Technology and HRM functions

Previously, the HRM was limited to some of the issues that include recruitment
and remuneration. The management system in the different organisations was
that rigid and bureaucratic. Querenet, (2017) his study proposes that the
previously adopted practices were somewhat inefficient, biased, and inefficient.
Presently, the human resources management appears more holistic, and there is
a significant shift in attention towards the development of the employees and
their professions. The primary objective of this shift in intellect encompasses
ensuring that the individuals that work in the public service are appropriately
managed, and that they depict competence and commitment towards the
delivery of quality services to the clients (Guerin, 2015, pp. 27). The chapter
mainly focus on the nature of the strategic HRM, the responsibilities of the HR
department and the diverse internet-based technologies that influence the
operations of the HR department in their daily activities.
The Role of HR in the technological world
1. Strategic human resources management
The concept of HRM is often defined as a strategic approach to the management
of an organisation’s most valued assets – the people working there who
individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives for
sustainable competitive advantage. HRM can be regarded as a ‘set of
interrelated policies with ideology and philosophical underpinning’ (Storey,
199)

The strategic HRM mainly encompass the long-term, top-level administrative

actions and decisions concerning the employment relations made and performed
in ways that ensure full integration with the overall strategic management of the
firms. It often encompasses synchronisation and integration of the strategic
business requirements and plans of the organisation with the different features
that arise from and relate strongly to the management of the firm’s staff.

Holland and Bardoel, (2015, pp.1521) states that the involvement of the human
resources considerations during the formulation of the overall strategy ensures
the contribution of the HRM to the attainment of the strategic advantage for the
firm. Such is attributable to the synergy that is often achieved throughout the
activities of the firm. The HRM can thus not be regarded as different from or
inferior to the development and adoption of the corporate or business strategy.
The strategic HRM is thus the long-term, top-level administration decisions,
actions, and choices concerning the architecture of the firm’s human resources
created and done in ways that ensure full integration with the entire general
strategic management of the firms.
2. Recruiting
One of the significant ways through which the technology has been influencing
the HR practices mainly encompasses its influence on the area of recruitment.
Prior to the advent of the internet, HR recruiters exhibited high reliance on the
print publications that include the newspapers for posting jobs and getting
prospects for available positions. Other approaches that were common before
the advent of the internet and other technologically advanced means of
communication encompassed networking. However, there is the necessity for
noting that the HR recruiters could not post a job in numerous locations and
have millions of individuals see it simultaneously. The technological
advancements have made recruitment more efficient and effective as well.
Technology can be seen as evolving over the past decades and has a huge
impact on day-to-day operations of an organisation, recruiting is one of the
main HR practices and it is also how companies attract the right candidate with
the right skills that meets their job requirement. In the twenty-first century, there
has been an improvement and new ways of recruiting process introduced such
as online recruiting, and organizations has taken a hold of the recruiting niche of
corporate job with the use of website to host candidate. Rather than the
traditional way of handling the complex hiring process as a face-to-face method,
organizations has turn to Internet-enabled software to modernise the recruitment
process. E-recruiting allows users to easily control the recruitment process from
a computer with a click of a finger. E Recruiting is not new, however it is
increasing in popularity, and there are quite a lot of new developments that
influence the process.
E-recruitment, also known as online recruitment, it’s the practice of using
technology and in particular Web-based resources, recruiting managers use
online recruiting for tasks that involves finding, attracting, assessing,
interviewing potential candidate for a job vacancy. Most of the common asked
questions when it comes to E-Recruiting is how has E-Recruiting changed in
this century from the traditional way of recruiting? What kind of candidates is
attracted to E-recruiting? What impact does e-recruiting implementation have
on business processes? Why use E-Recruiting the advantage and disadvantage
of using E-Recruiting?
This chapter will address these questions and more. Recruiting technologies
have changed in this century. With E-Recruiting, issues that emerged from
using a mixture of large-scale systems and customized software systems
programmes can be solved more easily now.
3. Training
The HR department often bears the responsibility of organising training sessions
for the company’s staff. The technological advancement has played a crucial
role in facilitating the capability of the human resource professionals to provide
the appropriate training to new staff members effectively. The capability to
access the business information and training programs remotely often eliminate
the need for the trainers working directly with the trainees. However, there is
the necessity for acknowledging the fact that at some instance interaction is
often necessary. The training in virtual environments has ensured the
effectiveness of the HR department to provide effective reduction of the costs
associated with offering training besides saving on time as well since the
trainees are capable of accessing the necessary information at their convenience.
The technological advancement has as well plays a significant role in ensuring
that the HR professionals are capable of training a large number of employees
quickly and at the same time assess the progress of the training through the
computerised testing programs.
4. Performance management
The HR department often bears the responsibility for managing the performance
within the organisation. Integrating the technological advancements in the
different ways of performance management tend to play an essential role in
facilitating the operations of the HR department. The HR professionals often
bear the potential of using the computer technology to assess the performance of
the organisation’s employees and at the same time get the feedback from the
staff applicable to the betterment of the organisation. The presence of the
different types of software programs often makes it possible for the HR
professionals to ensure the effective examination of the employee performance
using suitable metrics as a way of ensuring that the staff meet the performance
standards of the organisation. The results obtained from the assessment often
play a crucial role in informing the decisions concerning the necessity for
subjecting the employees that fail to measure up to the organisational objectives
to additional training or letting them go in favour of replacement of individuals
capable of measuring up to the organisation’s goals.