Human Resources Information Systems in Texas City Governments: Scope and Perception of its Effectiveness

By Christopher G. Reddick, PhD

This study examines human resources information systems (HRIS) in city governments. This article presents the results of a survey of human resources directors (HRD) in Texas Cities in the United States. City governments were chosen to provide a case study of the scope of information and services provided by information technoiogy (IT), especially Web-based self-service, in the human resources (HR) function. HRDs were aiso asked opinions on the effectiveness of HRIS for their city government. A key finding of this study is that the scope of HRiS is broad with almost 30% of empioyees contacting HR through emaii and the Web. However, Web-based self-services offered by HR are mostly providing information, with much less supplying oniine services. In terms of the perception of HRIS by HRDs, operational impacts such as reducing the labor force or lowering HR operating cost are less important. However, reiational and transformational aspects such as increasing customer service, improving the quality of services, and retaining knowledge are important to HRDs. The most critical success factor of HRIS was improved data accuracy and the number one barrier was inadequate funding for HRIS.

his article examines the scope and perception of effectiveness of human resources information systems (HRIS) by human resources directors (HRD) in Texas City governments in the United States. HRIS is any technology that is used to attract, hire, retain, and maintain talent, support workforce administration, and optimize workforce management.^ Examples include computers, Internet (Web and email) or other technological means of acquiring, storing, manipulating, analyzing, retrieving, and distributing pertinent information regarding human resources (HR). The claimed benefits of HRIS are typical of information technology (IT) solutions, including reduced cost of hiring and personnel staffing, increased effectiveness, and better customer or client satisfaction.^ In order to examine HRIS this study conducted a survey of Texas City government HRDs to determine the scope of information and services that their HR departments offer online. This research also asked their opinions on the impact of HRIS on HR
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operations, relationships with parties within and outside their organization, and if it was able to transform their HR function. Existing survey research has focused more on the scope of HRIS.^ This study is different since it addresses the effectiveness of HRIS and the use of Web-based self-service in HR. IT investments in HR have traditionally focused solely on their role of reducing costs and automating tasks."* Historically, IT has been adopted in HR as an attempt to substitute capital for labor.5 There was a tendency for employers to view HRIS as a "quick fix" rather than a systematic solution.^ Automating existing processes with IT without a strategic direction has been described as paving "cow paths."'' For example, employers may simply add some Web-based technology to their preexisting processes while leaving everything else the same. They essentially go for the "low hanging fruit" in the implementation of HRIS; as a result employers see some cost savings, but not the total amount that was envisioned. In this study, survey findings indicated that stressing the operational benefits of HRIS may be misguided, since the major benefits are found more in the relational and transformation aspects of its adoption. HR departments can use the Web as a medium for a self-service HR function. Research shows that Web-based self-service reduces staff, improves timeliness, and improves accuracy of HR data.^ There are benefits and costs of Web-based self-service to employees and managers. The benefit of HRIS is that employees using self-service functionality of the Web for HR information and/or services can easily update and verify information, consult online lists of internal job vacancies, access government employee handbooks, and receive notices about upcoming training sessions. Managers can analyze job candidate profiles online, construct salary models, view benefits programs, monitor employee absentee trends, and retrieve government labor regulations and forms for compliance. However, one of the by products of this Web-based self-service model is that it empowers employees to have access to their personal information as well as the responsibility of ensuring that data in the HRIS is accurate and complete. The downside of this empowerment is that employee information can be compromised, which reduces the individuals technology trust of the storage and use of personal information.^ This article first examines HRIS' impacts on operations, relationships, and transformations of local government organizations. There is an examination of the existing survey research on HRIS and research questions are derived from this literature. Survey results are presented showing the scope of information and services that HR departments' offer in HRIS. The perceptions of the impact of HRIS on operational, relational, and transformational aspects of HR are presented along with the perceived success factors and barriers to HRIS adoption. The following section discusses the impact of HRIS on operational, relational, and transformational stages of adoption.

