IT in HRM

Abstract

The Human Resources Management (HRM) is a key function includes a variety of activities, and key among them is deciding what staffing needs you have and whether to use independent contractors or hire employees to fill these needs, recruiting and training the best employees, ensuring they are high performers, dealing with performance issues, and ensuring your personnel and management practices conform to various regulations.

Activities also include managing your approach to employee benefits and compensation, employee records and personnel policies. Hence HRM can be considered as a critical success factor to any organization.

Therefore, our main idea behind this assignment is to discuss how to enhance following HRM functions using Information and communication technology.

• Job Design
• Job Analysis
• Selection
• Training and Development

1.0 Job Design

1.1 FACTORS OF JOB DESIGN

Any organization is formed with the motive of achieving particular goal or a set of goals. Therefore in order to achieve these goals one needs to assign personnel so that they would be responsible to work towards in achieving organizational goals. So, for this Job Design becomes a key activity in the process of assigning duties among employees. In order to perform proper Job Designing activities Information Technology (IT) could be used thoroughly.

In order to design a specific job several factors could be taken into account. They are namely;

• Division of Work
• Departmentalization
• Hierarchy
• Coordination
• Delegation
• Downsizing
• Centralization and Decentralization

The following section of this chapter would introduce how IT could be used in order to improve the above mentioned factors.

1.1.1 Division of work

In order to perform a proper division of work meetings among the top and middle level managers could be crucial. Hence, technologies such as e-mail, video conferencing, voice over internet could be used to make the communications between managers both efficiently and effectively.

Modeling tools and techniques in the domain of IT could be used to model a comprehensive model of the organization in order to analyze it thoroughly so as to make accurate decisions upon them.

Moreover, in order to present a proper job design and to get the feedback tools and technologies such as presentation tools, design tools, modeling tools, prototyping tools (simulators) could be used.

1.1.2 Departmentalization

Organizational activities that are similar and logically connected could be grouped into departments. In order to carry out a proper departmentalization process you need to analyze all the activities that involves with the organization. For this IT modeling techniques and tools could be used in order to analyze organizational activities systematically. And these could be cross-checked with the members of the management effectively and efficiently via e-mail, voice mail, video conferencing, voice over internet.

And prototypes can be uploaded into a server and the members of the board of management can collaboratively make amendments to that and finally it could be evaluated in a senior management meeting. That would give a solution for the time factor which is critical in the busy lifestyles of the managers.

1.1.3 Hierarchy

The pattern of multiple levels of an organizational structure brings about a hierarchy of responsibilities of the organization. In deciding an appropriate hierarchy to the organization is vital in achieving the organizational goals successfully. Hence, a proper hierarchy could be decided with the use of various forms of IT applications such as presentation tools, design tools, modeling tools, prototyping tools (simulators) could be used. Use of digitized documents and information would make it easy to retrieve and edit in multiple occasions and the reusability would be a great advantage as well.

1.1.4 Coordination

In order to accomplish organizational goals activities should be coordinated properly. Otherwise no matter how hard the individuals work ultimately all that would go into waste if they are not properly coordinated. As an example a CEO of an organization could be very innovative and visionary in his decisions but if these golden thoughts are not disseminated to his subordinates properly all his efforts would go in vain.

IT can be used to convey ideas, decisions, and comments from top to bottom without any delays. A Manager would be able to communicate his employees and convey his ideas and orders within seconds by just sending an e-mail, voice messages, video call and etc. as an example in the early days if a CEO goes abroad his subordinates would find it difficult to make any critical decision without his presence. But with the use of IT applications and different modes of communication with respect to the organizational activities geographically separated locations will be brought to a single platform in which they could meet, chat, argue and last but not the least make crucial decisions. Hence, Communication in the organization will be flowed top to bottom, right to left, managers to workers, and workers to workers without wasting the valuable time of the people who works for the organization. Also the man hours which were taken to communicate will also be reduced dramatically as the organization starts using IT.

