeing workers from going to a specific location to work and from traditional work schedules. But at the same time technologies may result in employees being on call twenty – four hours a day, seven days a week. Many companies are taking steps to provide more flexible work schedules to protect employees’ free time and to more productively use employees’ work time.
So Computerized technology (Digital, ICT, IT, Automation and many more) along with other technological advances has reshaped the world perhaps positively in a significant way. Everything including our way of thinking, living, communicating and working has changed drastically. On a major landscape, our culture, economies, demographics and even society has been affected by these technological changes. Modern scientific inventions and fast changing technologies have changed the face of the universe. Distances between the countries have been reduced and a new era of co-operation and international business has dawned. No nation now can live in isolation unmindful of the state of affairs in other countries of the world. Changing business scenario has cast its spell on all aspects of life and industrial relations have to be judged in the new perspectives. Human resources have to be utilized and nourished in an entirely new grammar of administration and technology. These technological paradigm shifts in business has brought about a colossal change in delivering HR functions, organizational environment, managerial initiatives and employee management in the form of what we call the term, „E-HRM‟.
Today E- HRM has become a tool that facilitates fast, accurate and paperless dispensation of various HRM processes namely: Payroll; Time & Attendance; Benefits Administration; HR Management Information System; Recruiting; Training; Employee Self-Service and many more. Further it empowers both the management and the employee within organization, as they can access the typical HR functions through intranet or other communication networks related to computer technology .“The empowerment of managers and employees to perform certain chosen HR functions relieves the HR department of these tasks, allowing HR staff to focus less on the operational and more on the strategic elements of HR, and allowing organizations to lower HR department staffing levels as the administrative burden is lightened”.
So E-HRM is a way of implementing HR strategies, policies and practices in organizations through a conscious and directed support of and with the full use of web-technology based channels. The term E-HRM is used to describe technology’s role in enabling the transformation of solely HR activity. Instead of a centralized personnel team handling everyday tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, these can be handled by the employees themselves or their line manager. The adoption of E-HR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, allowing managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. These can contrast with the shared service enter environment, where the service would normally be expected to be delivered by a customer service operator or other category of HR staff. So to introduce a new technology it is must to know about the employee’s perception. As E-HRM is relatively a new term or new technology, that is why it is necessary to have employees perception on it.
Employees’ perception is basically a combination of two words: employees and perception. Without employees an organization does not exist. They are the real assets of an organization. Without them any technology can’t be applied to the organizations’. Perception is basically the thinking about anything.
Determining the difference between perception and reality is important because perceptions can become reality if corrective measures are not taken .This is imperative when perceptions are negative. Perceptions take shape and judgments are made by the time perceptions are formed. Abi shegenaden (2002) believes that perceptions occur because the amount of information we encounter is growing and we are not able to handle all of this new information, Perceptions are hard to change as they are filed away in memory. To change a perception, a new file needs to be created in memory. Files need to be created in a timely fashion to reduce the risk of negative perceptions becoming reality. Negative perceptions will take value away from the true impact of the new information.
Research indicates perception is different than reality in many cases. For example Pollak (1995) discussed how public perception regarding the spread of cancer is different than reality. Cancer cases, with the exception of lung cancer, have not increased since 1930. The perception that cancer cases have increased is due to the myths regarding cancer threats and poor public policy.
Shuldiner (2006) discusses how auto buyers will spend more money for a foreign car than a comparable less expensive domestic model based on perceptions of lesser quality of the domestic models. These cases display the need to evaluate employees perception to determine perception versus reality. Comparison studies need to be completed to get people to be accurate in their perceptions based on actual information.
The history of E-HRM
The use of computer in HRM dates back to the 1940s. Payroll systems and employee information storage are among the first processes to be supported by the technology (Walker 1980). In America, by 1943 federal tax came into practice and payroll clerks struggled with manual processes which failed to avoid human errors. The urge to increase the efficiency of the auditing department led to a revolution where automated payroll systems were adopted to reduce the burden of HR staff (Fletcher 2005: 11). Walker (1980: 560) describes four stages in the revolution of computers for personnel use. The stages include “the primitives forerunners of the 1940s and early 1950s, systems based on the number crunchers available in the mid-1950s and early 60s, overly ambitious efforts to include data from personnel in master plan management information systems in the 1960s, and external developments, primarily in government reporting requirements, that made personnel data systems a necessity rather than a luxury in the 70s”. The developments continued strongly in 1980s when companies recognized the huge benefits of IT application and new areas like accounting and finance were gradually mechanized (DeSanctis 1986). That is when the term HRIS (Human Resource Information System) has been widely used by both researchers and practitioners. As the 1990s approached, the internet started to emerge and shed a new light on HRM activities. A survey conducted by CedarCrestone (2006) showed that companies broadened the scope of HRM applications and increased their budgets to invest in HR technology. In addition, E-HRM applications have become more sophisticated as a part of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with the integration of financial and other modules (Bondarouk & Ruël 2009). The diffusion of E-HRM in organizations calls for an urgent change among HR to meet the increasing demands of this profession.