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Operational, Relational, and Transformational Impacts of HRIS

Phases of adopting HRIS have been classified into three stages.^" The first phase is the operational impact of IT of automating routine activities, alleviating the administrative burdens, reducing costs, and improving productivity internal to the HR function itself The second phase, after the operational impact of IT is the relational impact, is providing managers and employees' remote access to HR databases and services, reducing response times, and improving service levels. Finally, the transformational phase of IT is the redefinition of the scope and function of the HR organization to focus more on strategic issues.^^

Operational Impact off HRIS

For many organizations, the starting point for IT utilization within HR focuses on improving operational efficiency. Given the heavy administrative burden within HR, efforts to automate record keeping and routine clerical activities such as payroll and benefits administration makes sense. By eliminating paperwork, automated systems have the potential to reduce organizational overhead and generate significant cost savings.^2 IT can help reduce costs and improve productivity by automating routine tasks and practices.^^ The operational impact of HRIS is often one of the first arguments presented to gain project support and funding.

Relational Impact off HRIS

The operational impact of IT focuses on efficiency and productivity improvements internally within HR. IT also influences HR's relationship externally with other parties within the organization. IT allows HR to enhance service by providing managers and employees with remote access to HR databases, supporting their HR-related decisions, and increasing their ability to connect to other parties. By making information accessible online, HR can eliminate waste, improve decision quality, and enhance fiexibility and customization. However, some have argued that this disintermediation within HR may simply shift the burden of administration back to line personnel overloading them.^"* The relational aspect of HR implies increasing the timeliness and service levels with employees and managers, as well as outside parties. By providing managers and employees remote access to HR databases and information, and increasing their ability to connect with other parts of the organization as well as outside service providers; managers and employees can perform HR activities themselves, thereby reducing response times and improving service levels.^^

Transfformational Impact off HRIS

While IT can improve operational efficiency within HR and enhance relational connections with personnel and individuals outside the organization, the transformational impact of IT involves fundamental changes in the scope and function of the HR department. ^^ The transformational impact involves reengineering or
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aligning employee activities with the needs of customers or clients. In this new environment, jobs are much more flexible and are designed around skills, roles, and projects rather than stable tasks. The idea of a more flexible workforce where IT allows for shared information within and outside ofthe organization, ^^ Perhaps the most dramatic impact of IT on structural integration within HR is its transformational role. As IT has enabled people to communicate across geographic boundaries and share information, it has eliminated barriers of time and space, ^^ As the following section demonstrates, there is very limited survey research on HRIS, speciflcally as it relates to the public sector organizations.

Existing Survey Research on Human Resource Information Systems

There are few studies that provide survey evidence on the impact of HRIS in public sector organizations, Elliott and Tevavichulada conducted a survey of public and private sector HR professionals in 1996 of their use of information systems to help them solve HR management problems,^^ Through their survey they examined the scope of information and services offered online and the level of satisfaction with these offerings. Ball conducted a survey of 115 companies in the United Kingdom to provide a prole of usage of HRIS by HR departments,^'^ The results of their survey indicated that organizational size was the clear determinate of whether an organization has HRIS at all and whether it adopts certain applications. In addition, the clear majority of applications focus on administrative tasks and not on decision support. West and Berman examined the implementation of IT in local governments of 50,000 residents or greater^i They found through a national survey conducted between December 1999 to March 2000 that very few cities use IT and HR in an extensive way. There are two notable private sector studies on HRIS effectiveness. One study conducted a survey of over 200 respondents conducted in November 2001 and found that Web-based self-service have reduced operating cost and improved quality of services to employees,^^ Research in 2003 of 328 public and private sector organizations human resources managers indicated that HR Web-based initiatives have positively impacted data accuracy and quality improvement,^' Headcount reduction and strategic role of HR are much lower in terms of success objectives. The existing survey research illustrates the scope of offerings of IT in HR, It focuses less on the perception of HRIS effectiveness and the adoption of Web-based self-service HR systems, which is the contribution of this study. The following section outlines the research questions that are examined in this study.

