INTRODUCING E-HRM The HR function of an organization is responsible for complying with the HR needs of the organisation.

As with other business functions, strategies, policies and practices have to be implemented to ensure smooth operation of the organization and prepare the organisation in such a way that smooth operation can be guaranteed in the nearby future. Using e-HRM technology is a way of implementing these HR strategies, policies and practices. The e-HRM technology supports the HR function to comply with the HR needs of the organisation through web technology- based channels. The e-HRM technology provides a portal which enables managers, employees and HR professionals to view extract or alter information which is necessary for managing the HR of the organisation. Lawler III (2005) suggests that e-HRM and its self-service characteristics can be the cheapest and fasted way to provide specific HR activities. With e-HRM, managers can access relevant information and data, conduct analyses, make decisions and communicate with others and they can do this without consulting an HR professional unless they choose to do so. .For the HR function, e-HRM has the potential to affect both efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency can be affected by reducing cycle times for processing paper work, increasing data accuracy, and reducing HR staff. Effectiveness can be affected by improving the capabilities of both managers and employees to make better, timelier decisions. E-HRM also provides the HR function the opportunity to create new avenues for contributing to organisational effectiveness through such means as knowledge management and the creation of intellectual and social capital. The use of e-HRM technology, as it is a way to implement HR strategies, policies and practices, is expected to have an impact on how the HR function operates. Moreover, it is aimed to improve the HR system. The impact of e-HRM technology on the HR system however, is expected to be dependent on the way the technology is used. It is dependent on what and how the technology supports the HR function but also on how the technology is constructed. MEANING OF HRM Human Resources Management is management functions that helps managers recruit, select, train and develop members for an organisation. Obviously Human Resources Management is concerned with the peoples dimension in organisations. HRM may be defined as programmes, policies and practices for managing workforce of an organisation by human resources reveal total

skill, knowledge, talents, creative ability and aptitudes of people in the workplace along with the approaches, beliefs, values and aptitudes of the individuals of an organisation. MEANING OF E-HRM People mean different things by the term e-HRM. It is a web-based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application technology to deliver an online real-time Human Resource Management Solution. It is comprehensive but easy to use, feature-rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your specific needs. It also refers to the processing and transmission of digitized information used in HRM, including text, sound, and visual images, from one computer or electronic device to another. It will be able to meet the demands of today's Human Resource Management.Typically, the term e-HR is used to describe technologys role in enabling the transformation of solely HR activity. Instead of a centralized personnel team handling everyday tasks such as approving pay rises, sorting out training and checking holiday entitlements, these can be handled by the employees themselves or their line manager. Crucially, the adoption of eHR seeks to minimize or eliminate intervention from HR staff, allowing managers and employees to perform HR tasks directly with the self service tools. These can contrast with the shared service center environment, where the service would normally be expected to be delivered by a customer service operative or other category of HR staff. Before starting to define e-HRM, it is also important to identify terms that possibly carry similar meanings to the term e-HRM, Wright and Dyer (2000). In addition to e-HR and e-HRM terms are used such as virtual HR(M), HR intranet, web-based HR, computer based human resource information systems (CHRIS) and HR portals. We are excluding HR information systems (HRIS), since there is a fundamental difference between HRIS and e-HR in that basically DEFINITIONS . As stated by Ernst Biesalski Electronic-Human Resource Management (E-HRM) is a web based tool to automate and support HR processes. The implementation of e-HRM is an opportunity to delegate the data entry to the employees. E-HRM facilitates the usage of HR market places (e-recruitment) and offers more self-service to the employees. EHRM is a collection of many different technologies. Mary Gowan has defined Electronic Human Resource Management System (E-HRM System) as a web-based solution that takes advantage of the latest web application technology to deliver an online real-time human resource management solution. It is comprehensive but easy to use, feature-rich yet flexible enough to be tailored to your specific needs.