1.1.5 Delegation

It is not possible for a single person to handle all the tasks in an enterprise. Moreover, the task of the manager is not to do all the work on his own but to get the work done by other members in the organization. For accomplishing the group purposes, delegation is necessary. Besides, there is a limit to the number of persons, a manager can supervise. Once this limit is crossed, authority needs to be delegated to the subordinates.

Authority gets delegated when a superior gives a subordinate, the discretion to make decisions. A superior can delegate only that authority, which he has and cannot delegate the one be does not have.

It would be a great advantage if IT is used when it comes to delegation. There are various types of tools that would enable delegation process to be effective and efficient.

For example when an employee comes to his/her office simply logging in to his computer he or she can get to know what are the tasks and duties he has to accomplish on that particular day without taking the hassle of meeting the superior.

Accountability is one of the major advantages of using IT, that makes the individuals be responsible for what they do and say. IT gives a lot of facilities to monitor employee behaviors and actions. With it you can monitor from an employee logging into the system to taking snapshots of each task he has been performing.

The delegation can be documented using modeling tools, office packages. The advantage of having these documents in digital format is that the senior management or the CEO can easily go through them and see the authorities and to whom they are given to. And it is very easy to change them without making them complicated.

Moreover, the process of receiving feedback after delegating the duties and responsibilities is part of the Delegation it self. And this could be improved using IT through networked infrastructure, e-mail, voice calls, and etc.

Furthermore, through using IT the process of delegation of duties & decision making power could be done effectively and efficiently and to the correct extent it should be done.

1.1.6 Downsizing

When managers are faced with downsizing, they tend to focus on the immediate and practical needs that emerge at the time when staff are being get rid of. After all, employees need to be selected and notified, and it is one of the most difficult tasks for any boss. Generally the period where downsizing is occurring is very busy and emotionally taxing. Hence, with the use of IT applications the process of Downsizing could be made a lot easier than it is currently happening.

IT could be used to do a comprehensive analysis of the existing organizational through modeling tools. Also the affects of the downsizing exercise could be investigate both statistically and graphically in advance of the actual execution through modeling tools and prototyping methods (simulators).

1.1.7 Centralization and Decentralization

Degree, to which formal authority is delegated by managers throughout the organization, runs along a continuum from decentralization to centralization. Whether to choose centralization or centralization is a bit of a confusing matter and this activity could be assisted with the use of IT.

For example if centralization is the desire of the head of the organization, he/she can be given the authority of directing his/her subordinates through e-mail, voice mail, video conferencing and etc. Hence, the superiors’ power of controllability would be increased and improved properly.

In contrary if the superiors choose to go for decentralization that also could be enabled with the help of IT. So, the decision making power would be passed on to subordinates by the seniors, i.e. whenever a subordinate needs to make decision on his own, that would be assisted through a highly structured and properly organized material and a networked infrastructure with inline help and guidelines.

1.2 APPROACHES TO JOB DESIGN

There are three types of ways of Job Designing techniques. They are namely;

• Mechanistic Job Design
• Motivational Job Design
• Biological Job Design

1.2.1 Mechanistic Job Design

In this technique the trainees are specialized in a manner so that they would be experts in their own domain. Hence, the training programs that come under this category could be assisted using highly structured training material developed using highly sophisticated IT tools, presentation material in order to carry out effective presentations, simulators to give them the feeling of an actual functionality of a real environment. Also their feedback could be gathered using a forum like environment via World Wide Web (WWW) or a Local Area Network (LAN).

1.2.2 Motivational Job Design

In this technique the trainees would be given rather varied and interesting job profiles. Hence, in order to make the job specifications more specific, different types of jobs could be designed using modeling tools. Also Decision Support Systems (DSS) could be taken into account in order to make proper decisions, and they could be analyzed properly using online discussions such as video conferencing.