MEANING OF E-HRM
People mean different things by the term “E-HRM”. It is a web-based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application technology to deliver an online real-time Human Resource Management Solution. It is comprehensive but easy to use, feature-rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your specific needs. It also refers to the processing and transmission of digitized information used in HRM, including text, sound, and visual images, from one computer or electronic device to another. It will be able to meet the demands of today's Human Resource Management.
Typically, the term E-HR is used to describe technology’s role in enabling the transformation of solely HR activity. Instead of a centralized personnel team handling everyday tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, these can be handled by the employees themselves or their line manager. Crucially, the adoption of E-HR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, allowing managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. These can contrast with the shared service center environment, where the service would normally be expected to be delivered by a customer service operative or other category of HR staff.
Before starting to define E-HRM, it is also important to identify terms that possibly carry similar meanings to the term E-HRM, Wright and Dyer (2000). In addition to E-HR and E-HRM terms are used such as virtual HR (M), HR intranet, web-based HR, computer based human resource information systems (CHRIS) and HR portals. We are excluding HR information systems (HRIS), since there is a fundamental difference between HRIS and e-HR in that basically HRIS are directed towards the HR department itself. Users of these systems are mainly HR staff.
These types of systems aim to improve the processes within the HR department itself, in order to improve the service towards the business. With E-HR, the target group is not the HR staff but people outside this department: the employees and management. HRM services are being offered through an internet for use by employees. The difference between HRIS and E-HR can be identified as the switch from the automation of HR services towards technological support of information on HR services. Technically speaking it can be said that E-HR is the technical
unlocking of HRIS for all employees of an organisation.
DEFINITIONS
As defined by Kettle P and Reilly P (2003), a Computerized Human Resource Information System (CHRIS) consists of “a fully integrated, organization-wide network of HR related data, information, services, databases, tools and transactions.” Such a system can be described as E-HR, meaning the application of conventional, web and voice technologies to improve the HR administration, transactions and process performance.
As stated by Ernst Biesalski “Electronic-Human Resource Management (E-HRM) is a
web based tool to automate and support HR processes. The implementation of e-HRM is
an opportunity to delegate the data entry to the employees. E-HRM facilitates the usage
of HR market places (e-recruitment) and offers more self-service to the employees. EHRM
is a collection of many different technologies.
Mary Gowan has defined Electronic Human Resource Management System (E-HRM
System) as a web-based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application
technology to deliver an online real-time human resource management solution. It is
comprehensive but easy to use, feature-rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your
specific needs.
As said by MS Kauffman “An automation system is a precisely planned change in a
physical or administrative task utilizing a new process, method, or machine that increases
productivity, quality and profit while providing methodological control and analysis. The
value of system automation is in its ability to improve efficiency; reduce wasted
resources associated with rejects or errors; increase consistency, quality and customer
satisfaction; and maximize profit.”
Broderick and Boudreau (1992) defined Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)
as the “composite to data basis computer applications and hardware and software that are
used to collect or record, store, manage, deliver, present and manipulate data for human
resources.”
According to Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise (2002:1), “e-HRM is a way of
implementing HR strategies, policies, and practices in organisations through a conscious
and directed support of and/or with the full use of web-technology-based channels.
Features of E-HRM
The E-HRM business solution excels in modularity
The solution can be accessed and used in a web browser
Security of data, protected levels of access to individual modules, records,documents and their component parts.
Parametricity and customizability
Access to archived records and documents
User-friendly interface
Connectivity with the client’s existing information system (payroll accounting,ERP, attendance registration, document systems…)
Multi-language support
Nature and Scope of e-HRM
E-HRM is designed to achieve the following objectives- to offer an adequate, comprehensive and on-going information system about people and jobs at a reasonable cost; to provide support for future planning and also for policy formulations; to facilitate monitoring of human resources demand and supply imbalances; to automate employee related information; to enable faster response to employee related services and faster HR related decisions and to offer data security and personal privacy.
The scope of e-HRM can be said to encompass- a decisive step towards a paperless office; higher speed of retrieval and processing of data; increased access to HR data and ease in classifying and
reclassifying data; collection of information as the basis for improving the strategic orientation of HRM; more consistent and higher accuracy of information/report generated; fast response to
answer queries; a higher internal profile for HR leading to better work culture; establishing of streamlined, standardized and systematic procedures; more transparency in the system; cost savings achievable through process improvements and due to reduction in duplication of efforts; significant reduction of administrative burden; adaptability to any client and facilitating management; Integral support for the management of human resources and all other basic and support processes within the company and a more dynamic workflow in the business process, productivity and employee satisfaction.