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Research Questions
There are four research questions, derived from the literature, that are used to examine the scope and effectiveness of HRIS in city governments. 1. How much of a role does IT play in contacting HR by employees for information and/or services? 2. What impact does the Web-based self-service have on the provision of information and/or services by HR? 3. How much of an influence does HRIS have on the operational, relational, and transformational aspects of HR? 4. What are the barriers and success factors that inhibit and promote HRIS adoption? Questions 1 and 2 examine the scope of HRIS in city governments in Texas. They specifically address what HR Web-based self-service systems are provided to employees and managers through IT. Questions 3 and 4 examine the perception of HRDs of HRIS effectiveness. In order to examine these important research questions, the following two sections outline the survey data collection protocols and the characteristics of the sample.

Survey Data Collection Methods

The data collected for this study was done by a mail survey in the winter of 2006. The mailing list was obtained from the Texas Municipal League. HRDs or an equivalent position classification were sent a copy of the survey with a cover letter explaining the research project. A reminder letter was sent to HRDs approximately three weeks after the initial mailing. In order to get more candid responses, HRDs were assured that their individual responses would be kept anonymous. This study only surveyed cities that served populations of 10,000 residents or greater because smaller cities are not as likely to need advanced HRIS; size of government is a strong determinate of IT adoption.^"^ Out of 152 cities in Texas that were sent a survey 88 HRDs responded, which is a response rate of 58%. This is a good response rate for a local government survey since the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) normally obtains around a 40% response rate for their surveys of municipal officials. The following section provides details on the survey sample and demographic characteristics of HRDs, to see how representative this study is of HRDs and city government.

Demographic and City Government Characteristics

Table 1 provides information on the composition of the survey sample. One notable finding was that the typical age range of HRDs in Texas was 45-54 years. In addition, there were almost twice as many females in the position of HRD for city governments in Texas. It was very common for HRDs to hold a graduate degree, with 42% having this academic qualification. In terms of the comfort level with IT, HRDs were given the
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opportunity to rate how "technosawy" they perceived themselves to be. The responses to this question were on the high end, approximately four on a five point scale. This indicates that HRDs who responded to the survey are probably more IT knowledgeable. Finally, 62.5% of the sample was composed of cities that employ 100 to 499 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, which is a small to medium-sized city government. Overall, it appears from Table 1 that HRDs in Texas that responded to the survey are middle-aged, female, highly educated, comfortable with IT, and work in a small to medium-sized city government. There is no reason to believe that the survey sample is not generally representative of city governments in Texas. However, a few caveats should be noted. HRDs who responded to the survey may be more technologically sophisticated and from smaller cities in Texas and may not be as representative of certain population groups. With this information on who responded to the survey, the following section illustrates the scope of HRIS in city government in Texas.

Table 1 : Demographics and City Government Characteristics

What is your age range?
25-34 35-44 45-54 65 or over Gender Female Male Do you have a graduate degree? No Yes 51 37 58.0 42.0 57 31 64.8 35.2 Frequency 11 24 34 19 Percent 12.5 27.3 38.6 21.6

On a scale from 1 to 5, with one being "technophobic" and 5 being "technosawy", where would you place yourself in terms of IT sophistication? 1 - Technophobic 2 3 4 5 - Technosawy 0 1 34 41 12 0.0 1,1 38.6 46.6 13.6

Approximately how many full-time equivalent (FTE) employees are employed in your city government? 99 or less 100 to 499 500 to 999 1,000 to 4,999 5,000 or more 24 6 55 13 10 4 6.8 62.5 14.8 11.4 4.5

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Methods of Contacting HR to get Information and Services

There are four possible methods of contacting HR by employees that need information and/or services. HRDs were asked to specify the approximate percentage of each method that employees typically used to contact HR. The results in Table 2 indicated that the most common methods of contacting HR were in person and over the phone with HR specialists at around 35% for each of these methods. The second most common method was contacting a HR specialist via email at 23.2%. The least common method was Web-based employee self-service through an Intranet (a Web site accessible only to city government employees) or Internet at only 5.7%. The results in Table 2 showed that the primary methods (through the phone or in person) of contacting have not changed substantially because of the Web. However, email accounts for almost a quarter of contacts. As the following section demonstrates, one of the reasons for the low degree of contacts via the Web may be attributed to the lack of breadth of HR services offered. Table 2: Percentage of Employees who use the following Methods to Contact HR to get Information and/or Services
Methods of Contacting HR HR specialists in person or at a meeting HR specialists over the phone HR specialists via email Employee self-service through an Intranet (i.e., a Web server accessible only to city government employees) or Internet Percent 35.5% 35.3% 23.2% 5.7% 100.0%