1.2.3 Biological Job Design

In this technique ergonomics are taken into account when job profiles are being designed. For this prototyping techniques (simulators) could be used in order to compare various types of designs that would fit for the purpose. Also an online forum could be used to get feedback from the peers and subordinated to come up with the most appropriate designs.

2.0 Job Analysis

Job analysis is involved in identifying the scope of a new job with necessary authority and responsibility in the organizational hierarchy. When a decision is made for the first time that a particular post should be created, some form of job analysis should taken place. Job analysis is also useful when an organization wishes to assess whether or not a post that is due to fall vacant should be filled. The process of job analysis will form a basis for the subsequent preparation of job description and person specifications.

Followings can be identified as the methods of data collection in job analysis process.

• Direct observation
• Interview the existing post holder
• Interview the immediate supervisor
• Manager trying the job - The manager is involved in the job by him self and tries to analyze the job

• Previous Studies - Training, job evaluation, work–study records, manuals and information obtained can be brought up to date or added to derive a job description
• Questionnaires
• Work diaries - These are mainly used for managerial and technical jobs. Current post holder is asked to record their activities over a period of up to three months. The diary is analyzed on a weekly basis to obtain an understanding of the task frequency and contacts of the activities.

After collecting data, they should be analyzed and results of analysis should be applied to analysis information.

USES OF IT TO THE JOB ANALYSIS PROCESS

IT can be used for many activities in the Human Resource plan. This can be also used to carry out activities in job analysis process effectively and efficiently.

Data collection can be done in a more efficient way with the use of information technology. As an example questionnaires can be submitted to every employee through e-mail. This will be useful to maintain the confidentially of the information as well as it will be helpful to standardize the questionnaires.

Databases can be used to store information gathered from data collection process .This will reduce the data repetition of information. So analysts can avoid asking same questions more than once. This will also reduce the amount of paper work up to reasonable extent.

If company uses an IT system, the results of previous studies will be available in that system. So the decision makers can easily access to them and obtain necessary information for their decision making.

When analyzing collected data; Data mining and Data Analyzing techniques and tools can be use to improve the quality and reliability of the results.

After obtaining results, they can be store in a database. So that information can be use as a knowledgebase for future analyzing purposes.

3.0 Selection

3.1 EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS

It is very important to recruit right people for an organization to succeed that particular organization. Evaluation of job application is the first part of whole selection process. Only selected numbers of applicants are called for interviews. If we are going to evaluate hundreds of applications manually, it would be time consuming, inaccurate and burdensome. Unfortunately, there are no scientific formulae for defining position requirements and evaluating job applicants.

The position / person matching process seem more art than science. Therefore, we can not automate total process of applications, and it is very necessary to evaluate basic things by a human being, however we proposed to use a software package that provide following things.

• Person who is doing the evaluation can input marks for job applications under various sections such as education level, work history, skills, experiences…..separately.
• Then he has to select the number of applicants to be selected.
• Then system will select the best candidates from the given inputs.

When applications evaluation is done, some of the information required is verified from referees. We can use e mail, video conferencing and telephones for that and it can also be used a video conferencing session with the candidate before select his or her job application.

3.2 EMPLOYMENT TEST

Next, cost effective, objective pre-employment tests are used to screen candidates for the basic skills and personality compatible with the position. Organizational goal is to know if the potential applicant has the basic skill level for the job. There are number of employment testing methods

3.2.1 Paper and pencil test for ability

This includes tests, such as knowledge and ability tests, and inventories, such as personality and interest inventories. Paper-and-pencil tests can be used to assess job-related knowledge and ability or skill qualifications. The possible range of qualifications which can be assessed using paper-and-pencil tests is quite broad. For example, such tests can assess anything from knowledge of office procedures to knowledge of federal legislation, and from the ability to follow directions to the ability to solve numerical problems.

Same test can be done using a computer more effectively. We can have a question pool of MCQs for the paper, and simulations for practical questions. It will drastically reduce the time taken to evaluate paper and pencil based tests.