TYPES/ LEVELS OF E-HRM
Wright and Dyer (2000) distinguish three areas of HRM where organizations can
choose to ‘offer’ HR services face-to-face or through an electronic means:
1. Transactional HRM,
2. Traditional HRM, and
3. Transformational HRM
Lepak and Snell (1998) is a fully integrated, organization-wide electronic network of HRM related data, information, services, databases, tools, applications, and transactions that are generally accessible at any time by the employees, managers, and HRM professionals . Wright and Dyer specify three areas of HRM where organizations can choose to „offer‟ HR services face-to-face or through an electronic means: transactional HRM, traditional HRM, and transformational HRM. Lepak and Snell also made a distinction regarding e-HRM, namely, operational HRM, relational HRM and transformational HRM.
Operational E-HRM -Operational E-HRM is deals with the basic administrative activities of the HR department such as payroll, Personnel data management, departmental record maintenance besides others. According to Snell et al. [11], about 75-75 percent of the workload is related to this type of activities.
Relational E-HRM- Relational E-HRM, emphasizes upon HR activities that support a mutual relationship between HR department and other departments both inside and outside the organization. The major activities concerned with this type of E-HRM are e-recruitment, e- learning, E-performance management and so on. Strohmeier , considers relational e-HRM as a means of interaction and networking among different players associated with an organization. About 15-30 percent of HR workload is related to this type of activities .
Transformational E-HRM Transformational E-HRM is the most complex type concerned with the strategic activities of HRM, such organizational change processes, strategic re-orientation, strategic competence management, and strategic knowledge management. “Finally, in terms of transformational HRM, it is possible to create a change-ready workforce through an integrated set of web-based tools that enables the workforce to develop in line with the company‟s strategic choices or to have paper-based materials. It totally depends upon an organization to practice E-HRM policies from any number of these three types to achieve their HR goals.
The theories of Snell et al. (1996) and Lengnick-Hall & Moritz (2003) can be used to get insights in the differences in how IT can be used to support e-HRM. The different types of e-HRM support seem to vary, according the theory of Snell et al. (1996) and Lengnick-Hall & Moritz (2003), on two aspects, namely:
1. The intended impact of the technology
2. The role of IT in supporting an HR activity
These differences in support, allow the creation of a typology with three levels of
e-HRM support. For this research the following typology for the support of e-HRM
activities is used:
1. Informational e-HRM support
2. Relational e-HRM support
3. Transformational e-HRM support
The above mentioned different types of E-HRM activities are differentiated with the help of the table as given (Marco Maatman, 2006) below.
E-HRM goals
Lepak and Snell were refer to the four ‘pressures’ of virtual HRM. First of all, HRM departments are asked to focus on strategic questions. Secondly, these departments need to be flexible in terms of policymaking and practices. Thirdly, HRM departments should work efficiently and be aware of costs (“…a hard line on costs”). Fourthly, HRM departments should be service-oriented towards management and employees. In short, HRM departments must be strategy-focused, flexible, efficient, and client oriented; and all at the same time (Lepak and Snell, 1998).
But we think that they can be reduced to three types of goals, namely:
1. Improving the strategic orientation of HRM
2. Cost reduction/efficiency gains
3. Client service improvement/facilitating management and employees
Out Comes of E-HRM System
E-HRM is a way of thinking about and implementing HRM strategies, policies, and practices. By following a specific e-HRM direction, an organization expects toachieve certain goals: an improvement in the HR’s strategic orientation, an improvement in client focus and satisfaction, and a decrease in costs or increased efficiency. Besides these goals that can lead to anticipated outcomes, a number of so-called ‘overall’ organizational goals can be distinguished regarding an organization’s ‘social capital’. All HRM activities, and therefore also all E-HRMactivities, will implicitly or explicitly be directed towards these ‘overall’ goals.
Beer et al. (1984) distinguish four possibilities:
1.High commitment,
2.High competence,
3.Cost effectiveness and
4. Higher congruence.
These outcomes, in turn, may change the state of HRM in an organization,in to a new HRM state. E-HRM will change the nature of the HR department by making less administrative tasks for the HR department and therefore less administrative positions, more focus on the strategic goals of the organization.
Research Objectives
The objectives of this study are as follows:
To study the E-HRM concept in general
To examine the E-HRM practices followed in SBI in Srikakulam District.