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (HRM) AND E-HRM: HRM: has developed in recent years as a broad encompassing field of study that incorporates and synthesizes elements from personnel management, organisational behaviour and industrial 2

and labour relatives, building broader concepts from a variety of cognate disciplines including economics, law psychology and sociology amongst others). Thus it has become a pervasive and influential approach to the management of employment in a wide range of market economies. E-HRM: Electronic Human Resource Management (e-HRM) provides the information required to manage HR processes. These may be core employee database and payroll systems but can be extended to include such systems as e-recruitment, e-learning, performance management and reward. The system may be web-based, enabling access to be remote or online and at any time. Although technology allows having digital services for HRM which we refer as virtual HRM, this type of services are coming with four significant pressures . They are: 1. focusing on strategic questions of HRM 2. flexibility in terms of policy making and practices 3. efficiency and awareness of cost 4. service oriented towards management and employees OBJECTIVES E-HRM is designed to achieve the following objectives: To offer an adequate, comprehensive and on-going information system about people and jobs at a reasonable cost; To provide support for future planning and also for policy formulations; To facilitate monitoring of human resources demand and supply imbalances; To automate employee related information; To enable faster response to employee related services and faster HR related decisions and; To offer data security and personal privacy. Data security is a technical problem that can be dealt with in several ways, including passwords and elaborate codes. In the information age personal privacy is both an ethical and moral issue. . E-HRM GOALS As mentioned in the introduction, the investments to implement e-HRM technologies are high. Organisations thus have reasons to implement these technologies otherwise the investments would not be justifiable. What are organisations trying to achieve with these technologies? What are the goals of the implementation of e-HRM technologies? Organisations strive for different goals to be achieved with the implementation of e-HRM technologies. For recruitment, organisations are utilising their own web sites ever better because of the rising costs of web advertising and decreasing ease of finding qualified applicants. Some organisations strive to free HR professionals for more strategic tasks . HR professionals are enabled to spent more time on strategic aspects of HRM when are freed from 3

administrative day-to-day activities. Other organisations strive for a better overall financial performance . A typical argument for the adoption of e-HRM technologies is: Use e-HRM and your organisation can reduce process and administration costs. Fewer HR professionals are needed because e- HRM eliminates the HR middleman. Furthermore, e-HRM speeds up transaction processing, reduces information errors, and improves the tracking and control of HR actions. Thus e-HRM improves service delivery. Most organisations that adopt e-HRM rely on available, accessible, and tangible measures to make a business case for the investment . Some statistics used to justify the investments made in e-HRM technologies are for example the average cost of an HR transaction, number of inquiries to the service centre, cycle times, headcount changes in the HR department and financial metrics such as ROI and the duration of the payback period, but also measures of employee satisfaction. In a survey about the results of e-HRM conducted in 2002, four top metrics were identified in formal business cases: productivity improvements within the HR organisation,cost reductions, ROI, and enhanced employee communications The above mentioned goals for implementing eHRM technologies were mostly found in business cases for justifying the investments in e-HRM technologies. They are all aimed to improve the HR function of the organisation. There exists however a scientific framework of goals for justifying the implementation of e- HRM technologies. This framework of e-HRM goals developed by Rul et al. (2004) is based on the four pressures placed on the contemporary HR department identified by Lepak & Snell (1998) and is also focussed on the improvement of the HR system. Lepak & Snell (1998) stated that HR departments are forced to look for alternative paths for the delivery of HR activities to meet the increasing demands placed on the HR departments. These demands, or pressures, are : The increasingly strategic role of the HR departments The greater demand of flexibility The pressure to be as efficient as possible Maintain the role as service provider to managers and employees

These four pressures are reduced by to three types of goals for the adoption of e-HRM technologies to improve the HR system. However, in the case study conducted within five international companies by the same authors, a fourth type of goal was found. The companies involved in the case study had chosen standardisation and harmonisation of HR policies and practices as a condition for globalization company headquarters, while responsibilities for applying HR responsibilities were actually decentralised. E-HRM can be of support in integrating the dispersed HR function. The four types of goals for organisations making steps towards e-HRM are therefore : Cost reduction / efficiency gains Client service improvement / facilitating management and employees Improving the strategic orientation of HRM 4

