Did technology ever intend to take the human out of Human Resources? Not likely. Technology does not have motives or self-interest. However, the direction taken by Human Resources Information Systems challenges legacy HR every day. Where is HRIS taking HR? It may be a question of perspective. Will there come a day when HRIS and HR become one?
Five paths taken
1. Monster boards began the evolution of e-recruiting. Employers and job candidates could meet in the virtual woods of the big boards to match interests, needs, and talents. As candidates learned to post video resumes, they made themselves more noticeable. And, as they made the connection through Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media, employers started to chase the talent in new ways. This paradigm shift put employer and candidate virtually face-to-face, but you should not mislabel the connection as “social.” Automated as it may be, the community is only virtual.
2. The speed of distribution and delivery facilitates more training and development. An HRIS system will efficiently introduce and track new hire orientation on policies and procedures. It can put subsequent training into the hands of employees through mobile applications. And, it can provide just-in-time training as needed where needed. This requires a level of IT sophistication often in short supply among Human Resources leadership.
3. HRIS originally served the market that wanted personnel database management to save time, assure accuracy, and relieve Human Resources leadership, enabling them to be more creative and innovative. And, it has since introduced descriptive reporting and predictive analytics. It has served this market well.
4. That same database advantage can monitor employee performance. Its principle systems will apply metrics that are important across the organization. The analytics make the performance and outcomes transparent and useful for assessment and planning.
5. Technology engages employees and management for their respective self-interests. Employees can access their records, payroll, assessment, benefits, and performance assessment. Management can secure analysis and trending information to adjust operations, workforce, and strategies.
It is a fact of the Human Resources profession that most practitioners lack the specific talents to blend these plans. It is rather natural that one professional may feel a stronger need for talent and/or direction than another. A strong foundation in information technology presents an engineering mindset without the soft edges manifest in most HR professionals. A solid strategic HR background is theory and outcome driven without the technologist’s tools.
So, you can picture a future forest in which the disparate paths of Human Resources merge through the device of Human Resources information technology. That means HR leadership must remove itself from some paths and trust the technology to do its thing. Trusting and developing relationships with strong, innovative, and responsive HRIS providers may be the precise place where the roads merge, and you can proceed without fear about the paths not taken.