To observe employee perceptions towards Electronic Human Resource Management in STATE BANK OF INDIA Srikakulam District.
To make appropriate suggestions and recommendations for successful implementation of E-HRM practices in SBI to create a favourable organizational climate in order to get effective E-HRM system in the SBI srikakulam District.
SCOPE OF THE PRESENT STUDY
The study aims at analyzing the perception of employees towards the E-HRM practices followed in STATE BANK OF INDIA (SRIKAKULAM) ANDHRAPRADESH.. For this purpose the researcher takes into account the employees of the SBI (SKLM) alone which has not been covered by previous studies.
Benefits of E-HRM
The main benefits of E-HRM are an increase of quality and pace, because the existing administrative processes were slow and inefficient conditional upon mainly paper-based processes.
Standardization: By standardizing the system used within the group and by providing employees with direct access to records, particularly leave records, the company can achieve a significant
reduction in employee queries and reduce the need for HR to undertake data entry of employee records.
Ease of recruitment, selection and assessment: With e-recruitment
the company gets an additional possibility besides the normal application by paper to recruit people over the web in an online-application process. Although this, and like processes, will
always need significant human intervention. E-HRM systems can streamline the process and reduce errors.
Ease of administering employee records: Whether be it leaves, benefits, personal details, accident and discipline reports, etc., it is generally accepted that once everyone can overcome the initial IT phobia, HR and employees will experience fewer headaches and efficiency will rapidly increase.
Reductions in cost, time and labor: Reduced duplication, reduced time spent fixing errors, reduced labor costs through ESS, reduced or no hard-copy entry. Not only manpower can be saved, the processing time can also be shortened. With this e-HRM reaches the prime objective of cost effectiveness.
Access to ESS training enrolment and self development: e-Training can enable employees to search for and enroll in training programs on-line and validating course availability. This can
streamline the training administration process enabling employees to access computer based training. Cost and pace can be individualized as well.
Cost and ESS: ESS reduces the workload of HR department substantially, for instance in the traditional method the employee has to type in a formal leave application get approved from his/her direct boss who will send it to the HR department for further approval. On the other hand, with e-leave, the employee needs only to log in and make his/her leave application and his/her boss will be alerted to approve. Upon approval the leave balance is automatically updated.
Location and timeliness: With ESS, the employee could log in online anywhere and anytime without being in the office and without the leave card could be sitting at the boss’ Table for a few days, lost or buried.
1.8 Theoretical frame work of E-HRM
1.8.1 Introduction
E-HR is the strategic application of web based technologies to HR- related systems that along with other organizational changes will lead to more broadly based access to HR information and wider opportunities for managing the information. (Bryan Hopkins and James Markham, 1998).
Internet and intranet technology offers a number of ways in which HR services
can be managed and delivered. These can be summarized under six broad headings.40
1. A more strategic approach to HR.
2. Better support to management throughout the business.
3. Greater potential for organized collaboration and learning.
4. Enhanced organizational prestige.
5. Reduced administrative costs.
6. A happier workforce.
A more strategic approach to HR
E-HR can help HR to take on a more strategic role by reducing the time needed for administration thereby freeing staff to take on the crucial strategic role, and by providing information for strategic decision making.
Better support to management throughout the business
E-HR can give line managers improved functionality so that they can do their job more effectively and enable much more information to be available at line manager level so that informed decisions can be made quickly.
1. Providing more operational functionality.
2. Providing better-quality information
3. Information and services available everywhere and all the time.
4. Integration of organizational systems.
5. Improved organizational monitoring.
Greater potential for organizational collaboration and learning
1. Learning opportunities can be delivered and managed more easily through e-learning.
2. Business-related information can flow more easily, upwards, downwards and laterally.
Enhanced organizational prestige
Some organizations may consider it as important to be seem as the cutting edge of
technology.
Reduced administrative costs
E-HR systems are often sold on the basis of their ability to reduce HR
administrative costs and also reduce costs in other areas
1. Reducing HR related costs: The traditional method of processing HR information involves a considerable amount of routine clerical work. Depending on the size of the organization, a small army of people may be involved in transferring handwritten information to centralized computer system or in putting pieces of paper in ever-growing personal files. E-HR systems reduce HR costs through reducing the need for routine administration and data putting.
2. Reducing costs through streamlining processes: One of the principle aims of e-HR implementation is to streamline process and reduce the amount of routine
24
administrative work carried out across the organization in general and by the HR
Department specifically.
A Happier workforce
Dave Ulrich says that the purpose of the HR Department in any organization is to
develop a “High Performance Work System” (HPWS) by
1. linking selection and promotion decisions to established competency assessments.
2. having strategies that identify that identify and find people needed to help the organization respond to changes in its marketplace.
