Intern at ional Journal of Applied Research 20 15; 1(12): 605-609
ISSN Print: 2394-7500
ISSN Online: 2394-5869
Impact Factor: 5.2 Role of E- HRM in Organizational Effectiveness and
IJAR 2015; 1(12): 605-609
www.allresearchjournal.com
Sustainability
Received: 17-09-2015
Accepted: 19-10-2015
Parul Deshwal
Dr. Parul Deshwal
Assistant Professor, Maharaja
Surajmal Institute, C-4,
Abstract
Janakpuri, New Delhi-110058 Information technology is changing the way HR departments handle record keeping and information
sharing. It decreases the paperwork substantially and allows easy access to voluminous data. The
processing and transmission of digitalized HR information is called Electronic Human Resource
Management (E-HRM). E-HRM is the relatively new term for this IT supported HRM, especially
through the use of web technology. E-HRM technology is a way of aligning and coping up with
organization HR strategies, policies and practices. The main objective of the study is to measure the
effectiveness of E-HRM for Sustainable Development of the organization in this fast competitive
world. This study further shows that E-HRM aims at transforming the HR functions into paperless,
more flexible and resource efficient and also helps the organization to improve employee competences,
which resulted in cost reduction and reduction of the administrative burden as well.
Keywords: E-HRM, Employee Satisfaction, Information Technology, Organizational Effectiveness,
Sustainability.
Introduction
Competitive business environments have compelled the organizations to think speedily to
innovate and excel for their survival. Technology advancement is one of the powerful driving
forces. It has reshaped the way we communicate, live, work and also the way a business is
conducted. Corporations need to shift from physical technology to information technology,
from capital centered economy to human centered economy, and further from conflict to
cooperative working relationships. Since many years now, information technology seems to
be affecting individuals and organizations communication and behaviors. The change in
Information Technology is faster than any other processes in the organization. Human
Resource Management (HRM) has always played a major role in improving the performance
of an organization. There exists a strong relationship between Organizational effectiveness
(OE) and HRM. A new dimension of organization sustainability has emerged in the scope of
HRM. The technological developments have brought immense changes in the organizational
environment, employees and HRM in shape of “E-HRM”. E-HRM can be one of the most
powerful driving force towards enhancing OE and the concept of sustainability. E-HRM can
be considered as a multilevel phenomenon to perform HR activities. E-HRM is the planning
and implementation of applications of information technology for both networking and
supporting at least two individual or collective actors in performing the HR activities.
E-HRM is in essence the devolution of HR functions to management and employees. They
access these functions typically via intranet or other web-technology channels. The
empowerment of managers and employees to perform certain chosen HR functions relieves
the HR department of these tasks, allowing HR staff to focus less on the operational and
more on the strategic elements of HR, and allowing organizations to lower HR department
staffing levels as the administrative burden is lightened. It is anticipated that, as E-HRM
Correspondence develops and becomes more entrenched in business culture, these changes will become more
Dr. Parul Deshwal apparent, but they have yet to be manifested to a significant degree. The processing and
Assistant Professor, Maharaja transmission of digitalized HR information is called electronic human resource management
Surajmal Institute, C-4, (e-HRM). E-HRM is the application of IT for HR practices which enables easy interactions
Janakpuri, New Delhi-110058
within employee and employers. It also helps the organizations to upgrade the HR functions
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to web based technology and speed up the flow and management, from payroll processing to record retention.
implementation of business strategies and processes. It will With computer hardware, software and databases,
take the HRM functions to one level up in contributing to organization can keep records and information in better way
OE. Because the IT possibilities for HRM are endless; in as well as retrieve them with greater ease. With the state of
principle all HR processes can be supported by IT. IT, HRM has become more effective through the use of e-
Computers have simplified the task of analyzing vast HRM technologies.