HR Web-Based Information and Services Offered

Table 3 provides an indication of the use of the Web to offer HR information and services to employees and managers. In order to determine the implementation of employee and manager self-service, the information and services listed are Web-based. The most pronounced method is using the Web for recruitment. For example, the use of the Web for job postings was done by 92% of cities in Texas, accepting applications online was conducted by 85.2% of cities. More advanced functions such as application tracking, resume intake/management, and offer/new hire processing were conducted much less frequently online. The proliferation of the Web has enabled HR to train employees in city government virtually from home or at work. The evidence for this occurring in Texas is marginal at best. For example, only 17% of cities have used the Web for curriculum overview and course enrollment (Table 3), while training/e-learning was used by 14.8% of cities. The potential is there to reap economies of scale by using the Web for training, but cites at this point are not doing this in great numbers.
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Table 3: HR Web-based Information and Services Offered Web Services for recruiting
Job postings Applications Application tracking Automated resume intake/management Offer/new hire processing

Percent Offered
92.0% 85.2% 35.2% 20.5% 19.3%

Web services for training

Curriculum overview Course enrollment Training/e-learning Mentoring 17.0% 17.0% 14.8% 1.1%

Web services for empioyee benefits

Retirement plan information Plan/policy information Wellness information/education Ongoing new hire enrollments Annual health plan and welfare enrollment Ongoing status/life events change Total compensation statements Modeling/financial planning tools 67.0% 61.4% 46.6% 30.7% 28.4% 23.9% 17.0% 12.5%

Web services for performance/career management

Job descriptions Performance appraisals Information on promotions/career paths Skill/competency tracking Individual goal-setting Career assessments/planning 43.2% 33.0% 18.2% 6.8% 6.8% 4.5%

Web services for manager self-service toois

Financiis and accounting (e.g., budgeting) Time and attendance Payroll administration Management reports Personnel change transactions Diversity and compliance reporting Workforce planning 46.6% 40.9% 37.5% 35.2% 23.9% 19.3% 10.2%

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Table 3: HR Web-based Information and Services Offered (cont.)

Services for Web portal (with HR functionaiity)
HR information e,g,, reai-time personnei data entry and management HR Financiai information/transactions Workforce performance measurement information

Percent Offered
29,5% 26,1% 9,1%

The use of the Web for information and enrollment in employee benefits is becoming critical for public sector organizations as the evidence shows. The survey results indicated that retirement plan information was provided on the Web by 67% of cities in Texas, Plan/policy information was provided by 61,4% of cities (Table 3), The results in Table 3 indicated that the Web was mostly being used to provide information on benefits information. When it comes to more transaction-oriented annual health plan and welfare enrollment, only 28,4% of cities had this online option. Another area for Web services for HR is performance/career management of the city government workforce. The most common career management Web service was job descriptions being provided with 43,2% of respondents saying they had this option. Performance appraisals were being provided online by 33% of cities (Table 3), More specialized information systems such as career assessments/planning was done online by only 4,5% of cities in Texas, Manager self-service tools such as financiis and accounting for HR is being conducted by 46.6% of cities through a Web-based system. Time and attendance is being done by 40,9% of Texas cities (Table 3), More complicated workforce planning is being conducted online by only 10,2% of cities. The results show that most of the Webbased HR is currently providing information rather than more advanced self-service based applications. Finally, how developed are cities in terms of their use of the Web as a portal for HR functions? A portal is a one-stop shop for employees and managers to get HR information and/or services, HR information in real time such as personnel data entry and management by employees is being conducted by 29,5% of cities (Table 3), HR financial information/transactions are being completed through a portal by 26,1% of cities. Only 9,1% of cities use workforce performance measurement information on the Web, Overall, the results reveal that the Web is currently being used in HR more as an information source for managers and employees. There are limited numbers of more advanced self-service applications used in the cities surveyed. The information rich, transaction poor environment is consistent with existing survey literature on egovernment diffusion in local governments,^5 At this point, this article has presented the use of IT such as the Web in the HR function. The following section of this study examines the perceptions of HRDs on the overall impact of IT on HR,

