The evolution of technology will determine the future of Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS). With no lid on the potential of technology, it is difficult – even for our imagination – to see beyond a near future. Picturing the Human Resources function in that future presents a disconnect we may not be near solving.
The technologist sees a future without limit, information technology smart enough to eliminate human intervention. Human Resources professionals anticipate technology that takes on enough of their routine to let them reimagine their role. These visions do not integrate fully.
1. What Does “Management” Mean?
“Management” means different things from the different perspectives. “Management” means processing, handling, wrangling, corralling, analyzing, and administrating – functions Information Technology manages very efficiently. For the technologist, management is a project.
Human Resources traditions value HRIS because it assumes all those tasks. That way Human Resources management can counsel, protect, and advocate in the interests of risk management and talent development. These perspectives do not integrate without effort. For the HR professional, “management” is a service.
2. What Happens to Authority?
As HRIS technology enables employee participation, it reduces the employees’ social interaction with HR. For the engineer, that equals labor efficiency. For HR professionals, that relief threatens their larger role as adviser. Relieved from the administrative tasks, they struggle to fill the gap with relevant work.
Until HR professionals articulate and promote a new stakeholder value, they lose perceived value and respect to technology that empowers virtual work, engages contemporary employees, and communicates values-added. HR loses personal authority as the HRIS interface forms its own social connection.
3. What Happens to HR’s Self-Perception?
Originally configured and sold as data processing, HRIS has evolved in terms of speed, scope, and depth of databases and mining efficiency. HRIS vendors speak for their technologists’ worldview. They promote and drive design that emphasizes data entry, transaction processing, and information integration. This is what the business does, and the vendors report those “needs to improve.”
This devalues HR’s perception of its profession. By and large, HR professionals have not trained or studied to fully understand HR technology or its potential. They are not fully equipped to shop critically and/or direct the level of integration and predictive analytics they desire. Without that ability, they are at the mercy of the stakeholders who make efficiency a primary value.
4. What Does Total Access Mean?
Software engineering is a linear experience. Even the integration of systems is perceived in straight-line terms. “Information” happens where data intersects. This logic lets technology take over best practices, on-boarding policy, and risk management information.
Human Resources personnel see human systems as dynamic and organic, subtle and unpredictable – all qualities that defy reduction. They struggle to see themselves excluded from training and development, employee performance assessment, and benefits counseling. While the HR professionals may value the ability to access all systems 24/7, they also surrender power to the employees’ mobile access.
5. What Value Lies in Reporting Capabilities?
Information designers build infinite reports into their systems. They promote reports of all sizes and complexity as a sales feature. It grows out of their process orientation. They anticipate all reporting interests for all possible stakeholders.
The abundance of reports and reporting capabilities can overwhelm HR professionals. Report management is already a full-time position worth delegating to a specialist. HR leadership has to configure its role as one that uses these reports to support corporate goals.
6. What is the Solution?
Legacy Human Resources has had a way of finding itself in time. HR professionals tend to confuse this with an evolution in their role when it is adaptation at best. The HRIS writers, on the other hand, think they can build future into their systems when this is scalability at best. This puts them somewhat at odds from the beginning.
Any solution lies in integrating their visions. But, it lies somewhere before the roles are set. These views need the occasion where they become mutually dependent. They need the opportunity to share their needs and designs. At the core level, they should enjoy and embrace the shared responsibility.
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