3. attracting, retaining and motivating high-quality employees.
E-HRM TOOLS
E- Employee Profile: The E-Employee Profile web application provides a central point of access to the employee contact information and provides a comprehensive employee database solution, simplifying HR management and team building by providing an employee skills, organization chart and even pictures. E-Employee profile maintenance lies with the individual employee, the manager and the database manager. E-Employee profile consist of the following:
Certification, Honor/Award, Membership, Education, Past Work Experience, Assignment Skills, Competency, Employee Assignment Rules, Employee Availability, Employee Exception Hours, Employee Utilization, Employee tools, Job information, Sensitive job Information, Service Details, Calendar, Calendar Administration, Employee Locator.
E-Job Design And Job Analysis:
e-Job Design And Job Analysis Information of listing skills and competency mapping are placed on the net System matches the listing skills and competency mapping and produces the output by identifying the employee suitable for a particular task
E-Human Resource Planning:
e-Human Resource Planning Computer programs are developed and used extensively for the purpose of planning human resource requirements based on the data and the information available Programs indicate the number of employees required at each level for each category of the job
E-Recruitment: Organizations first started using computers as a recruiting tool by advertising jobs on a bulletin board service from which prospective applicants would contact employers. Then some companies began to take e-applications. Today the internet has become a primary means for employers to search for job candidates and for applicants to look for job. As many as 100,000 recruiting web sites are available to employers and job candidates and which to post jobs and review resumes of various types. But the explosive growth of internet recruiting also means the HR professionals can be overwhelmed by the breadth and scope of internet recruiting.
E-Recruiting Methods: Job boards, Professional/Career,websites, Employer Websites.
E-Selection: Most employers seem to be embracing Internet recruitment with enthusiasm, the penetration of on-line assessment tools such as personality assessments or ability tests, has so far been limited. A survey has shown that although more than half respondents organizations already use either psychometric or other assessment during the recruitment process, only few of these companies use on-line assessments prior to interview. Fewer still include a core fit questionnaire in the recruitment pages of their websites.
E-Learning: E-Learning refers to any programmed of learning, training or education where electronic devices, applications and processes are used for knowledge creation, management and transfer. E-Learning is a term covering a wide-set of applications and processes, such as web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual class room, and digital collaboration. It includes the delivery of content via Internet, intranet/extranet (LAN/WAN), audio-and videotape, satellite broadcast, interactive TV, CD – Rom, and more. Training program provides.
Classical and Virtual Learning: This classical learning model especially from non-reversible flow of information. AT the beginning is the pedagogue, which governs the course. For students, pedagogue offers information, knowledge, and educational materials mostly in the representation of educational lecture notes for lessons. For the most part the feedback is weak, inconsistent, or even missing. Virtual education environment by its communications links collects the feedback of participants, simplifies teaching and simplifies teamwork of students with pedagogue. The virtual learning system enables horizontal and vertical communication. For required information, participant can often gets much more information than in classical model of education as here the other participant also share which is not a real happening in the classical model.
Characteristics of E-Learning:
E-Learning outcomes extend beyond learning to strategic outcomes.
E-Learning is much more than e-training for skill outcomes.
E-Learning involves information and communication technology.
E-Learning is about people learning in a given context.
E-Training: Most companies start to think of online learning primarily as a more efficient way to distribute training inside the organization, making it available ”any time”,” anywhere” reducing direct costs (instructors, printed materials, training facilities), and indirect costs (travel time, lodging and travel expenses, workforce downtimes). Attracted by these significant and measurable advantages, companies start to look for ways to make the most of their existing core training available online, and to manage and measure the utilization of the new capabilities.
Characteristic of E-Training:
Rich learning interface.
Personalized training programs.
Training from work place/home
Virtual class room.
E-Performance Management system: A web-based appraisal system can be defined as the system which uses the web(intranet and internet) to effectively evaluate the skills, knowledge and the performance of the employees.
E-Compensation: All companies whether small or large must engage in compensation planning. Compensation planning is the process of ensuring that managers allocate salary increases equitably across the organization while staying within budget guidelines. As organizations have started expanding their boundaries, usage of intranet and internet has become vital. The usage of intranet and internet for compensation planning is called E-Compensation Management.
E-Payroll : The electronic payroll system works with the use of payroll cards. This works the same way as the debit cards in bank accounts except that payroll cards do not necessarily need banks to function. With or without a bank account, a worker can easily receive pay via electronic payroll procedure. It often requires the assistance of electronic payroll institutions in order for employees to fully understand the parameters of how exactly they can receive their pay.
Electronic payroll system is the newest transition to the way workers receive their compensation and more of its wonders can be seen in the future.
