Importance of Information Technology in HR Management

     Role of Information Technology in HR Management

21st century is an era of information technology where things are controlled and run by digital technology and computers. In the world of business management, IT’s role has kept growing bigger. Information Technology has brought both extra convenience and capability and so it has become irreplaceable. A computer can perform larger and more complex tasks than several people could do together. Analyzing thousands of Gigabytes of data and converting it into actionable information is what computers can easily do. Without them, the job of every marketing and sales manager would have remained difficult. However, the case is not different in the world of HR either. In Human Resource management too, Information Technology and Information management tools have taken center stage. IT is changing things around and has revolutionized the business world like never before. It has raised organizations’ productivity and helped several of them grow very large in no time.

Take the example of Google, Facebook, or Amazon. These are relatively young organizations that have grown super fast. However, despite this being the era of machines, AI, Data, and analytics, the importance of human resources has not declined. Skilled human resources are still highly in demand. It is because things will not run by themselves and businesses will always need skilled people to run them. The best players value their people and instead of only using them to achieve their business objectives, now they work to nurture and retain talent and help their employees learn new skills. This is a critical task for the HR function and HR managers to manage the performance of employees and help them achieve their potential. HR planning has become more critical than ever. However, it has also become easier with the use of Information Technology and created a lot of scope for HR managers to achieve more from their workforce.

Targeted and Efficient Hiring with the Help of Information Technology

Information technology comes to the aid of the HR managers who are planning to manage their employees’ performance. Right from the time of hiring to induction, training, performance management, and retention, at every stage Information technology can be a major support for the HR managers. It can help HR managers understand the needs of their employees and provide them with the best support. Information technology starts playing the role of the savior right from the beginning when you are going for hiring. From posting jobs to analyzing applications and organizing tests and screening, information technology can help HR managers reduce their workload by several times. Internet is enabling performance worldwide and a very large part of the world’s business goes on online. It is easier to reach a wider talent pool using online tools like Linked In.

There are so many tools and websites, which HR managers can use to find and select the right applicants for a job. The hiring websites assist you find the right candidate for an open position. Linked In is such a website where you can easily find suitable people for a job without any major expenditure. HR managers would not like to waste their time on people who do not match their expectations or the requirements of the job. So, these websites like Linked In and Monster can help you target and reach the right people easily. However, Information technology has enabled much more than that. It helps you make your hiring process more targeted and more effective. You will not just get suitable candidates but it will also be easier to choose the right people from among them. Whether it is about hiring full-time or part-time workers, without IT it is not possible to manage your hiring costs efficiently. You can check people’s profiles and their work experience as well as skills. You can post a job, related requirements, and salary so that the right people can reach you. Information Technology eliminates most of the extra load associated with hiring people.

Employee Induction and Training with IT

Once you have hired new recruits, the next steps are induction and training. While induction is a less cumbersome process and can be easily accomplished with the help of technological tools, training can be a little complex but gets easy when you are using the right tools and software. Even during the induction process, you can use the right Information Technology tools and software to make induction easier and to make new hires feel included.  Welcome mails, necessary instructions, and initial guidance can all be provided through email and the other IT tools. 

Training the new employees can be a major task and while some of them may have all the needed skills and experience, they too may need some training to adjust to the new environment. It can be easier if you use web-based tools for training. These tools make training engaging and easier in several ways. Lessons and training material can be easily delivered over the web and by using IT tools and software. Software tools like powerpoint and excel make it easy to deliver presentations and analyze data. Line managers and HR managers can use these tools to make engaging presentations and to train their new employees.

You can also upload training material online that  the new employees can use for self training. Email-based and web based training material can help your employees learn faster. This will make your training process effective and the employees will be ready for their jobs faster. It is also why IT skills have become mandatory for HR managers.

Performance Management Using IT Tools

After training comes the more important part which is performance management. If you want your employees to achieve their full potential. Apart from performance assessment and managing feedback, Information technology can be used to set performance standards and to evaluate performance. It becomes easier to measure employee performance against the set standards. From getting feedback from the line managers and colleagues to assessing all the gathered data and checking it against the metrics, it all gets simple when you are using the right tools. There are many software available in the market to help you with performance management. Performance management is not just the task of evaluating your employees’ performance and telling them where you are missing but also of grooming them for better performance.

Human resources development is also an important part of performance management.  You can check where an employee is missing and what resources or skills he will need to perform and grow faster.  Accordingly, you can advise them and provide them the right support so they can perform better and be more productive. The whole process grows faster and more effective with IT tools.

So, overall the burden on the shoulders of the HR managers and line managers is greatly reduced when you employ the right tools and strategy. HR managers apart from having IT tools, should also have the right strategy which will help them bring better results from her resources. It is why the larger technology organizations have a Chief Technology Officer to oversee the technological aspects of business and keep it updated with the best technology.  Moreover, focusing on IT for HR Planning and management makes the task of HR managers simpler.  HR leaders industrywide believe that information technology makes their task a lot easier.

Employee Engagement and Retention Using IT tools

However, training and performance management are not the last point where the HR managers can use IT and related websites and tools. Apart from these things, the HR managers can use IT for several other purposes too like managing a Human Resources Information System. These tools can also help with the planning part. HR managers can use these tools of regular assessment and feedback for continuous performance management. Performance management is not something to be done once a year but an ongoing process.  Retention also requires use of Information Technology.

You must keep yourself abreast of industry best practices and adopt the ones that suit your organization. This will help keep your employees engaged and interested.  You can design your own training programs which is also a good method of keeping your employees engaged. If you wish to retain your best talent then you should focus on employee engagement.

  Information Technology can offer the best support for employee engagement and improve employee participation. Both the line managers and HR managers must use technology for churning excitement inside the organization. Employees should be allowed to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge. Web 2.0 tools can help you achieve all that you want from your employees.   

Sources:

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