 Allowing integration of a dispersed HR function (of different organisational units or entire organisations) 1.Cost reduction / efficiency gains: In the year 2002 a survey was conducted by WatsonWyatt (2006) to research the impact of eHRM technologies. Cost reduction was found to be a top metric in formal business cases for the adoption of the e-HRM technology. As public organisations have a monopoly position in providing their services to civilians and organisations (public and private) they have the responsibility of meeting the needs of these civilians and organisations (Rijn; 2001). It is therefore important to act responsible with resources acquired from civilians and organisations; save cost whenever possible and work as efficient as possible. However, the committee Van Rijn (2001) concluded that reducing costs was not necessary because money, in their opinion, was not a real problem. The problem was the shortage of qualified employees on the labour market and therefore the public sector risked not being able to provide the services demanded. The public sector therefore should work more efficient to be able to more with less (more work with fewer employees) and in this way guarantee service provision. Especially the staffing and management activities should be reorganized (Rijn; 2001). It is therefore expected that the adoption of e-HRM technologies at the Dutch MIA was driven by the need of cost reduction and efficiency improvements of the HR system. As mentioned before, cost reduction is often a reason for implementing e-HRM technologies. Different authors (e.g. Rul et al.; 2004, Watsonwyatt; 2006) have suggested that the implementation of e-HRM are driven by cost reduction goals of the HR system. There are two areas were costs could be reduced through the implementation E-HRM technologies, namely Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of the HR department Costs of administration Reducing use and distribution of paper Reducing costs of HR transactions

2.Client service improvement / facilitating managers and employees: MSS and ESS are as mentioned earlier the key concepts of e-HRM. With MSS and ESS, organisations are trying to meet the HRM needs of managers and employees and at the same time support the organisational business objectives (Keebler & Rhodes; 2002). The committee Van Rijn (2001) concluded that in contemporary times were there is a shortage of qualified employees, the employees became at least as important as the customers (civilians and organisations) of the public sector. The committee suggested therefore that employees should be kept satisfied and motivated and improving the service provided by the HR department is mentioned as a part of the solution. It is therefore expected that the adoption of e-HRM technologies at the Dutch MIA was driven by need for client service improvements. Service is something that is experienced by clients. To improve the service level to clients of the HR department it is important to focus on the experience of the clients requiring service of the HR department (Keebler & Rhodes; 2002). According to Keebler & Rhodes (2002) the e-HRM 5

technology should not only be designed to make the HR processes as efficient and cheap as possible, but the e-HRM technology should be made useable too, to increase the service experience of the managers and employees. In this way a client service improvement of the HR system can be achieved. To realize service improvements of the HR department it is important to focus on two aspects, namely : The design of the interface which supports interaction between the HR department and the clients of the HR department Content of services provided by the HR department Usefulness of the services provided by the HR department Personal character of services provided by the HR department Availability and accessibility of the service provided by the HR department Timeliness of services provided by the HR department 3.Improving the strategic orientation of HRM: The link with the implementation of e-HRM technology is according Lawler III & Mohrman (2003) that the technology frees up time in the HR organisation which can be spent on the activities related to the strategic role of HR. The authors divided the design and planning of organisational development further in: HR planning activities: The forecasting of HR needs and the projected matching individuals with expected job vacancies (adapted form Daft; 2000). Organisational development activities: The application of activities for improving organisational performance through increasing its ability to cope with environmental changes, improve internal relationships, increasing problem solving capabilities and the full use of human potential. Organisational design activities: Defining the set of formal tasks assigned to individuals and departments, formal reporting relationships (including lines of authority, de responsibility, number of hierarchical levels, span of managers control), and the design of systems to ensure effective coordination of employees across departments. Strategic planning activities: Deciding about action steps how to attain organisational Goals.