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Operational, Relational, and Transformational Impacts of IT on HR

Table 4 provides data that shows how developed IT is in the HR function. It specifically examines the everyday operational impacts, improvements in organizational relationships, and the transformational impacts of IT.^^ Many of the arguments articulated for the benefits of adopting IT in the HR function can be grouped within these three broad categories. In the operational impacts of HR and IT the average responses (the summation and average ofthe categories strongly agree (2), agree, (1), neutral (0), disagree (-1), and strongly disagree (-2)) indicate some interesting results.^^ The highest average response was improving operational efficiency because of IT with an average response of 1.03. The second highest average response was for automating record keeping and other clerical duties, with a score of 0.91. Increasing the productivity of HR employees was the third highest operational impact with an average response of 0.85. However, there was disagreement whether IT will reduce the labor force with an average response of -0.51. Eliminating paperwork and lowering HR operating costs scored -0.18 and -0.17, respectively Overall, from the survey results of IT impacting the operational aspects of HR there is some consensus among HRDs that IT has increased HR operating efficiency, automated routine aspects of the daily HR function, and made HR workers more productive. However, what HRIS did not accomplish were a reduction in the HR labor force and the elimination of paperwork, which were aspects one would imagine should happen because of IT adoption. The survey results for the operational impacts of HRIS are mixed, but the relational aspects are much more certain.

Table 4: Operational, Relational, and Transformationai Impacts of IT and HR

IT in our HR function has... strongly agree % agree % neutral % Strongly Average disagree disagree Response % %

Operational Automated record keeping and other clerioal duties Alleviated administrative burdens Improved HR operating efficiency Increased volume of work Shifted additional administrative burdens to line managers because of automation Reduced HR labor force Lowered HR operating costs Eliminated paperwork Improved productivity of HR employees 25.0 17.0 31.8 6.8 52.3 40.9 47.7 21.6 12.5 22.7 13.6 31.8 9.1 13.6 5.7 36.4 1.1 5.7 1.1 3.4 0.91 0.50 1.03 -0.08

3.4 1.1 1.1 4.5 19.3

27.3 18.2 26.1 30.7 53.4

38.6 21.6 33.0 19.3 21.6

25.0 46.6 34.1 33.0 4.5

5.7 12.5 5.7 12.5 1.1

-0.02 -0.51 -0.17 -0.18 0.85

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Table 4: Operational, Relational, and Transformational Impacts of IT and HR (cont.)

IT in our HR function has... strongiy agree %

agree %

neutral %

Strongly Average disagree disagree Response % %

Relational Reduced response times to serve our customers or clients Improved working relationships with upper management Enhanced our ability to recruit and retain top talent Received HR staff acceptance Empowered employees and managers to make more decisions on their own about needs Improved employee awareness, appreciation, and use of city government HR programs Improved line managers' ability to meet HR responsibilities Improved quality and timeliness of services to employees Improved relationships with citizens and business and HR Transformational Redefined the scope of HR to focus more on strategic issues Reengineered HR Increased the flexibility of HR Improved quality of HR services Enabled HR to focus on its mission Made HR a strategic partner in city government Enabled me to become and more effective manager Increased knowledge management (i.e., creation, capture, transfer, and use of knowledge) Reduced the levels of bureaucracy within city government 3,4 4,5 8,0 17,0 4,5 8,0 13,6 29,5 35,2 59,1 58,0 44,3 37,5 53,4 46,6 31,8 19,3 17,0 38,6 35,2 20,5 19,3 23,9 12,5 6,8 11,4 15,9 11,4 1,1 4,5 1,1 1,1 1,1 3,4 1,1 0,15 0,11 0,60 0,83 0,40 0,31 0,67 20.5 12.5 5.7 20,5 62,5 36,4 31,8 54,5 9,1 39,8 48,9 20,5 6,8 10,2 12,5 3,4 1,1 1,1 1,1 1,1 0,94 0,49 0,28 0,90

