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With
technology touching all aspects of today’s business, there
is increasing usage of IT and Internet technologies in a company’s
HR department. Suddenly HR managers are finding themselves in a
whirlwind of technological changes, with adoption of IT (both as
process and tool) becoming a necessity for them. The past one year
has seen IT playing a key role in the Personnel/ People Development/
HR departments of companies, which are trying to make the best use
of their systems for storing, organising or disseminating information
to their employees. All this has resulted in HR professionals doing
away with costly, time-consuming and redundant processes and opting
for IT-enabled HR systems, which according to industry experts,
marks the beginning of a new era in the functioning of HR professionals.
 No
longer are HR professionals seen spending time in gathering information
on paper, receiving enquiries, or engaged in mundane administrative
work. Systems are now automated. Employees can now access information
or post their queries to the concerned person directly, rather than
going through the HR department. Experts believe that this will
help in facilitating the work of HR managers, who can spend more
time in devising means for employee development initiatives. It
is understood that by the end of 2003, most companies would have
automated their HR function (by implementation of ERP) and moved
from the ‘HR Information System’ to a more interactive
and knowledge-based HR system. This would enable an employee to
become self-sufficient and have direct communication with the concerned
authority. eHR and B2E (business to employee) have become obvious
steps in an organisation’s development path. While eHR will
play a key role in helping medium and small-scale companies to gain
a Web-based HR advantage, B2E will only help in enhancing the relationship
between an employee and an employer. In times to come, more companies
would start treating their employees as their internal customers
and work towards fulfilling employee needs. “eHR and B2E improve
vertical and horizontal communication within an organisation as
it helps employees and their manager to access information at any
time, thus improving their work capability (due to the freedom of
accessing information and constant touch with the concerned authority).
I believe that in the near future, B2E will become a key tool for
judging a company’s image,” says S K Gupta, additional
director-CC&C of Steel Authority of India (SAIL)
A
look at the current HR scenario in the country reveals that more
companies are busy automating their HR systems to become “information
repositories”, as it helps managers access any information
about their subordinates. Besides this, the self-service feature
(Employee Self-Service) in these systems enables an employee to
check information like salary, leave or performance details. This
helps them to concentrate on their jobs rather than worrying about
administrative issues. An employee can also check his performance
gaps and concerned training requirements.
TCS
recently launched its digital HR Information System, which allows
an individual to apply for leave, get online approvals, file for
loans directly and voice grievances. According to Pooja Agarwal,
HR officer, TCS, employee benefits also include Visa Information
Processing System (for checking visa status) and the Branch Assets
library being maintained on the company’s intranet by the HR
department.
HR
departments in many non-IT companies are also adopting eHR. Few
companies like Maruti, Glaxo SmithKline Beecham, Hero Honda and
Dabur have implemented IT to enhance their HR functionalities. For
instance, Glaxo Smithkline Beecham Consumer Healthcare, has a ‘Training
Management System,’ which takes care of the training requirements
of employees and helps HR in planning and monitoring various learning
modules. Besides this, the company also has a comprehensive ‘payroll
system’ in place that manages salaries/loans/PF, etc, for all
employees.
The
company also conducts online employee satisfaction surveys. Soon
a ‘Human Resources Management System’ (HRMS) will be implemented,
which will automate all HR processes (from recruitment to retirement).
“We would be covering processes like recruitment, appraisal,
training, compensation, benefits, employee profile and retirement,”
says Sanjay Rawal, general manager-IT, Glaxo Smithkline Beecham
Consumer Healthcare. Presently, the company’s intranet provides
e-learning modules, HR policies, online facilities (booking guest
house/meeting rooms), telephone directory, holiday list, etc.
Dabur
is planning to set up an ‘Employee Management System’
on its intranet platform. Basically a payroll application, EMS would
be integrated with all the sites across the country. According to
Gopal Shukla, the CIO of Dabur, it will help in making employees
more self-sufficient. “ Managers would be able to assess an
employee’s past history, education qualifications, loans, payroll,
taxation details, gratuity and superannuation, providing a perfect
combination of both HR and the financial department,” he says.
Presently offered at the managerial level, the company would soon
be extending it to their other employees too. This apart, Dabur
is also planning to start an ‘HR intranet’ by mid-2002.
Hero
Honda and Samsung have opted for a SAP HR module (to be implemented
in another four months). S K Balasubramaniam, vice president-information
systems, Hero Honda, informs that the company is in the process
of starting an ESS system which will enable employees to assess
all information about their salary, tax, leave loan, etc. For its
knowledge management requirements, the company is planning to set
up a portal where employees can access information, exchange ideas
freely and read articles compiled by the HR department and all employees.
Later, they also plan to use the intranet for external and internal
recruitment, assessment and appraisal purposes.
Samsung
India has devised an ‘Electronic Approval System,’ which
has been set up on a SAP system and takes care of all approvals,
apart from the financial ones. Says Rajesh Chopra, head of Information
Systems, Samsung India, “This initiative is resulting in onsite
decision-making and avoiding any delays that would occur in case
the concerned people are travelling, since they can access their
mailbox sitting in any office in India.” Some of the other
features that are being used on SAP for electronic approval include—leave
application, travel approvals, tax computation, etc. Chopra points
out that IT has helped the company in defining and evolving faster
business processes.
SAIL
is providing its employees with the option of activities like accessing
information about salary, leave, tax, loan and enabling them to
make the necessary changes. The company is in the process of devising
an ‘Employee Information System’, which addresses the
basic information requirement of an individual. Later, the intranet
will be expanded with more employee related information. Gupta believes
that all these initiatives only help in increasing the employee
satisfaction level index. Most HR managers reiterate that all these
initiatives are part of the corporate strategy to have a satisfied
and profitable workforce.
Why
are organisations suddenly feeling the need to implement IT in their
HR departments? The reasons vary. While in case of IT companies
employees are key assets, the non-IT sector has also realised the
growing need to invest in technology to upscale their HR functions.
“Besides time and cost saving advantages, it also has the long-term
benefit of retaining employees. All these small factors help in
establishing a firm relationship with employees as they know that
the company cares for them,” says Sanjay Agarwala, director,
Eastern Software Systems. Compared to earlier times, organisations
today are keen to understand and know the details of their employees
and keep a tab on the latest developments in their personal life,
so that they can provide the best bargains to these internal customers.
Also, HR can focus on its real job of helping employees develop
and help them perform better.
As
Rawal of SmithKline puts it. “IT is a key enabler for management
and development of people, provided it is used in the correct way.
Areas like e-learning, knowledge management, discussion databases
and collaborative computing help an employee develop, enhance skills
and share knowledge/experiences with others.” Samsung India,
which has developed a ‘Web Enabled Training system’ (called
e-Learning Centre), which can be accessed by all its employees across
the country. According to Chopra, the purpose is to inculcate a
culture of knowledge sharing and knowledge distribution at Samsung
with information available anytime and anywhere.
It
is true that the benefits are many, but the actual implementation
of eHR is still quite low. Most use IT in HR as an information system
rather than as a people development system. Many companies are not
yet ready to adopt these technological changes due to cost and other
complexities.
Implementation
and maintenance tasks associated with these new systems are more
complex than traditional ones. Many organisations also lack the
staff with proper skills to manage an ESS. Companies also question
the wisdom of spending so much on the maintenance of these systems
instead of focusing on their core business. Consequently, ESS systems
are restricted to very large corporates or IT companies.
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