Information System and Human Resource Management

Information System and Human Resource Management

• Friday, July 24, 2020

IS and Human Resource Management. 

The demands placed on Human Resource professionals are fast increasing and rendering manual HR management processes inadequate. (Beckers and Bsat, 2002). This brings up the need for an information system in Human resource processes. It is a tool that has the potential to increase the capabilities of the organization as a whole.(Tansley and Watson, 2000). 

Use of IS in HR

On a smaller scale, HR data can be gathered using tools like Microsoft Excel, Power BI, Tableau. However more advanced HIRS tools have been developed for large scale operations and companies.  (Hendrickson , 2003) defined  Human Resource Information System. (HIRS) as a tool used to  gather, store, and analyze information regarding an organization’s human resources. This comprises databases, softwares, computer application, hardware necessary to collect/record, store, manage, deliver, present and manipulate data for human resources. (Alshibly, 2015)

HRIS has helped to integrate HR policies with wider business and computer strategies as opposed to using ad- hoc strategies. (Tansley, Newell and Williams, 2001). Other uses of HRIS include: 

-HRIS gathers data that aids planning for the labour force (Alshibly, 2011). It provides functional managers with the functionality to meet their unit goals and objectives. It provides data collection and analysis that supports HR processes such as  salary forecasts, compensation packages, employee assistance needs, pay budget etc.

-HRIS automates the process of preparing vacation and sick leave reports, performance review reports, salary histories, probation and expense reports, employee background checks, employee benefits , employee personal and contact details, tax and government regulations as it relates to the Human Resource department.  This reduces the need for the input of human operators. 

-Asides automation, (Zudolf, 1988) explains the ability of HIRS tools to “Informate.” Which explains how IT tools can generate new information which can be used as a by product to generate more streams of information (Tansley, Newell and Williams, 2001) 

HIRS core processes involve input of data related to employees into a database,processing and manipulating such data which leads to an output of information such as job description, training, remuneration, employee benefit analysis etc. 

Companies that have implemented the HRIS even though it's quite costly have been said to have a competitive edge over those that don’t. Those companies that have implemented HRIS have recorded an increased level of productivity, cost reductions and product quality. 

(Alshibly, 2015) identified that there is no specific literature to explore the success of HIRS. However, he drew inspiration from three significant streams of Information System Success using the following theoretical foundational models,

1)Technology Acceptance model

This model investigates user acceptance of technology. Everything being equal a user friendly application is more likely to be widely accepted. The TAM model described perceived usefulness and ease of use both influence one’s attitude towards an information system. (Alshiby, 2015). Therefore in an organisation, we can gather the Human Resource team and give a questionnaire to investigate how user friendly or not the Information system is and make necessary changes if need be.

2.) User satisfaction Model

This model has been described as the most employed measure of Information success. It links user attitude to how the Information System behaves. This is a good model to measure HIRS success as it can tell if an organisation is satisfied with the information technology being applied or if it should be changed. 

3) Delone and Mclean Information systems success model. 

DeLone and McLean developed a model that includes six aspects of defining IS success which include: system quality, information quality, use, user satisfaction, individual impact and organizational impact. (Alshiby, 2015). This is similar to the above two models of determining IS success. Its strength lies in the fact that it’s able to give detailed feedback as to what has succeeded and what has failed in the information system process and this will work perfectly for HR teams. 

In conclusion, it can be seen that Information system tools will continue to have a major impact on Human resource processes of all organizations. As business operations evolve, HRIS will ensure that access to HR data will be universal and seamless (Hendrickson, 2003) 

References

Alshibly, H. (2015). 235467264-Human-Resources-Information-Systems-Success-Assessment- an-Integrative-Model (2) Digitalization View project Investigating Decision Support System (DSS) Success: A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Approach View project. Australian journal of Basic and Applied sciences, 5.

Beckers, A.M. and Bsat, M.Z. (2002). A Dss Classification Model for Research in Human Resource Information Systems. Information Systems Management, 19(3), pp.1–10.

Hendrickson, A.R. (2003). Human resource information systems: Backbone technology of contemporary human resources. Journal of Labor Research, [online] 24(3), pp.381–394. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12122-003-1002-5 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].

Tansley, C., Newell, S. and Williams, H. (2001). Effecting HRM‐style practices through an integrated human resource information system. Personnel Review, 30(3), pp.351–371.

Tansley, C. and Watson, T. (2000). Strategic exchange in the development of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS). New Technology, Work and Employment, 15(2), pp.108–122.