E-Benefits :administration models enable HR professionals to track had administer diverse and complex benefits plans and employee benefits programs which may involve housing transportation, medical and health care, insurance, pension profit sharing and stock option benefits such models through internet- based automation can enable HR to improve benefits support and analysis whilst reducing time and costs involved in the administration whilst increasing the consistency of decisions
on compliance issues at all levels across the organization.
E-HR Information:
Human resource information is generated maintained processed and transmitted to the appropriate places or clients with the help of a software with high speed and accuracy in fact this function of HRM is done completely more accurately and perfectly with the help of computers internet
and intranet.
E-Grievance Redressal:
E-Grievance Redressal Employees send their grievance through e-mail to the superior concerned who in turn solves the problems / redress grievances and communicates the same to the employee This reduces the time in the process and avoids face to face interaction.
E-HR Audit:
E-HR Audit The standard human resource practices or the desired HR practices are fed into the computer The data and info regarding the actual practices are also fed into the computer The software automatically completes the HR audit and produces the audit report. The HR manager can then modify the report by deleting or adding any comments
E-Employee self-service(ESS): ESS, is a feature that is available with most modern HRIS. ESS allows employees to take care of many different human resources-related and job-related tasks that would otherwise need to be completed by human resources personnel or management. Employee self-service can help some companies to save labor hours and increase efficiency, but the option may not be right for every company.
The Pre-requisites and challenges of e-HRM
As always, technology comes with its inherent risk- that of huge set up
costs, overkill and loss of the “human touch”, security of information
generated, managing the data, monitoring and feedback, etc. The
decision to go in for e-HRM involves a lot of brain racking sessions and
utmost care and caution. It would not at all be proper to deduce that
simply installing e-HRM software will work as a magic wand for the
company. Hence, first and foremost it is very important for the HR
professionals to get comforTable with the technology before they make
other people see the value of such tools.
The Pre-requisites of e-HRM
1.Commitment to change management from the start of the project
Change management is mandatory. There are too many horror stories of
technology initiatives that did not work when they are treated totally as a
technology implementation. Many organizations develop special change
management teams. Involvement of the change management team is
necessary from the start to ensure that adequate documentation and
communication occurs early in the project and continues throughout the
project.
2 .Presence of an IT Culture – an important condition
Companies must first figure out whether they need e-HRM before
calling in consultants to implement solutions. Organizations seeking
enhanced transparency go for e-HRM. The software provided by
vendors needs to be tailored to organizational requirements. A lot of
research and in-depth study and analysis need to be done to ascertain
the feasibility of the project especially in terms of the cost factor and
the sustainability of the project. Only those firms, which are thoroughly
prepared for e-enabling HR, should go for it. This presupposes the
presence of an IT culture, the HR department as a process owner, being
clear about the objectives of e-HRM, choosing the right design and
implementation partners and a willingness to spend hours training
employees on the optimum use of the portal.
3 .Culture of Knowledge management
A point to make note of is that Knowledge management (KM) and e-
HRM go hand in hand. Tacit knowledge without e-HRM will tend to
reside within people and manuals, making learning difficult. Godrej
currently has an MS Share-Point knowledge portal, which serves as KM
system among cross-functional teams. Knowledge management at P&G
is all about “Team spaces” provided to all teams to capture and
integrate learnings by each individual in a team. It also has “functional
websites” where information about each functional area is shared on a
website to capture learnings and share it.
4 .Involvement of all the stakeholders early on to gain their buy-in
This is an important pre-condition for any e-HRM venture to be initiated
and to be implemented successfully
5 Communication of the value of any technology solution to the users
Communicating the value of any technology solution for both the
organization and more importantly for the people who will use the
solution is necessary. This communication must be in the users’
language.
6 .Clarity regarding on the part of all users question- “What’s in it for me?”
Managing the venture successfully requires not just implementing the
technology but also managing the expectations of all to be affected.
7 Adequate training to the users
Assuming that self service is supposed to be so easy to use that no
training is required would be to a major blunder. The process changes
typically need to be absorbed into the organization’s way of doing
business and training is the way to make that acculturation. Training
each target audience is a necessary pre-condition.
Allocating at least 15% of the overall project budget to change
management, training and communication can make a substantial
difference toward the organization’s perception of success. Allocating
adequate time, resources, and budget to training, communications, and
change management will make the difference toward achieving a
positive user community perception of a successful HR technology
project.
Challenges of E-HRM
Among the most prevalent issues facing management are control, business requirements, and best practices. Some of the major challenges that have been identified are-
• Cost Implications: Costs tend to be proportional to requirements and the type
of organization. Given the costs, companies must e-enable only those
operations that are vital, essential or desirable.
