Surname 1 Name Professors name Use of information technology in human resource planning Date Use of Information Technology in Planning

the Human Resource of an Organization Table of Contents

Use of Information Technology in Human Resource Planning We are living in a very dynamic world with everything changing day-in-day-out. Organizations are currently operating in a dynamically changing environment and managers have to utilize the available work force in order to be competitive. Human Resource Planning (HRP) tries to balance between an organizations available labor and its labor requirements. It also assigns people available tasks according to their qualifications. HRP helps the organization in making major decisions such as: a) Staff recruitment b) Staff training c) Budget estimation d) Management development

Surname 2 e) Elimination of redundancies. A few years ago, organizations only in the developed countries enjoyed information technology (IT) services in their firms. Today, almost every organization is incorporating IT into their ways of running the business through discarding of the manual sectors that involved bulky paper work and moving towards the more sophisticated computerized operation. One department of organizations that has really benefited from this evolution is the human resource department. The aim of incorporating an information system in planning of activities in the human resource department is to improve every individuals present work performance with their efforts geared towards accomplishing the companys objective of having an organized work schedule to maximize the time available for increased productivity. This research paper is aimed at looking at the various ways in which IT is used in planning of the man power/labor force available in a business organization in order to achieve maximum profits at the lowest cost possible. Research Question Is the use of information technology in human resource planning benefit an organization? Problem definition Many researchers have studied and analyzed the changing trends in the Human Resource department (HR) in, relation to IT. This paper is destined at looking at the various ways in which this has to be achieved or has already been achieved in various business institutions. HR professionals have been looking at this issue from a profit point of view, that is, they ask themselves questions about the necessity of IT in HR which can maximize the productivity of the company (Jacoby, Nason & Saguchi 25). Literature Review Information technology is widely used in various departments of an organization. The major

Surname 3 department of an organization is the HR department, which primarily deals with the labor force of an organization. As IT has progressed from the old and slow mainframes to much quicker LANs (local area networks), WANs (wide area networks) and the world wide web, the business world follows suit in moving from the manual operations to computerized services. Planning involves laying down strategies of an organization that are to be followed regarding performing certain tasks. The HR department can work in conjunction with other departments in carrying out a number of tasks, for instance, staff training and recruitment, job allocation etc. In order to plan adequately for a foreseeable progress of an organization, good strategies have to be laid down so as to avoid the falling of an organization. This research involves several stages. First, literature about human resource function, HR without IT and its implications. The second stage involves investigation of the transformation process from HR without IT to HR with IT and finally, it looks at how the computerized HR department, how it affects the planning process of the human resource and its implications.

Noncomputerized HR

Transformati on of the HR

Computerize d HR

IT application Figure 1: The research sketch

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Research Philosophy, Approach and Strategy My research is based on phenomenological philosophy describing a number of individual experiences about a phenomenon. This approach includes samples of data that are qualitatively evaluated. The primary research involved designing of a questionnaire. The Questionnaire results were a detailed insight on the opinions of the general public regarding the importance of using IT in human resource planning in an organization. To collect secondary data, I went through various research reports, working papers and publications like journals and books on IT and business and compressed the collected raw data into a brief literature review. In this paper, the used research strategy is the descriptive approach with the main objective being to find out the reasons behind the occurrence of a certain scenario. For example, in my research, I found out that one of the main uses of IT in HR planning is employee recruitment, which is done online via the World Wide Web. Ethical Measure Across my research, I found out that this topic is widely discussed or rather researched on more than many other areas for it is the core of business success. This topic is ethically accepted and it hugely benefits the general public, the employees and the organization in general. The approval of my project manager implies that this topic is of no disadvantage to any individual nor an organization, for it points out the importance of IT in human resource planning, which is a positive impact to the organization and its employees. One of my methods of data collection was through questionnaires. This might have some mistakes as some people may provide inappropriate answers due to lack of understanding of the questions in the questionnaire and some providing false information intentionally or some even ignoring some or all of the questions. Research Methodology

Surname 5 This topic is quite wide and new to most of the people in the business world. To come up with relevant information about a given scenario, both primary and secondary sources of data collection had to be used. The main source of primary data was the use of questionnaires, comprising both open-ended and close-ended questions. The questionnaire has five questions, three closed ended questions and two open ended questions. Another source of primary data was conducting interviews in different organizations regarding the changes exhibited through the introduction of IT in the HR department and hoe it assists in planning. The data collection did not just stop at that, but I went forward to look at other secondary sources including journals on past research conducted by other researchers, books on impacts of IT in effective planning of human resource. Data analysis, Findings and Presentation Data collected from the questionnaire was the much appealing of all the data as it had strategic questions which were answered quite satisfactorily. The closed ended questions require the respondent to compare the operation of the previous and the current human resource planning process in terms of cost, productivity and time i.e. the manual system and the automated/computerized system, what significant changes has the automation of the department brought to the organization and lastly, the effects of the system to the process of employee recruitment. The open ended questions included the effect of the system on employee morale and lastly, their preference of the system as opposed to the manual system. The response to questions was quite impressive. Due to limited time and resources, the research covered only five respondents. For the first question, 90% of the employees agreed that the introduction of IT system in planning is cost-effective, saves more time and thus there is increased productivity. This is in line with Haines & Lafleur (525-540), who argued in their journal that automated systems are fast

Surname 6 and more accurate in conducting strategic planning than human, who is prone to errors. The figure below shows the data collected from the first question.

