Hr Transformation - Delivering Systems to Support the New Hr Model

HR Transformation

Technology

Allan Boroughs, Les Palmer and

Ian Hunter

Delivering Systems to Support the

New HR Model

The Evolution of HR

Technology

Chapter 2

How well is the HR function served by technology after 40 years of parallel

evolution? Sadly our experience is that most organizations are caught in a

continual process of ‘technology tag': new developments in HR demand new

approaches to HR computing, which in turn consume large amounts of time

and budget whilst generally failing to deliver their promise.

While this is happening, the organization inevitably develops further,

leading to demands for newer technology, and thus the cycle repeats. The result

is that many HR organizations live with a patchwork quilt of technologies that

chart the development of HR operations over many years but which add little

value to the overall function.

The IT Legacy in HR

Examples of poor HR architectures abound: personnel records are frequently

held in multiple locations and systems (perhaps the legacy of past mergers and

acquisitions) which fail to provide a complete picture of the workforce; mainframe

payrolls sit alongside PC-based reward systems and are unable to share common

data; web-based recruitment tools invite applications on an international scale,

which cannot be shared or distributed within the organization.

Clearly this is not true in all organizations. Many enterprises on widely

differing scales have successfully developed HR tools that serve the purpose of

the HR organization without becoming a constraint on the ability to change. The

development of complete and integrated HR data and effective management

information in turn creates the climate for developing new service led models

for HR delivery.

What is the difference between the two models? How are some organizations