4. Allowing integration of HR functions: According to Rul et al. (2004), the need for integration of the HR function can be an e-HRM goal. Although, the authors found this goal within international organisations it is expected that this e-HRM goal also can be found within the public sector as the adoption of a Shared Service Centre HRM is initiated by the Dutch Ministries. The committee Van Rijn (2001) concluded that the different HR functions of the different parts of the public sector should be integrated into a single Shared Service Centre HRM. Another suggestion made by the committee was outsourcing parts of the HR function to the private sector. IT should enable the integration of the dispersed 6

HR function and therefore could be HRM goal for the adoption of e-HRM technologies within the Dutch MIA. Lepak & Snell (1998) state that IT can be of support when the HR function is to be integrated as different parts of the HR function are provided by different parties (managers, employees, HR professionals or even other organisations). There are however two conditions for the integration of the HR function These conditions were used to measure the intention of the organisation to integrate the dispersed HR functions and are: Standardisation of the HR function: Equalise the content of the HR processes of different organisations (public or / and private) Harmonisation of dispersed HR functions: Enable cooperation of the HR function of different organisations (public or / and private) Clarity of e-HRM goals: The goals that drive parties, stakeholders, and individuals in organisations will set a framework for the real e-HRM applications and approaches to be implemented In other words, the goals for implementing e-HRM technologies of a specific organisation have an influence on the use of the technology. It is therefore important that the goals are interpreted right by the end-users or else it might lead to unintended use of the technology. elaborates on the clarity of spirit of office technology. The spirit of the technology should lead to the right user behaviour of end-users of the technology. It is beyond the scope of this research to elaborate on the clarity of spirit of e-HRM technology and its effects on the appropriation of the e-HRM technology. However, the e-HRM goals could be considered as the framework that should lead to the intended use of the technology by end-users. It is therefore important that these e-HRM goals are known and understood by the end-users of the technology. It is expected that when end-user understand the e-HRM goals and the intended effects of the e-HRM technology, it will positively affect the use of the e-HRM technology which is expected to lead to the intended use of the technology.

THE USE OF E-HRM TECHNOLOGY: To understand how the information technology is used to perform the HR activities it is important to consider three aspects: The e-HRM activities The type of technological support for e-HRM The user acceptance of the e-HRM technology 1. E-HRM activities As described in the introduction chapter, self-service for managers and employees are the key concepts of e-HRM. Managers and employees, when using the e-HRM web-based technologies, are made responsible for fulfilling some of the activities of the HR function. In this way a new HR architecture is created. In this study HR architecture refers to a map of responsibilities of different parties for the fulfilment of HR activities. However, not all the HR activities are suitable for self-service of managers and employees. Snell et al. (1996) suggest that, as HR strategy in most cases is aligned with the organisations overall strategy, the IT strategy should be aligned with the organisations overall strategy too. As the overall strategy of the organisation has an influence on the choice for specific of e-HRM tools, the strategy of the organisation arguably has an influence on the design of the HR architecture. The impact of the organisations overall strategy on the HR architecture therefore will be discussed in this paragraph. The use of e-HRM technology also is expected to lead to changes in time spent by HR