amounts of data and they can be invaluable aids in HR
Source: http://www.indianmba.com
Fig 1: E-HRM Goals
2. Review of Literature organizations are focused on attaining leadership positions
Antony Joe Raja and Dr. S. Balasubramanian published rather than a year-on-year growth. Bottom-line and top line
research paper on E-HRM In Software Organizations In growths are expected to be achieved automatically. Size and
January - April (2011), He found in his research that the use age of an organization has no bearing on the maturity of their
of technology in HR (e-HRM) is well established for the HR function. Maturity has much to do with the focus of
purposes of improving HR operational processes and “management on people” which constitutes their biggest
allowing distributed access to employees and managers. The asset. Thus e- HRM as an Implementation Support System
objective of this paper is to identify the challenges associated (ISS) can help the organization to quickly mature their HR
with the implementation and some recommendations for function and institutionalize best-practices for long-term
enhancing the effectiveness of e-HRM systems in growth.
organizations. He concluded in his paper that increased
transparency in functions and a total systems approach has 3. Objectives of the Study
facilitated better control by top management. HR 1. To understand the meaning of Organizational
practitioners must also play a down to business role in Effectiveness and Sustainability.
software industry. To create an effective e- Statement, 2. To study the role and scope of E-HRM.
Standardizing and Centralizing HR administration in an in- 3. To analyze the various tools of E-HRM for
house service center, Assessing and ensuring the flexibility organizational efficiency and sustainable development.
of the e-HR technology, e- Recruitment, Training, 4. To understand the challenges in implementing E-HRM
Developing Data mining tools. Shashank Kumar Srivastava, in the organizations.
Member of IACSIT, IAENG published research paper on
Shaping Organization with e-HRM in April 2010.He found 3.1. Organization Effectiveness and Sustainability
in his research paper that e-HRM (Electronic Human Adding or creating a value or improving the performance of
Resource Management) is advance business solution which organization leads to Organizational effectiveness. The value
provides a complete on-line Support in the management of can be created by “the people” of an organization. People
all processes, activities, data and information required to being the most important resource should be properly
manage human resources in a modern company. Such managed in terms of attraction, recruitment, retention and
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development for organization growth. All researchers have Organizations need to develop HRM strategies consisting of
agreed that HRM should add value to the organization. But core policies and practices developing a strong framework
the way HRM can contribute to OE has been evolved since for sustainable HRM. Sustainability has to start from
1987. There are many channels through which HRM different levels starting from individual, departmental,
contribute towards OE. HRM has to consider both external organizational and at last reaching the sustainable society. To
and internal environment in which an organization operates. be a predominant element of organizational sustainability,
It has to plan out its strategies keeping in mind the desired HRM need to be in parallel alignment with organizations
outcomes for external and internal stakeholders. OE can be mission, goals, formulation and development of strategies
measured in terms of internal stakeholders (whole staff in related to human resource. HRM needs to be in integration
firm) and external stakeholders (owners/ investors, with top management to embed the changes in the corporate
customers, external partner organizations and members of strategies related to change management, talent management,
the society).With inclusion of multiple stakeholders, HRM is training and development, leadership developments, more
recognizing wide range of challenges. Organizations are employees’ engagement by keeping them update with
focusing on developing effective and flexible HRM systems business process and new strategies and developing business
which can easily adapt to dynamic changes occurring in ethics as new grounds to gain competitive edge. With such
external environment without going into state of practices, HRM can work to move towards a sustainable
mismanagement and confusion. Today, HRM requires environment for firm by achieving balance between
assimilating with different facets of business to achieve OE economic, social and environmental integrity. Sustainability
as a strategic partner. HR department needs to focus on talent is a fresh topic in HRM area which still needs more empirical
management. By attracting the best labor, developing the based studies to recognize and access the worth of HRM
strategies for their retainment, training and development can towards sustainable organizations. Sustainability of firm in
lead the organization towards OE. An OE unit should be competitive environment has forced the organizations to
constructed which includes experts from different speedily develop unique competencies. For this, corporations
departments of different levels of management. HRM need to shift from physical technology to information
department should be in direct link with OE department. technology for effective and efficient HRM functions.