• Aligning the e-HRM system with the business requirements: ERP applications vary widely in their allowance for control, typically assuming either a corporate or business-unit locus of control. Hence management must consider the ERP’s stance on control to ensure it will meet the business requirements of the company.
• Security of the information generated: A company needs to ensure that outsiders or competitors should not access the information. In this context proper vendor selection is a critical condition to ensure confidentiality.
• Managing the data: Managing the huge amount of data generated through HRMS is a relatively new challenge for companies.
• ‘Overkill’ and loss of the ‘human touch’: Another challenge is the avoidance of ‘overkill’ and loss of the ‘human touch’. It should not be the case that in a bid to be techno-savvy we neglect the human side.
more so difficult: E-HRM is more so a challenge for the traditional companies
which need to bring about a change in the mindsets to a large extent. These
companies as compared to those in the IT sector, BPOs etc. are having a tougher
time getting people to speed up on these e-HR tools.
• Customization to be taken up in the right perspective: Most of the packages
are of international standards and based on best practices. Hence customization is huge in the Indian context and needs to be taken up in the right perspective.
Customizations can also be costly and maintaining and upgrading customizations
can be cumbersome.
• Training the users a crucial issue: Training the users is many a time a long
drawn out process, as many people do not find them to be user friendly.
• The Return On Investment (ROI) on an e-HRM project to be justified: The ROI
on an e-HRM project is the projected cost reduction brought about by the system and its impact on revenue/profits over time. The e-HRM initiative should align itself with the overall HR and IT strategy and ultimately, with the business strategy to ensure ROI.
• ERP to function along with other systems to be successful: Companies wanting to integrate their value chains with the business activities of their suppliers, business partners and customers typically have to implement systems other than ERP like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and others.
• Continuous monitoring and feedback: Continuous monitoring and feedback are
critical for the success of any e-HRM effort in an organization.
Implementation of E-HRM: There are five main phases in the implementation of the E-HRM business solution.
Analysis (Infrastructure)
Analyzing the existing infrastructure with regard to quantity of data and classification of business activities.
Business processes in the company
After the existing processes have been analyzed, the options for automating these processes in the client’s environment are proposed. Finally a project plan is developed based on the model of the processes identified.
Implementation
After the fundamental analysis of the processes in the work team, individual modules are deployed in the client’s environment. With modular design a gradual implementation is possible. Company-specific functionalities are discussed with the client and built upon request.
Implementation and Training
A complete knowledge of the components of the solution is a key factor for successful implementation. The entire team of project managers, information technology professionals and human resources specialist are thus involved in user training and implementation.
Maintenance
Fast technological development and development of new modules make cooperation after the implementation indispensable. A maintenance contract typically includes:
• Technical support experts available by phone, through e-mail or on-site
• Adaptation of existing modules or development of new ones
• Application software adjustment to changes in the system environment or Operating system
• Functionality improvement and software upgrades in the form of new versions
• Consultation about further development of the system.
Consequences of E-HRM for the HR department
E-HRM will assume an active role for line management and employees in
implementing HRM strategies, policies, and practices. In terms of the more operational
and information processing work, such as administration, registration and information
distribution, there will be less demand for HR people
E- HRM costs lower and improve efficiency by
1. Reducing paperwork and streamlining work flow,
2. Automating redundant HRM tasks,
3. Empowering employees to embrace a self- service HRM delivery system,
4. Keeping the company workflow fully informed about all important HR
compliance issues and corporate events,
5. Speeding up the response time of HRM systems
6. Ensuring that more informed decisions are made.
7. Improving time management, E-HRM can become a new destiny in terms of HRM. In the first place because of the opportunities it creates to put employee-management relationships in the hands of the employees and line managers. In the second place because information technology creates possibilities to design HRM tools and instruments that would not be possible without this information technology
E-HRM IMPLICATIONS Computer technology has streamlined our way of living, working, communicating and even the way of conducting business .The emergence of Information technology in business world has significantly changed the way how HR departments handle their record keeping and information sharing process. Today, more HR functions are becoming available electronically or done over the internet. Everyday organizational tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, which were earlier performed by skilled professionals are now being handled by the computers. Moreover, in addition to performing the traditional tasks of accounting and pay roll calculations, computers are now being engaged to maintain easily accessible employee data that are valuable for job placement and labor utilization, to track and report affirmative action activity, employee training, compensation management etc. A large number of HR managers are now using internet to recruit personnel, conduct research using electronic data bases, send e-mails and also engage in valuable networking and discussions on line. Adoption of e-HR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, change the way many HR managers operate and allows managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. E-HRM improves the strategic orientation of HRM, helps in Cost reduction/efficiency gains, improve the Client service and facilitating management and employee [7]. The main objective of e-HRM is to facilitate the monitoring of human resources demand and supply imbalances within an organization. This system eventually automates employees‟ related information and leads to faster response to employees‟ related services and HR related decisions. E-HRM also offers the potential to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness within the HR department, and allow HR to become a strategic partner. Above all, it provides data security and personal privacy to the users which are the most in demand concept in today‟s world. e-HRM provides an opportunity to improve HR services within both employees and management perspective as well as facilitates efficiency and cost effectiveness within HR department.