6,8

20,5

39,8

29,5

3,4

-0,02

9,1 9,1 18,2 6,8

25,0 29,5 62,5 31,8

44,3 37,5 12,5 51,1

20,5 22,7 5,7 8,0

1,1 1,1 1,1 2,3

0,20 0,23 0,91 0,33

17,0 3,4

55,7 15,9

18,2 51,1

8,0 22,7

1,1 6,8

0,80 -0,14

Note: Average response calculates the mean value for the categories of strongly agree (2), agree (1), neutral (0), disagree (-1), and strongly disagree (-2).

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In the relational impact of IT in HR there are some very pronounced findings. There is evidence that HRIS has reduced response times to serve customers and clients, with an average response of 0.94 recorded for this question. The second highest average response was improving the quality and timeliness of services to employees scoring 0.91. The third highest average response score was 0.90 for receiving HR staff acceptance. The score of -0.02 showed an ambiguous average response that HRIS has empowered employees and managers to make more decisions about HR on their own. The results in the relational impacts of HRIS showed that it has increased the quality of HR services to employees, made HR more responsive to its customers, and HR staff is generally accepting of IT systems. Compared to the operational impacts of HRIS there seems to be some consensus that it has impacted relational aspects of the daily HR function. The transformational impact of HRIS is also examined to see whether IT has fundamentally changed city government HR. The transformational impact of IT and HR in Table 4 indicated that it has improved overall quality of HR services with the highest average response of 0.83. Second, HRIS has increased knowledge management, or the creation, capture, transfer, and use of knowledge in the organization, with an average response of 0.80. The third highest response to the transformational category was that HRIS has enabled HRDs to become more effective managers, with an average response of 0.67. Unlike the operational impacts of HRIS with some negative average responses, the mean responses for the transformational and relational impacts are generally positive (with the exception of one category). There was an average response of -0.14 for HRIS reducing the levels of bureaucracy within city government. This finding is not surprising since many HR departments often use more command and control approaches, which impede the reduction of bureaucracy^^ Overall, the quality of HR services has been increased, knowledge management has been enhanced, but HRIS has not reduced bureaucratic red tape. The findings for the operational, relational, and transformational impacts of HRIS showed that it was able to achieve certain things, but fall short on others. This is further elaborated on in the following section which presents the success factors and barriers of IT adoption in HR.

Success Factors and Barriers of IT and the HR Function

There are various success factors and challenges identified in the literature on the adoption of HRIS.^' HRDs were also asked in this survey to specify the applicable success factors for IT and their HR function. Table 5 shows that the most commonly cited factor of success was improved data accuracy, with 71.6% of HRDs believing this was the case. The second highest rated success factor was service improvement, according to 64.8% of respondents. The ability of HR to serve more strategically was cited by 53.4% of HRDs. Some of the success factors that were not highly rated were meeting cost savings at 23.9% and recruiting key talent according to 25% of respondents.
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Table 5: Success Factors and Barriers of IT and HR

Success Factors Improved data accuracy Service improvement Enable HR to serve more strategicaiiy Quaiity improvement HR staff acceptance Empioyee and managers acceptance Empioyees and managers make better decisions Recruit key taient Meeting costs savings Percent 71.6% 64.8% 53.4% 51.1% 43.2% 33.0% 28.4% 25.0% 23.9% Barriers Inadequate budget/funding Teciinical infrastructure not in place Staff resistant to ciiange Security/privacy fears Inadequate change management Lack of support from elected officials Inability to prove need, show potential payback Lack of CAO or City Manager support Percent 67.0% 48.9% 28.4% 22.7% 19.3% 19.3% 15.9% 10.2%

