Human Resource Information Systems

Human Resource Management

Human Resource Information Systems

Professor: Robin Watkins

Week 1 Discussions

I. Strategic Partnership - This course focuses on the strategic value that technology has brought to HR and the business. As a result, HR is a strategic partner in companies. How specifically has technology created this strategic partnership? Share an example. What values have resulted from this strategic partnership?

a. Strategic Partnership - Before technology developed into what it is today, most HR Departments kept paper copies of their manpower. Downfall to this is that if the company were to experience an accidental fire then the risk of losing valuable information is highly probable. Another downfall would be that an employee's record can become lost amongst the other paper records. As technology evolved, so did the way HR conducted business. HR not only involves the accountability and maintenance of employee's records but as become "the evolution of HRM as a professional and scientific discipline, as an aid to management, as a political and economic conflict between management and employees, and as a growing movement of employee involvement influenced by developments in industrial/organizational and social psychology" (Kavanagh, 2008, p. 6). Technology has made it easier for HR to locate and find information they need to better understand the needs and requirements of certain jobs. While I was in the U.S. Marines working as an Administrative Clerk; my job revolved around a computer and several problems. In order to update another Marine's record book, I would have to input the data into a program called Unit Diary which would reflect the changes onto the Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS). Here is a link to what we in the Administrative/Personnel Clerk world called our "Admin Bible" when it came to updating personnel records:

http://www.marines.mil/news/publications/Documents/MCO%20P1080.40C.pdf

If we didn't process the record entry changes in certain orders, the next day we would have massive Dairy Feedback Reports (DFRs). Basically stating that the entry didn't post and needs to be ran again.

b. RE: HR's Role in Organizational success - This is quite hard to answer because either either "yes" or "no" are acceptable answers. Yes, HR departments are better off with technology because for a company with over 5000 employees; that'll be hundreds if not thousands paperwork. Just imagine the United States Marines trying to keep accountability with the help of the Marine Corps Total Force System (MCTFS). MCTFS will tell you when a Marine has entered active duty, their rank/pay grade, their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS), even tells you where that Marine is stationed at. Now imagine if the Marine Corps had to track down a certain Marine to notify him that a family member has passed without the help of MCTFS. They would spend countless hours looking through that Marine's paperwork looking for a duty station or even telephone number. Now in the other hand, I also believe that some HR departments rely too much on technology. What if the power goes down for about a week or two? What will, or how will a HR department function at that point. Below is a link to some helpful tips that HR can take in the event of an emergency.

http://www.hrmreport.com/article/Human-Resources-and-Business-Continuity--its-time-to-work-together/

c. RE: Technology changes - Most definitely employers need to adapt to the growth and change of technology. Let's take a look at our school; recently, they've implemented a new policy which requires us to use our school ID's to go in and out of areas around the school. This is so that the school can keep an accountability of what is going on around the school. Just the other day I was looking through a Office Depot catalog and I saw clock-in clocks where an employee would simply just swipe a card and their time of when they got to work is sent to a database which is linked up with PayChek which is a major company which hand most payroll in companies. Below is a link which helped me understand better how technology actually impacts HR functions.

http://www.morisonmenon.com/hr-and-technology.php

II. Meeting Organizational Goals - You have been asked by one of your internal customers to develop a plan that aligns with his organization's annual goals. What information will you need to begin developing your plan? What process might you follow to develop this plan, which must be presented to the leadership team (cite the theoretical process chosen/reviewed)? Thoroughly explain each step of your plan.

d. Meeting Organizational Goals - First thing I would do is evaluate his organization's goals and how well the organization is currently doing at meeting those goals. From this point, I would see where the organization has strengths and start figuring out how to maintain these strengths if not improve them. Same goes for the weaknesses; I would see how to develop them into strengths. With this understanding of what needs to be done, I would then survey the organization's employees and get their opinion on how the organization could improve. For example, in my last employment which was for a transportation company; the dispatch department greatly needed improvement. A supervisor who wouldn't take the job serious since he's a family friend, insufficient Nextel's for the drivers, unproductive employees; list can go on. But the problem didn't only lie within that department, the whole company's mindset was all wrong.

e. RE: What must your HRIS have? - Based on what I read and already knew, technology has made our work in HR much more simpler however, too many of us are becoming dependable on technology. The way I see it is that technology wouldn't be where it is at today if it wasn't for some human contact influencing how it works. It was Steve Jobs who thought of the idea for the iPhone. And every year the iPhone become better and better but not because technology got better but because it took a man with a dream to make his dream an even bigger reality. As mentioned in our textbook, "At the end of the day, technology cannot substitute for managerial competence and employee discretionary behavior (Armstrong, 2005). It can only be a messenger, not a message. It is also impractical to expect information systems to supplant the soft functions of HR, such as an online character replacing a good executive