THE GLOBAL E-HRM SCENARIO
Human resources as a function has evolved into Human Capital Management (HCM). Where Human Resources was the responsibility of a centralized, or sometimes decentralized department, Human Capital Management is the job of everyone in the business, from employees to executives. Today, every Human Resources department is in the midst of a seemingly endless transformation, one that not only encompasses the function of the Human Resources department, but also its role within the business, the relationships it maintains, and the technology it uses and is responsible for deploying. It is clear that transformation of Human Resources
is inevitable. More and more, businesses are realizing that people are the only true differentiating
factor in long-term competitive success.
The Cedar Crestone survey (2008-09) on the state of HR technology adoption covering organizations across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia chalks out a roadmap followed by most organizations that have an ERP-based HRMS as their foundation. (Refer figure 1)
Figure 1 shows that the roadmap followed by most organizations that have an ERP-based HRMS as their foundation is as follows- Administrative Excellence, Service Delivery Excellence and
Performance Excellence. Some of the major highlights as per the Cedar Crestone Survey on the
state of HR technology adoption 2008-2009 are –
• Topping the list of initiatives are activities around metrics and analytics.
• Administrative applications are very mature with some movement from inhouse to software-as-a-service solutions, hosting, or full business process outsourcing.
• Service delivery applications continue to be adopted. A move to a service center approach with an HR-oriented help desk is a key differentiator.
• Web 2.0 innovations are the arena of early adopters. Organizations using social networking for recruiting and branding had double the sales growth of organizations without these tools.
• The learning management application in any combination with other talent management applications is linked to the strongest revenue growth.
• An integrated talent management approach with service delivery, talent management, and business applications on the same platform as the core HRMS is a best practice.
• The stance organizations are taking regarding sourcing is not one of total business process outsourcing where processes and systems are lifted and shifted to an outsourcer. It is still one of selective outsourcing.
• Change management continues to be the one key differentiator towards achieving a successful HR technology project or sourcing change.
• Australia/New Zealand (ANZ) organizations are generally at the leading edge of technology adoption in the APAC region. The top automation under way includes portals and employee and manager self service. The top talent management initiative is learning management
• North Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan) respondents have above average adoption of manager self service and thus are achieving some of the stronger benefits of service delivery automation.For talent management applications, then deployed training enrollment, learning management, and competency management.
• The South Asia (India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand) respondents particularly among the Indian organizations are strongly focused on aligning employee performance with
organizational objectives and implementing the performance management application. They are also implementing competency management and succession planning. In fact, the organizations are further along than the other countries of the region in talent management application adoption. Indian organizations are much further along than any other country in their adoption of the Hroriented help desk. As leading outsourcing firms serving the rest of the world, many of these organizations use this technology to serve customers, and are also applying it to their own
employee base. Finally South Asia respondent organizations are quite a bit further along than other regions in their adoption of the business intelligence applications, with the most work being done among the Indian Financial Services organizations.In India the pioneers in adopting and apparently in benefiting from the E-HRM initiatives have been companies in the IT, BPO and retail banking sectors where employee numbers run into tens of thousands. But now even traditional FMCG companies are following suit. HR departments in many non-IT companies are also adopting e-HRM. The HR outsourcing business opportunity is large and India is likely to garner a larger and larger piece of this pie in the future. India, with its intrinsic geographic positioning, is emerging as a viable destination for HR outsourcing companies to set up
their businesses. Experts say the basic reasons hampering the growth of HR outsourcing in India
are confidentiality and cost factors. Moreover, the fear of losing jobs, losing control over confidential data, ethics and quality of outsourcing vendors, security breaches and overall confidence in the vendors deters many organizations. The biggest problem - and this is why the HR outsourcing industry in India is on the back foot - is the government and the industry's failure to tackle issues like data security and data privacy. Some established service providers like SAP have adopted a phased approach to introducing the on demand software as a service (SaaS) model.
E-HRM has become an inseparable part of the functioning of almost all the large business players in the Indian scenario. It helps in integrating the widespread activities of organizations by enabling connectivity between different organizational functions and providing accurate and timely personnel information on-line and round the clock.