Table 5 also shows the key barriers that inhibit the adoption of IT in HR. The most commonly cited barrier was inadequate budget/funding according to 6796 of HRDs. The second most common barrier was technical infrastructure was not in place, with 49% of respondents saying that this was the case. Only 10.2% of HRDs believed that there was lack of support from their chief administrative officer (CAO) or city manager for HRIS. The problem of trying to convince funding sources of payback and need was recorded by 16% of respondents. Overall, the results in Table 5 indicated that funding was a significant barrier to HRIS, which is a common theme identified throughout the public administration and the HR literatures. While improving data accuracy was a success factor for HRIS, this is consistent with the critical support function that HR serves. The following conclusion uses this data on the adoption and perception of HRIS in city governments to answer the research questions discussed earlier in this article.

Conclusion
This study has examined the scope of information and services provided by HRIS in Texas City governments. The results of this research indicated that HRDs viewed HRIS, especially Web-based self-service, as more informational and less transaction-based. The Web holds a distant fourth in terms of employee contact with HR for information and services. HRDs indicated that the primary methods of employee contact with HR are in-person, over the phone, and via email. The more advanced Web-based services for HR are not currently being implemented in large numbers, such as using performance appraisal tools. Most of the HRIS are being used for the automation of routine tasks which is consistent with existing theoretical research.'" The survey
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evidence shows at this point that the scope of HRIS is information rich and transaction poor, which is consistent with existing survey literature on IT adoption in public sector organizations,^^ In terms of the impact of HRIS on the operational, relational, and transformational aspect of the HR function, some interesting results surfaced. One would expect that the implementation of HRIS would have operational benefits because it takes advantage of the "low hanging fruit" principle of cost savings justification when implementing IT, Overall, when examining the survey data of HRDs there seemed to be less consensus that operational goals have in fact been realized. There is more agreement that relational and transformational impacts have been achieved because of HRIS, What does this mean for the future direction of HRIS? First, this implies that the typical justification for the implementation of HRIS of reducing costs may not be as well founded in the survey findings presented here. It seems that improving customer service and providing higher quality services are more important factors. Second, more effort should be devoted to finding ways to increase the use of HRIS to support more advanced strategic decision-making tools within public sector organizations. The evidence shows that there is more use of HRIS for basic information, but much less on decision support functions. There are some limitations that should be noted of this study of HRIS and the perception of HRDs on the effectiveness of its adoption. First, this is a study of city governments' use of HRIS in a single state, namely, Texas; therefore, the results may not be generalizable to the larger population use of IT and HR, This is born out in the responses to the survey being typically more "technosawy" HRDs from small to medium sized cities. Second, any time you ask HRDs of their opinions on a survey their response may be prone to exaggeration in their claims of success or failure; therefore, we have no independent verification of their claims. To overcome some of these weaknesses future research should examine the Websites of city government HR departments, possibly interviews, or other independent verification of HRIS using a national survey sample. Another recommendation is to expand the sample by replicating this study to cities across the United States, However, with this study there was a desire to provide an analysis ofthe landscape of HRIS in city governments and the perception by HRDs of its effectiveness in the HR function.

Notes
' Tannenbaum, S,I, (1990), Human Resource Information Systems: User Group Implications, Journal of Systems Management. 41(1), 26-32, 2 Coursey, D,H,, & McCreary, S,M, (2005), "Using Technology in the Workplace," in Condrey, S,E, (Ed,) Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government. 2nd Edition, (San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc), ' Elliott, R,H,, & Tevavichulada, S, (1999), Computer Literacy and Human Resource Management: A Public/Private Sector Comparison, Public Personnel Management. 28(2), 259-274; West, J,P, & Berman, E,M, (2001), From Traditional to Virtual HR: Is the Transition Occurring in Local Government?/iewew of Public Personnel Administration. 21(1), 38-64; Ball, K,S, (2001), The Use of Human Resource Information Systems: A Survey, Personnel Review. 30(1), 611-69'i. 32 Public Personnel Management Volume 38 No. 4 Winter 2009