professional spent on specific HR activities. This is expected to be caused by the new HR architecture, which divides the HR responsibilities over employees, managers and HR professionals. In the new, driven by the implementation of e-HRM technologies, HR architecture there is an increased role for managers and employees in the fulfilment of the activities of the HR function. As the implementation of e-HRM technologies changes the HR architecture, it is interesting to study the impact of these changes in the HR architecture of HRM. It is however important to understand what this HR architecture is, and what determines a specific composition of the HR architecture before its impact on HRM can be studied properly. Therefore, the concept of the HR architecture will be discussed first. a) The HR architecture The study of e-hrm focuses on how the HR function is to be structured to help organisations compete as the 21st century approached and therefore could contain the answer to the question how to map the responsibilities for the different HR activities. The authors explore the notion of virtual HR. Virtual HR is defined as a network-based structure built on partnerships and typically mediated by information technologies to help the organisation acquire, develop, and deploy intellectual capital. Organisations are forced to create this networkbased structure for the delivery of HR activities by the four pressures placed on the contemporary HR department mentioned in the e-HRM goals. Outsourcing HR activities to an external party is considered as a solution to these pressures and could enable the HR department to deal with the pressures and fulfil its role supporting the HR system as effective as possible This means that there should be made a distinction what activities should be outsourced and what activities should be performed internally to create an HR architecture that is as effective as possible. The HR architecture therefore is understood as the representation of the responsibilities of different parties for the delivery of the activities of the HR function. It is expected that the adoption of e-HRM affects the architecture of the HR function. In other words, it is expected that the adoption of e-HRM affects the responsibilities of the different stakeholders of the HR function for performing HR activities. When an organisation has implemented e-HRM, some of the HR activities of the HR function are provided through webbased- technologies and become the responsibility of managers and/or employees, known in the literature as the devolution process. But not all the HR activities are suitable for devolution to managers and employees. Some activities for example require knowledge of the HR professionals. The challenge now is how to categorise the different HR activities, and analyse if there are differences in suitability for devolution to managers and employees through web-basedtechnologies. This could be of support in explaining the causes of the impact of e-HRM on the HR system as a whole. When the devolution of HR activities to the managers and employees is conceived as the outsourcing of activities to managers and employees .the body of literature about outsourcing HR activities could give an answer to the question which activities are suitable for devolution to the managers and employees. b) A contingency framework for the mapping of the HR activities The external delivery of HR activities can be further divided in the delivery based on contractual arrangements and partnerships. 9

 A contractual arrangement refers to relationships where the external party performs some well defined standard HR activities, in which the external party is specialised, for a limited period of time In a partnership the external party takes up the responsibility of some of the HR activities and tries together with the internal HR function of the organisation to fulfil the organisations demands over a longer period of time. Where the focus of the research on activities that should be delivered externally and activities that should be delivered internally, the focus of this research is on which activities are suitable for devolution to managers and employees. The activities delivered internally are divided in activities for which the HR professionals are responsible for, and activities for which managers and employees are responsible. Together with the research on the internal or external delivery of HR activities, this research brings more details into the problem of how to design the HR architecture. . For the categorisation of the e-HRM activities on their strategic value, it is necessary to measure their value and uniqueness for the specific organisation. However, an important point to consider is that an activity considered valuable for a specific organisation does not have to be valuable for another organisation. The same applies to the uniqueness of an HR activity. This implies that the HR architecture of different organisations differs. For some organisation a specific HR activity is considered a core activity were for another organisation the same activity is considered peripheral. Besides this, managers should also consider the value and uniqueness of combinations of HR activities. Managers may choose external or internal delivery of a combination of HR activities. It is however more likely that a choice of delivery is made for every individual activity.

c) Value of HR activities Activities that are considered valuable should be provided internally, where activities considered not valuable are candidates for outsourcing. The question still remains when an activity is considered valuable and when not valuable. The authors suggest that HR delivers to customers (i.e. managers, employees, job applicants, contractors, partners, etc.) and therefore valuable HR activities are those activities perceived valuable by the customers of HRM who directly depend on HR services. state that the value for the customers of the organisation as a whole is considered more important as the value of HRs own direct customers. Of course, the costs of deployment of an HR activity internally or externally should be considered in determining the HR architecture value of an HR activity: The value of an HR activity is its ability to help firms achieve a competitive advantage or develop core competencies. The value of an HR activity can be characterised by: Contribution to the creation of customer (civilians and organisations) value Affect the efficiency or productivity of the organisation Affects the quality of products/services 10

 Affects the costs of production, service, or delivery Affects the ability to develop new markets/products/services Strategic benefits derived from a particular HR activity relative to the costs with its deployment d) Time spent on HR activities by HR professionals The e-HRM technology enables managers and employees to take care of some of the activities under the HRM umbrella themselves without the intervention of an HR professional This has consequences for the job content of the HR professionals. Less administrative tasks for the HR department and therefore less administrative positions, more focus on strategic goals of the organisation and therefore an HRM staff consisting mainly of thinkers Getting run-ofthe-mill things done electronically frees up HR people to do more important stuff face-to-face Gardner et al. (2003), Hempel (2004) but also Snell et al. (1996) see a role for the HR professional in maintaining and developing e-HRM applications. Stanton & Coovert (2004) even see a bridging role for HR professional between IT and its end-users. The use of e-HRM technology is expected to lead to changes in the time spent by HR professionals on: Strategic activities IT activities Administration activities Supporting managers Supporting employees