HRM in link with OE can play a major role in developing
strategies. 3.2. Role and Scope of E-HRM in Organizational
It cannot be denied that HR plays a critical role regarding Effectiveness and Sustainable Development
decisions related to recruitment, selection, development and 1. E-HRM is helpful in building a higher internal profile
organization of human capital. These factors play a major for the HR Department leading to better work culture.
role in accessing OE for firms. HR needs to expand and 2. E-HRM provides more transparency in the system.
improve its functions, develop and implement new skills and 3. E-HRM is seen as offering the potential to improve
competencies to sustain. HR needs to develop its relationship services to HR department clients (both employees and
with OE in same terms as accounting is to finance and sales management)
are to marketing. HRM experts and professionals need to 4. It improves efficiency and cost effectiveness within the
grab all opportunities towards OE and thus, moving the firms HR department, and allow HR to become a strategic
towards organizational sustainability. To meet the global partner in achieving organizational goals.
business challenges, organizations need to attain a 5. It provides the platform of adaptability to any client and
sustainable model in which they can operate. facilitating management.
“Sustainability‟ refers to firm ability of withstanding the 6. E-HRM is an integral support system for the
unpredictable challenges of the social, environmental and management of human resources and all other basic and
economic factors with time. In other terms, we can define support processes within the company.
sustainability as firms capability to seek its goals in terms of 7. It helps in creating more dynamic workflow in the
stakeholders in long run by incorporating economic, business process, productivity and employee
environmental and social prospective with its business satisfaction.
strategies. It is the future concept of the organizations. 8. E-HRM also has relational impacts for a business;
Sustainability being the new concept for 21st century enabling a company’s employees and managers with the
business, researcher and HR professionals are trying to ability to access HR information and increase the
ascertain the role of HRM in achieving sustainable connectivity of all parts of the company and outside
organizations. Referring to the nature of unpredictable organizations. This connectivity allows for
dynamic external environment, it is necessary for communication on a geographic level to share
organizations to develop a sustainable model for the future. It information and create virtual teams.
can be considered as last stage in HRM evolution. A 9. And finally e-HRM creates standardization, and with
multidimensional model was presented by to achieve high standardized procedures this can ensure that an
performance by addressing external and internal environment organization remains compliant with HR requirements,
multiple stakeholders and moving HRM to central thus also ensuring more precise decision-making.
organizational sustainability. In modern era, HRM
competencies have been recognized for incorporating 4. E-HRM TOOLS for organizational efficiency and
sustainability at different organizational levels. sustainable development
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Source: www.ijredt.com
Fig 2: Impact of HRM on E-HRM to attain Sustainability and organizational effectiveness
1. E- Employee Profile: The E-Employee Profile web organizations already use either psychometric or other
application provides a central point of access to the assessment during the recruitment process, only few of
employee contact information and provides a these companies use on-line assessments prior to
comprehensive employee database solution, simplifying interview. Fewer still include a core fit questionnaire in
HR management and team building by providing an the recruitment pages of their websites.
employee skills, organization chart and even pictures. E- b) E-Learning: E-Learning refers to any programme of
Employee profile maintenance lies with the individual learning, training or education where electronic devices,
employee, the manager and the database manager. E- applications and processes are used for knowledge
Employee profile consist of the following: Certification, creation, management and transfer. E-Learning is a term
Honor/Award, Membership, Education, Past Work covering a wide-set of applications and processes, such
Experience, Assignment Skills, Competency, Employee as web-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual
Assignment Rules, Employee Availability, Employee class room, and digital collaboration. It includes the
Exception Hours, Employee Utilization, Employee tools, delivery of content via Internet, intranet/extranet
Job information, Sensitive job Information, Service (LAN/WAN), audio-and videotape, satellite broadcast,
Details, Calendar, Calendar Administration, Employee interactive TV, CD – Rom, and more.