 * Lepak, D.R, & Snell, S.A. (1998). Virtual HR: Strategic Human Resource Management in the 21st Century. Human Resource Management Review. 8(3), 215-234. 5 Snell, S.A., Pedigo, ER., & lrawiec, G.M. (1995). Managing the Impact of Information Technology on Human Resource Management. In Ferris, G.R., Rosen, S.D., & Barnum, D.T. (Eds.) Handbook of Human Resource Management. (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers). ^ Keebler, T.J., & Rhodes, D.W (2002). E-HR: Becoming the "Path of Least Resistance." Employment Relations Today. 29(2), 57-66. 7 Snell, S.A., Pedigo, PR., & Krawiec, G.M. (1995). 8 Towers Perrin. (2001). Web-Based Self-Service: Tbe Current State of tbe Art. Towers Perrin retrieved March 15, 2006 from http://www.towersperrin.com; Lippert, S.K., & Swiercz, PM. (2005). Human Resource Information Systems and Technology Trust. Journal of Information Science. 31(5), 340-353. 5 Lippert, S.K., & Swiercz, PM. (2005). 1 Kovach, K.A., & Cathcart, C.E. (1999). Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS): Providing Business with Rapid Data Access, Information Exchange and Strategic Advantage. Public Personnel Management, 28(2), 275-282; Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002). "Virtual HR Departments: Getting Out of the Middle," in Heneman, R.L., & Greenberger, D.B. (Eds.) Human Resource Management in Virtual Organizations. (Greenwich, Connecticut: Information Age Publishing); Shrivastava, S., & Shaw, J.B. (2003). Liberating HR through Technology. Human Resource Management. 42(3), 201-222. " Yeung, A. (1995). Reengineering HR through information technology. HR.Human Planning. 18(2), 25-37; Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002). > 2 Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002). Lepak, D.P, & Snell, S.A. (1998). '* Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002). 15 Lepak, D.P, & Snell, S.A. (1998). K ^ Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002); 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. 17 Snell, S.A., Pedigo, PR., & Krawiec, G.M. (1995); Ulrich, D. (1997). Human Resource Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press); Hempel, PS. (2004). Preparing the HR Profession for Technology and Information Work. Human Resource Management. 43(2&3), 163-177. 18 Lepak, D.P, & Snell, S.A. (1998). 19 Elliott, R.H., & Tevavichulada, S. (1999). 2 Ball, K.S. (2001). 21 West, J.P, & Berman, E.M. (2001). 22 Towers Perrin. (2001). 23 Cedar. (2003). Cedar 2003 Workforce Technologies Survey 6th Edition. CedarCrestone. Retrieved March 15, 2006 from http://www.cedarcrestone.com 2'' Norris, D.R, & Moon, M.J. (2005). Advancing e-government at the grassroots: Tortoise or hare? Public Administration Review. 65(1), 64-76. 25 Norris, D.F., & Moon, M.J. (2005). 2 Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002). Public Personnel Management Volume 38 No. 4 Winter 2009 33 Resource

2^ This study could have used median responses instead of average responses and arrived at similar conclusions. 28 Snell, S,A., Stueber, D,, & Lepak, D.P (2002), 2' Ashbaugh, S,, & Miranda, R, (2002), Technology for Human Resource Management: Seven Questions and Answers. Public Personnel Management, 31(1), 7-20.

30 Snell, S,A., Pedigo, PR,, & Krawiec, G,M, (1995). 31 N o r d s , D.R, & Moon, M.J, (2005),

Authors
Christopher G. Reddick, PhD Associate Professor and Department Chair Department of Public Administration The University of Texas at San Antonio 501 W Durango Blvd. San Antonio, Texas (210) 458-2501 chris.reddick@utsa.edu Dr. Christopher G. Reddick is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Reddick's research and teaching interests are in employee benefits and e-government. Reddick recently edited two booksHandbook of Research on Strategies for Local E-Govemment Adoption and Implementation: Comparative Studies, and Handbook of Employee Benefits and Administration.

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Public Personnel Management Volume 38 No. 4 Winter 2009

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