3.2.2 Computerized testing

When an examinee is administered a test via the computer, the computer can update the estimate of the examinee's ability after each item and then that ability estimate can be used in the selection of subsequent items.

Paper-and-pencil tests are typically "fixed-item" tests in which the examinees answer the same questions within a given test booklet. Since everyone takes every item, all examinees are administered an items that are either very easy or very difficult for them. These easy and hard items are like adding constants to someone's score. They provide relatively little information about the examinee's ability level. Consequently, large numbers of items and examinees are needed to obtain a modest degree of precision.

With computer adaptive tests, the examinee's ability level relative to a norm group can be iteratively estimated during the testing process and items can be selected based on the current ability estimate. Examinees can be given the items that maximize the information (within constraints) about their ability levels from the item responses. Thus, examinees will receive few items that are very easy or very hard for them. This tailored item selection can result in reduced standard errors and greater precision with only a handful of properly selected items.

2.2.1 Work Sample tests and trainability tests

3.2.3.1 Work sample tests

Work Sample tests are based on the premise that the best predictor of future behavior is observed behavior under similar situations. These tests require the examinee to perform tasks that are similar to those that are performed on the job.

Advantages

• high reliability
• high content validity since work samples are a sample of the actual work performed on the job
• low adverse impact
• because of their relationship to the job, these tests are typically viewed more favorable by examinees than aptitude or personality tests
• difficult for applicants to fake job proficiency which helps to increase the relationship between score on the test and performance on the job

Disadvantages

• costly to administer; often can only be administered to one applicant at a time
• although useful for jobs where tasks and duties can be completed in a short period of time, these tests have less ability to predict performance on jobs where tasks may take days or weeks to complete
• less able to measure aptitudes of an applicant thus restricting the test to measuring ability to perform the work sample and not more difficult tasks that may be encountered on the job

We can overcome all above drawbacks of work sample tests by using a computer based testing schema. Normally work sample tests are very costly and consuming. By using a work place simulator we can test large number of applicants simultaneously, and administrator should not monitor them individually. Final evaluation also can be done manually. Therefore organization will be able to save a lot of money.

3.2.3.2 Trainability tests

Psychological testing techniques used in employee-selection to assess an individual's ability to learn the required skills and to perform the tasks associated with a particular job.

We can use lot of computer based materials to conduct trainability tests effectively.

• Prepare tutorials and give printed instructions.
• Train the trainee using video tutorials.
• Use slide shows to provide clear picture to trainee. E.g. Ms Power point
• Train the trainee using computer software. For an example, to speed up the typing speed of a particular employee we can use software like Typing Master. At the same time we can monitor the progress of the trainee.

3.2.1 3.2.4 Interest inventories, personality inventories and honesty tests.

3.2.4.1 Interest Inventories

Interest inventories are questionnaires that ask you about your likes and dislikes in a wide range of general activities. Your answers are used to develop a personal interest profile, which is then compared to the profiles of other students or to groups of people who are successfully employed in various occupations.

No one want to work in an occupation that they dislike, but how can you determine what career is right for you?

Basically we can use career services to find our candidate’s interest area.

Career Services provides access to discover, a PC-based guidance program that allows working at our own pace through a series of modules to help you assess candidate’s interests, abilities, and values. Career Services has a career library with information about hundreds of different occupational areas. It also provides individual and group counseling,

And also we can discover interests by performing a career exploration through a web question session,

• Access an on-line Career Interest Inventory
• Answer the Career Interest Inventory questions completely. If necessary, we may print out the questions.

Or else we can use a question pool that generates instant tests automatically. Hence different candidate will get different set of questions answer and of the test can be done automatically.

3.2.4.2 Personality inventories

Personality inventories are designed to assess the relatively stable and enduring characteristics of a person that may affect job performance and work place behavior. A number of global personality scales exist and these rest upon the idea that personality is made up of a number of different facets (or factors), each of which may affect the way a person responds to situations.

There are number of ways we can empower personality inventories with IT.