The expected changes in time spent on specific HR activities is driven by the use of e-HRM technology and is expected to have an impact on the HR function and will therefore be researched. For measuring the time spent on strategic activities the theory of Lawler III & Mohrman (2003) again was used (see paragraph 3.1). The authors state that HR departments which have an increased strategic orientation spent more time on: HR planning activities Organisational development activities Organisational design activities Strategic planning activities

2. A new approach to e-HRM types IT can support HR activities in different manners. There is however no typology on how technology can support e-HRM activities. This however could increase the insights in how the eHRM technology is used within the organisation. The typology should enable the organisation to look for opportunities for technology support of e-HRM activities or even benchmark their technology with alternative technologies. Although there is no typology on e-HRM support, there are some typologies on what organisations can achieve with IT supporting HR activities. 11

 Publishing information Automation of transactions Transformation of the organization The first form of e-HRM, simply publishing information, involves one-way communication form the organisation to employees or managers through web-based channels. The second higher-level form of e-HRM involves the automation of transactions, workflow, and even supply-chain integration where paperwork is replaced by electronic input. Managers and employees can access databases, update information, search for needed information, and make decisions. The third and highest-level of e-HRM involves the transformation of the HR system. The theory however, describes what the role of the e-HRM technology in the organisation is. The theory fails to describe how technology can be used to support HR activities. IT can influence the integration HR function, when the responsibilities for performing the HR activities are dispersed, in three ways. IT can influence operational, relational and transformational integration of the HR function. Informational e-HRM Relational e-HRM Transformational e-HRM Operational e-HRM technology is concerned with the basic HR activities in the administrative area. For example, employees keeping their own personal data up-to-date through an HR portal. Relational e-HRM concerns more advanced HR activities. The emphasis here is on tools that support basic HR processes such as the use of web-based-technology for recruitment and selection of new personnel. Transformational e-HRM technology is concerned with HR activities with a strategic character as for example, creating a changeMarco ready workforce through eHRM technology that enables the workforce to develop in line with the companys strategic choices. HR activities provided through web-based channels as a basis for the categorisation. The categorisation of the technology is made dependant on which HR activities are provided through web-based channels. It is however expected that is not so important which type of HR activities are provided through e-HRM, but how these activities are supported. a) Informational e-HRM support Informational e-HRM support can be characterised as support that is primarily focussed on improving the operational efficiency of the HR system (adopted from Snell et al.; 1996). This is realised by the automation of HRM. This description however, is very broad as all the three types of support contain an automation part that increases the efficiency of the HR system. LengnickHall & Moritz (2003) state e-HRM in its most simple form can be used to inform the employees, managers, and HR professionals. Relevant changes in policies can be communicated by means of IT in a cheap efficient manner. Digitalising HR data enables online provision of data. In this way the employees, managers and HR professionals can quickly obtain the required data. The technology supports the provision of data to the different stakeholders and records mutations on 12