Locator. c) E-Training: Most companies start to think of online
learning primarily as a more efficient way to distribute
2. E-Recruitment: Organizations first started using training inside the organization, making it available ”any
computers as a recruiting tool by advertising jobs on a time”, “anywhere” reducing direct costs (instructors,
bulletin board service from which prospective applicants printed materials, training facilities), and indirect costs
would contact employers. Then some companies began (travel time, lodging and travel expenses, workforce
to take e-applications. Today the internet has become a downtimes). Attracted by these significant and
primary means for employers to search for job measurable advantages, companies start to look for ways
candidates and for applicants to look for job. As many as to make the most of their existing core training available
100,000 recruiting web sites are available to employers online, and to manage and measure the utilization of the
and job candidates and which to post jobs and review new capabilities.
resumes of various types. But the explosive growth of
internet recruiting also means the HR professionals can 4. E-Performance Management System: A web-based
be overwhelmed by the breadth and scope of internet appraisal system can be defined as the system which
recruiting. uses the web (intranet and internet) to effectively
evaluate the skills, knowledge and the performance of
3. E-Recruiting Methods: Job boards, the employees.
Professional/Career, websites, Employer Websites.
a) E-Selection: Most employers seem to be embracing 5. E-Compensation: All companies whether small or large
Internet recruitment with enthusiasm, the penetration of must engage in compensation planning. Compensation
on-line assessment tools such as personality assessments planning is the process of ensuring that managers
or ability tests, has so far been limited. A survey has allocate salary increases equitably across the
shown that although more than half respondents
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organization while staying within budget guidelines. As journal of human Resource Management. 2011;
organizations have started expanding their boundaries, 22(5):1146-1162.
usage of intranet and internet has become vital. The 5. Hempel PS. Preparing the HR Profession for
usage of intranet and internet for compensation planning Technology and Information Work, Human Resource
is called E-Compensation Management. Management Review, 2004; 43(2/3):163-167.
6. Jamrog J, Overholt MH. Building a strategic HR
5. Challenges in Implanting E-Hrm in the Organisations function: continuing the evolution, Human Resource
Cost Implications Planning, 2004; 27(1):51-63.
Data Entry Errors 7. Lepak DP, Snell SA. Virtual HR: Strategic human
Improper use due to rigid mindsets resource management in the 21st century. Human
Threat to HR Itself Resource Management Review, 1998; 8(3):215-234.
Aligning the e-HRM system with the business 8. Pratheepan S, Arulrajah A. Application of Electronic
requirements Human Resource Management (E-HRM) Practices and
Security of the information generated its Effectiveness in Selected Private Banks in Sri Lanka:
Training the users a crucial issue An Exploration, the Seventh International Research
Conference on Management and Finance, 2012, 159-
6. Conclusion 175.
E- HRM is a web-based tool to automate and support HR 9. Raja V, Balasubramanian S. E-HRM IN SOFTWARE
processes. The implementation of e-HRM is an opportunity ORGANIZATIONS, International Journal of
to delegate the data entry to the employee. e- HRM facilitates Management Research and Development. 2011; 1(1):20-
the usages of HR marketplace and offers more self-service to 24.
the employees. e- HRM (Electronic Human Resource 10. Ruel H, Bondarouk T, Looise JK. ‘E-HRM: Innovation
Management) is advance business solution which provides a Or Irritation: An Explorative Empirical Study in Five
complete on-line support in the management of all processes, Large Companies on Web-Based HRM’, Management
activities, data and information required to manage human Review, 2004; 15(3):364-380.
resources in a modern company. It is an efficient, reliable, 11. Shaping Organization with e-HRM, International
easy – to use tool, accessible to a broad group of different Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology.
users. E-HRM is a high-tech way of performing HRM 2010; 1(1):2010-0248.
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to achieve sustainable management. Organizations are (E-HRM) systems in Companies. Journal of Information
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competition, selecting and retaining talented employees and
reputation of the company. To stand with dynamic economic,
social and environmental forces and keeping in mind both
internal and external stake holders, organizations are trying
to achieve sustainable environment for business long term
growth. With the various advantages and little disadvantages
it can be recommended that all the organizations use E-HRM
technology, that promises to provide a useful, efficient and
Increased performance through this e-HRM technology in
spite of all barriers it has to face. E- HRM is a way of
implementing HR strategies, policies, and practices in
organizations through a conscious and directed support of
and/or with the full use of web-technology-based channels. It
covers all aspects of human resource management like
personnel administration, education and training, career
development, corporate organization, job descriptions, hiring
process, employee’s personal pages, and annual interviews
with employees. Therefore e-HRM is way of doing HRM.
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