• We can have online personality cheeks.
• We can use software package to have an idea about candidate’s personality.

3.2.4.3 Honesty test (Lie detector)

There are number of websites we can find which provide honesty test papers. Most of them consist of MCQ questions and we can view our honesty level as soon as complete the test.

If we use some advanced technology combining with IT, we can go for a polygraph test.

When a person takes a polygraph test, four to six sensors are attached to him. A polygraph is a machine in which the multiple ("poly") signals from the sensors are recorded on a single strip of moving paper ("graph"). The sensors usually record:

• The person's breathing rate
• The person's pulse
• The person's blood pressure
• The person's perspiration

Sometimes a polygraph will also record things like arm and leg movement.

When the polygraph test starts, the questioner asks three or four simple questions to establish the norms for the person's signals. Then the real questions being tested by the polygraph are asked. Throughout questioning, all of the person's signals are recorded on the moving paper. And finally generate a complete report according to that signals. This technique is used in FBI and some foreign companies use above technique when recruiting people.

3.3 THE INTERVIEWS

There are hundreds of online mock interviews for different kinds of job categories. They can be used candidates to get ready for the interview, at the same time interviewer can use them to prepare questions for the interview.

We can use teleconferencing to interview people who are currently working at out stations or abroad. It could be not very effective way, However if a company want to attract a genius person to the organization who has very busy life, it could be a very convenient for both parties.

3.4 REFERENCE AND BACKGROUND TEST

Why do employers want to check their employee’s background? It could be for one of the several reasons. If government security clearances are required for the job that employees are interviewing for, an employment background check may be required. The employer may want to make sure that employees are telling the truth. It’s estimated that up to 40% of resumes can contain false or tweaked information, so employers want insure that what they are getting in an employee is what they were promised to do. The employer may perform a background check to find out whether actually what employee said employee did or to confirm their job applications. Nearly half of all employment applications contain false or misleading information. Background check gives us a valuable tool to make informed hiring decisions to ensure our company’s success.

Knowing the backgrounds of the people we hire is absolutely essential because a business can be held liable for accidents and crimes committed by its employees. To protect our company and minimize risks, get reliable background information about everyone we consider for employment.

Employee background check services include

• General Information Reports
• Credit Reports
• Workers’ Compensation Reports
• Educational Credentials Verification
• Social Security Verification
• Criminal History Reports
• Drug Screenings
• Civil Litigation Reports
• Custom Service
• Driving Record Reports

As the technology advances the need for latest technological trends arise in all the areas of day to day life. This applies for the companies all the processes including recruitment of new candidates. The techniques that were used traditionally are being gradually replaced by new IT solutions. There is lot of benefits of using information technology for background check process of candidates. These processes include both manual and automated techniques.

4.2.1 3.4.1 Methods of IT Usage

3.4.1.1 Use Retina Scanners to check Drug Users

We can use developed Retina Scanners to detect drug users. The developed Retina Scanners and other equipments such as computers and advanced sensors used for check drug users. If these equipment were not available, it would not have being possible to recruit experts overseas.

3.4.1.2 Use CCTV Cameras to choose leadership backgrounds

When we set up CCTV Cameras in interviewing places we can select the greatest background leaderships within all of candidates for particular job position.

3.4.1.3 Internet and web sites

If we want to verify Educational Credentials we can access to the particular institute’s website, enter the index number and then we can verify the educational details. Also if there are any possibility employers can check their employees credit reports. Employers can use online system to collect employee’s general details. Also employers can be established online system consists of forums.

Finally employers can use standard scoring method to choose their candidates. They can use software package to enter candidate’s details and sort that details according to marking system.

5.2.1 3.4.2 Advantages of IT usage for Reference and background check

• Can store background detail of employees in databases and can specify jobs according to that databases
• Reduce time and money wastage
• Improve efficiency and effectiveness of company
• Minimize risks

3.5 MEDICAL TEST

Medical tests are held to determine whether the applicant is able to perform tasks, duties and responsibilities to the expected standards. The objective of the medical test is to obtain the information on the candidate’s health. .This will be carried out by specialists. Medical test is held besides the other methods of selection.