the data. Informational e-HRM support is for this research understood as: The digitalisation of HR information and data, and the provision and recording of this information and data through web-based channels With informational e-HRM supports, employees, managers and HR professionals are enabled to obtain data necessary for performing their HR activities. This data can be personalised for the specific end-user, or it could contain general information necessary for performing the HR activity. However, an HR activity is often performed by multiple persons within the HR function. Informational e-HRM support does not support the process or workflow of such an activity. The technology only provides the employees, managers, and HR professionals with the necessary data to perform the activity, and in some cases records mutations in the data. HR activity is performed by multiple persons with the support of e-HRM. In this situation the employee triggers the execution of an HR activity. The mutations are first checked/completed/altered by the manager of the employee and finally checked/completed/altered by a HR professional. Figure 8 represents a specific HR activity, and the figure could be different when another HR activity was presented. However, it is important to understand what the role of the technology is in supporting the activity when informational eHRM support is adopted. It enables the employees, managers, and HR professionals to acquire the right information for making decisions. It does however, not support the flow of the HR activity. b) Relational e-HRM support Whereas informational e-HRM support is primarily focussed on providing information to the employees, managers, and HR professionals in an efficient manner to reduce the pressure on the HR department, relational e-HRM support is focussed on how the technology supports the flow of an HR activity between the HR department and its customers (Snell et al.; 1996). The technology supports the execution of the specific HR activities and supports he flow of data between end-users of a specific HR activity through web-based channels. In this way the technology plays a big role in the execution and support of the HR activity. Relational e-HRM support is for this research understood as: Providing HR processes through web-bases channels to the people of the HR function Relational e-HRM support, supports the flow of an HR activity between the employees, managers, and HR professionals. These interactions are supported when a specific HR activity is performed which requires efforts of multiple persons. Therefore, it is necessary that the e-HRM technology contains the process flow of this specific HR activity. When, for example an employee has performed an HR activity by using his HR portal, the technology ensures that the next person in the process is enabled to perform the next step in the system that defines, creates and manages the execution of workflows through the use of software, running on one or more workflow engines, which is able to interpret the process definition, interact with workflow participants and, where required, invoke the use of IT tools and applications. The difference however is that workflow management systems are aimed at business processes which are associated with the organisations operational objectives or business relationships (WFMC; 1999). Relational e-HRM support is focussed on the support of the interaction between the customers of the HR department and the HR department. The benefits of relational e-HRM are optimised, when the technology provides the end-users performing the HR activity, with the information necessary for performing the task (which means complete informational e-HRM support). 13

c) Transformational e-HRM support IT can also support to change the organisation (Snell et al.; 1996). In these situations, there is transformational support of IT. The IT in these situations concerns the management of people (Snell et al.; 1996). IT bypasses organisational hierarchy and can steer the primary and secondary processes of the organisation. In other words, the technology replaces some of the bureaucratic processes of the organisation. In this way, the IT supports the HR function in creating a flexible organisation, which can be of value for the organisation. Transformational e-HRM is for this research understood as: Technology that bypasses organisational hierarchies and frees up HR decision-making from the effects of bureaucracy With transformational e-HRM support, the way the HR activities are performed changes. Besides the automation of the HR activities, new ways of conducting HR activities are adopted which were formerly unknown. It exceeds automating the existing HR activities. Transformational e-HRM support is about becoming flexible. Transformational e-HRM support could for example mean that the e-HRM technology divides HR tasks over the employees, managers, and HR professionals, by the use of knowledge management systems. The technology ensures that the activities are performed on time and by the right persons. Therefore, it is necessary that the technology can obtain the information required to steer the HR activities in the most efficient way. Figure 10 is again the representation of the HR function performing the same HR activity as in figure 8 and figure 9. This time however, the e-HRM technology supports the performing of the HR activity in a transformational manner. To stress the bypassing of organisational bureaucracy capacity of transformational e-HRM support, the e-HRM technology block in the figure contains a brain, which represents the decision-making capacity of the technology. 3.The user acceptance of the e-HRM technology IT research has long studied how and why individuals adopt IT. Within this broad area of inquiry, there have been several streams of research . One stream of research focuses on individual acceptance of technology by using intention or usage as a dependent variable. Other streams have focused on implementation success at the organisational level and task technology fit Research has been conducted in the comparison of two streams of research, namely task technology fit and technology acceptance model. Task technology focuses on a fit between task and technology while the technology acceptance model focuses on the link between on the one hand perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and on the other hand attitude towards use. Outcome of this research is that there is a weak link between task and technology and the fit between those two while there is a strong link between perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use and on the other hand attitude towards use. Therefore, it can be concluded that the technology acceptance model explains better why users actually use a technology and that is why this research includes an elaboration on the technology acceptance of users. The stream about individual acceptance of technology will be further elaborated, as this model will be useful in explaining what influences the effectiveness of IT. In the last decade, several models created by different researchers with as starting point the Technology Acceptance Model. 14

