Human Resource is no longer just a supporting function of an organization – with the growing importance of human capital and its management in the corporate setup, HR is now a collection of highly specialized and essential capabilities, each with distinct goals, needs, and tasks.
The advent of technology has changed all the aspects of our lives – HR being no exception to the fact. Earlier HR was a department that was defined by piles of paper and files along with a consistent struggle to multitask between the hiring of candidates, compliance, storage and management of employees’ data, reference checks, on boarding and exit procedures, payroll, managing control and reward systems and so on. By simplifying these responsibilities, technology has drastically improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the department thereby facilitating the time to focus on the major issues that require their attention. In my opinion, apart from the umpteenth number, the major noticeable contributions of technology to the HR department as a whole are as follows:
Recruitment: Earlier the process of sourcing the potential employees for any organization was dependent on the posts on newspapers, word of mouth, internal referrals or face to face networking. Today through postings on job portals like Naukri.com, Sheroes.com, Monster.com, etc. and professional social networks like LinkedIn, recruiters can now reach out to a wide number of candidates and need not settle for any less. They can now select the right for both the role and the organization as a whole. On the other hand, evaluating an applicant’s skill set and personality is also a lot easier now through in-house or outsourced online test platforms thereby saving cost and time in the long run and giving the best-desired results.
Data Management: Managing the data of employees, potential candidates, legal compliance related data, etc. required a lot of space and were not very easy to locate when needed. Cloud storage has now allowed to store data on cloud using electronic files (e-files). This made data storage easy to organize and was available within a few clicks. This streamlining has saved paper, space and a lot of time thereby improving the level of security and confidentiality too.
Performance Management: Various software using HRIS (Human Resource Information System) like ClearCompany, Halogen Performance, PerformancePro, High Ground, Lattice, and Big Data Analytics have made performance management of employees more accurate and helped in giving suitable rewards to the personnel. This has resulted in increased employee satisfaction and loyalty towards the work and organization.
Flow of information: Can we imagine a day without our office inbox not functioning? No right? Technology has made communication between people within an organization easier by giving and receiving prompt replies and important information over emails or in-house messengers. Cloud-based mobile platforms allow employees to access relevant information easily and initiatives like work from home and while on holidays have been made possible for the welfare of the employees.
Despite the huge list of advantages, many organizations today have still not adopted the technology based HR systems. The benefits of cost saving, time saving, accuracy and environment protection far outweigh the initial challenges of setting the system and welcoming the change. Hence, I believe this is just a matter of time and soon all the organizations would embrace this new change with both arms open also because using technology in Human Resource just like in any other function will be the only way out to sustain and survive the competition of the dynamic corporate world.
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About the Author:
Neha Khandelwal, IMI Kolkata, PGDM 2016-2018, 16 months of work experience in HR (recruitment) at 123greetings.com, HR-placement coordinator, junior co-coordinator at HumanR (HR) club.