The medical test is a type of test that may be used to provide valid information for selection purposes.

We can use high technologies to find out the applicants medical situation. We can use a Decision Support System to find out the medical status of applicants, by feeding various health facts. It will find and show the applicants with inappropriate health.

3.5.1 How IT used in Medical Tests?

We can make an agreement with provincial or local health officials or medical officers to check our applicants. After that employers can use to online methods to send that medical reports to the company just like emails. Then companies can add those details to their internal databases and maintain them. So then employers can evaluate these data to choose most suitable candidate to appropriate position. Also the employers be able to get knowledge about their employer’s medical status.

Also some times companies can be establish new information systems to connect with Health or Life Insurance Companies to determine whether the applicants are healthy.

Provide efficient and standard way to candidates to provide their medical details. Eg: If employees can send their medical details through emails or access company system that may be very effective way.

3.5.2 Advantages of IT usage for Medical Tests

• Paper documents are no stable. But medical reports which insert to company databases are not like that. They are stable and tidy. So any time employers can search data and mine them. Also they can get printouts of medical reports if they want.
• Make an efficiency effective manner to collect medical reports.
• Provide easy way to choose healthy candidates for particular positions
• Reduce money wastage, time wastage and space. Because there are no paper documents

3.6 DECISION MAKING

After all applicants have completed the evaluation process, it’s time to make a decision. The actual hiring of an applicant constitutes the end of the selection process.

After all applicants have completed the evaluation process, it’s time to make a decision. At this phase successful candidates must be notified of the company’s decision.

Employers can use IT to make successfulness of this stage. They can use Decision Making Systems to support their decision makings. They can make most decisions with the help of a Decision Support System.

If employers want more accurate and well selection they can implement an Automated Information System. Also they can use all of databases and select most appropriate employees to their company. If they want to arrange meetings to make decisions, they can use teleconferencing methods and telephones for that as IT usages.

As well as they can inform their decisions to candidates, they can use emails or any other IT related methods.

4.0 Training and Development

Training and development is very valuable to empower selected people with required knowledge. In a training program the management can

• Give required knowledge
• Motivate selected people

4.1 WHAT IS TRAINING

The objective of a training program is to give enough knowledge to the selected people to do their job more effectively and efficiently. An effective training program should be eligible to give required knowledge to the selected people for each job positions.

4.2 WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT

The use of development program is to give required knowledge to the employees when there is a change in the required knowledge. There can be number of development programs to maximize the skills of the employees.

Before conduct a training program it’s required to identify the group who needs the development program. Because if there is a huge radical change in the processes in the organization then all the levels of employees requires some kind of development program to be familiar to new environment .

ICT facilitates all

• Organizational level
• Job level
• Individual level training programs. By using ICT organization management can prepare specific training programs for the identified group.

4.3 Use of ICT in Training and Development

4.3.1 Ability of using similar system to train newcomers

It is very difficult to train newcomers for a crucial real time system, because some small errors can destroy the whole process in an organization. With the help of ICT the new comers can train on a virtual system that acts as a real system. By using this type of system the management can train all the newcomers in to their system without any difficulty.

4.3.2 Online training programs

If the organization is using an intranet they can easily organize this type of development program. Organization can give some kind of questioner to the employees to be filled up within a selected time period. Managers can organize this kind of training program easily with a minimum cost. Another advantage of this is that the upper management can view the results within few seconds.

Conclusion

Considering the work that has been done during HRM group assignment, one could say that the overall assignment itself could be considered as a great achievement.

Since some amount of research efforts were carried out, with the some of our own innovative ideas. As energetic students of the University Of Colombo School Of Computing, after completing the, this assignment, we got very clear understanding of HRM functions and we believe we have achieved expected objectives of the Human Resource Management module.