100 80 60 40 20 0 R pondent es S trong Ag ly reed Ag reed Do not k now

The response to the second question was as impressive as the first, which was about the changes that the information system had brought to the organization. Most of the employees agreed that the introduction of the system has changed the way in which things are run, there is less paper work involved and data integrity is high. The diagram below represents the data that 85% of the employees who strongly agree that IT has had some adverse changes in the organizations, while 14% are still doubtful of the system and the rest 1% were simply not conversant with the IT, thus, it made no significant difference to them.
90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Resp d t on en

Very P ositive C an es h g P ositive C an es h g Do n kn ot ow

Surname 7 When asked about how the system has affected the way the employee recruitment is done, the diagram below represents the different views they had to offer. 85% of the employees dating three years from the time of the research applied there jobs online. This shows that the system is really working appropriately. The other 14% were aware of the online application but due to the requirement of their physical presence, they had to present themselves. The rest 1% had no idea of what online registration was.

100 80 60 40 20 0 R pondent es Very effec tive E tive ffec D not k o now

When the employees had to respond to the open ended questions, the response to the first question was excellent. 95% of the employees agreed that the system really boosted there morale as they have access to a lot of information to work around with from the internet, and the effectiveness of the system really made them want to work more. 5% were of the view that yes it did but not much, for they believe that unexpected system failures would really lower there morale at work. None of the respondent was against the IT system.

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100 80 60 40 20 0 R pondent es H h Mora ig le Im pres ed s N m le o ora

The last question was about if they prefer the old system to the new one or the new system to the old one. Again 95% of them were for the new system, 4% were for the old system and 1% had seen no significant change.

1 00 80 60 40 20 0 R espondent Newsystem O system ld A ny

Validity and Reliability Validity is the accuracy of the questionnaire. The findings should be able to apply to all organizations without any failure, as the findings and conclusions should be able to apply to the population at large. This is referred to as external validity. Reliability of this project can be assured because the research will bear the same fruits on numerous but different applications. In conclusion, I strongly believe that a large percentage of the organization would benefit from the introduction of IT systems in there day-to-day planning of their human resources. It is evident that

Surname 9 this program will be of great benefit to the public, employees and the organization itself in the long run, if not the short run, hence my research question of whether the use of information technology in human resource planning benefits an organization is answered quite well.

Works Cited Haines, V.Y. & Lafleur G. Information technology usage and human resource roles and Effectiveness Jacoby, S. M., Nason, E. M., & Saguchi, K. (2005). The Role of the Senior HR Executive in Japan and the United States: Employment Relations, Corporate Governance, and Values. Industrial Relations, 44(2), 207-241 Haines, V. Y. & Lafleur, G. (2008). Information technology usage and human resource roles and effectiveness. Human Resource Management, 47(3), 525-540. Kraut, A. I., Pedigo, P. R., McKenna, D. D., & Dunnette, M. D. (2005). The role of the manager: What's really important in different management jobs. Academy of Management Executive, 19(4), 122-129. Som, A. (2003). Redesigning the human resources function at Lafarge. Human Resource Management, 42(3), 271-288. Strohmeier, S. (2007). Research in e-HRM: Review and implications. Human Resource Management Review, 17, 19-37. Klaila, D. (2000). Knowledge as a transformation agent. Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(2), 138-144. Hempel, P. S. (2004). Preparing the HR profession for technology and information work. Human Resource Management, 43(2-3), 163-177.

Surname 10 Hussain, Z., Wallace, J., & Cornelius, N. E. (2007). The use and impact of human resource information systems on human resource management professionals. Information & Management, 44(1), 74-89. Gardner, S. D., Lepak, D. P., & Bartol, K. M. (2003). Virtual HR: The impact of information technology on the human resource professional. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 63(2), 159-179. Florkowski, G. W. & Olivas-Lujan, M. R. (2006). The diffusion of human-resource information-technology innovations in US and non-US firms. Personnel Review, 35(6), 684-710 Ashbaugh, S. & Miranda, R. (2002). Technology for human sources management: Seven questions and answers. Public Personnel Management, 31(1), 7-20.