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Technology and the Human Resource Function

During the past 25 years, the organizational HR role has experienced a change in how it is utilized. Large and small companies alike have undergone a transformation in the HR role and the use of HR professionals. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), with over 250,000 members, has provided development, training, certification, and guidance on the values and benefits of having qualified HR professionals in the company. Given the opportunity and leadership support, HR personnel can successfully lead (and have successfully led) organizational development and organizational learning initiatives. This week’s blog will discuss three areas of how the organizational HR role has evolved, and the implications for future HR contributions as a result of technological advancements. The three areas are: personnel administration; external hiring; and management of corporate policy violations.

Personnel Administration

Corporate HR staff remains accountable for employee administrative functions such as: overseeing payroll disbursements; processing hiring and termination correspondence; and developing personnel reports (i.e. company demographics, employee training metrics, and possibly company newsletters associated with public relations activity). Although HR staff may enter employee salary increases in official company records, this information is typically determined by line managers and/or leaders not in the HR department. In large companies, this information is automated and HR is not involved in the process at all. Further, there are computer software programs implemented in some companies that will allow employees to resign from the company without involving anyone else within the company.

In prior years, organization development and training required coordination of face-to-face classroom sessions which would impact employee productivity. Technology advancements have introduced convenience into employee training. Webinars, webcams, and online classes are used to help companies train employees, yet minimize their time away from work. The amount of effort and human intervention in conducting organizational training and development may be reduced.

Hiring External Employees

The second change in the HR role is in the external hiring process. In years gone by, HR played a significant role in the recruiting, interviewing, and selection process of new employees. HR personnel solicited candidates through want ads; participated in career fairs; scheduled interviews; and contributed to selection decisions. HR still participates in these activities; however, the degree of participation has changed. Soliciting talented professionals is done by websites like monster.com and career builder.com, and external search firms that use technology-based search engines to acquire and manage employee resumes and employee databases. These hiring activities are still done with guidance from HR.

Line level managers have taken a more active role in the hiring process. Whereas HR will solicit job openings and select interview candidates (based on keyword searches in one’s resume), the hiring managers determine who will be interviewed and selected. When selecting technology professionals, HR’s role may be reduced, especially if the HR professional has no knowledge or expertise of the technical skillset being sought. To streamline the interview process, it is a common practice to conduct a phone interview with prospective employees before investing time and energy in the face-to-face interview. To further streamline the process, companies may even employ the services of an external hiring agency to find the right candidate. Using an external agency may result in bypassing the HR department altogether. External search agencies have the appropriate experience in identifying talent. However, external search agencies may not understand the attitudes, behavior, and culture of the organization they are hiring talent for. This may lead to additional organizational productivity challenges.

Oversight and Prevention of Employee Wrongdoing

The third change in the HR function is how employee violations of corporate policy are handled. Employee violations of sexual harassment, discriminatory hiring and promotion practices, workplace violence, misuse of corporate resources, accessing inappropriate websites, and contributing to a threatening work environment were previously reported, investigated, and curtailed by HR. In today’s heightened security environment and concern over financial risk, major corporations have established an Office of Ethics (or some companies call it the Compliance Office).

It is important to note the corporate office of ethics does not generate any revenue for the corporation. The office of ethics is comprised of legal professionals. Their sole objective is to mitigate risk to the company. Either the office of ethics or the HR department may communicate information on corporate policy and corporate compliance. Employees may even report violations to either department. However, investigation, possible prosecution, and reporting of corporate wrongdoing are handled by the office of ethics. Also note that reports of wrongdoing are not typically shared. Where HR may have played an essential role before, the office of ethics is now the focal point for such issues.

Future Implications for the HR Role

The corporate HR role has changed. Technological advancements have replaced the need for a number of activities that previously required human intervention. In large, multi-million dollar companies, HR professionals may see their role diminishing. In small to mid-size companies, the HR role might be done by non-HR professionals. These smaller sized companies may be able to benefit from having an HR professional. Technology may help to streamline the HR function.

Without subscribing to a purely quantitative measuring stick in defining a large company versus a small company, perhaps an easier depiction is whether the company has an office of ethics or not. If a company has established an ethics office with legal professionals, it implies that there is a substantial amount of financial risk for employee wrongdoing. But it also may imply that the company acknowledges the fact that there will be employees who do not adhere to the corporate policy, and that there will be a need to minimize the financial penalty for such wrongdoing. The HR professional may not be trained in mitigating this risk, but they may be beneficial in its oversight.

More information on employee morale and productivity can be reviewed in Corporate Leadership Selection: Impact on American Business, Employees, and Society (Authorhouse Publishing).

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