The impact of e-HRM on the effectiveness of the HR System In this paragraph the actual impact of e-HRM on the HR system block of the preliminary theoretical framework will be uncovered. The previous paragraph elaborated on how the use of e-HRM technologic might have an impact on the HR system. This impact can be analysed from two different perspectives, namely: The impact of e-HRM technology on the HRM performance The impact of e-HRM on the job of the HR professional Besides the differences in perspective, studies on the effectiveness of the HR system often differ in the level of analysis of the HR system. Some studies focus on a single HR activity while others analyse the HR system as a whole. The study of Lepak et al. (2004) states that there are three levels of analysing the HR system and that consideration of all the three levels are important to understand HRM in practice. The arrows indicated the direction of influence. This means that when the HR system is not effective on the highest level this will negatively affect the effectiveness of the HR system at the lower levels.

1.The HR philosophy The HR philosophy is a statement of how the organisation regards its HR, what role the resources play in the overall success of the business, and how they are to be treated andmanaged . It is a very general statement, which can be interpreted and implemented in different ways and can be found in the organisations statement of business value. It does however not describe how and which activities should be performed for managing the HR. 2.The HR policies and programmes An HR policy, used in this context, does not mean an HR policy manual. The HR policies do not contain rules prescribing the HR activities to be performed. They however, provide guidelines flowing from the strategic business needs to align the different HR activities to create an HR system that contributes to the same business needs. HR programmes are the efforts, which should be undertaken to align these HR activities. Thus, the HR policies provide guidelines for HRM issues related to the strategic needs of the organizations. 3.The HR practices and processes The HR practices describe how behaviour of employees can be directed to contribute to organisational performance. They describe what the HR system should try to achieve with the employees. Three roles are necessary to achieve the right behaviour of employees. Leadership role Managerial role 15

 Operational role These roles contain statements about what the HR system should achieve. A statement from the managerial role could be for example: Give people the freedom they need to do their jobs. This level describes actual HR practices implemented in specific circumstances and enhances accuracy in measurement . The HR processes area deals with how all other HR activities are identified, formulated, and implemented. Where HR practices are used to elicit and reinforce needed behaviours by workers, HR processes define how activities are to be carried out Considering these levels of analysis is critical to understand the use and effectiveness of human capital management systems . If for instance the focus lies on the HR philosophy then it enhances generalisations but it reduces the accuracy by neglecting variations in HR system implementations. Focusing solely on HR practices enhances the accuracy in measurement but neglects the importance of other HR practices that are also used. The three levels will all be considered for this research.

SCOPE OF E-HRM A decisive step towards a paperless office; Higher speed of retrieval and processing of data; Increased access to HR data and ease in classifying and reclassifying data; Collection of information as the basis for improving the strategic orientation of HRM; More consistent and higher accuracy of information/report generated; 16

Fast response to answer queries; A higher internal profile for HR leading to better work culture; Establishing of streamlined, standardized and systematic procedures; More transparency in the system; Cost savings achievable through process improvements and due to reduction in duplication of efforts; Significant reduction of administrative burden; Adaptability to any client and facilitating management; Integral support for the management of human resources and all other basic and support processes within the company; A more dynamic workflow in the business process, productivity and employee satisfaction. FUNCTIONS OF E-HRM

a) Resource Management: Storage of applicants details; Retrieval and amendment of those details; Matching CVs to person specifications for short listing purposes; Link with internet recruiting processes; Letter writing, acknowledgements, invitations to interview, offers and rejections; Management reports, analysis of response by media and monitoring recruitment costs; Evaluating applicants and employees; Selecting placing, promoting, terminating and transferring employees; Analyzing and designing jobs.

b) Compensation and Reward Management: Analyze and report on average pay or pay distribution by jog, grade, age or length of service; Assist in job evaluation; Forecast future payroll costs on the basis of assumptions about members, promotions and pay levels; Administer pay reviews, producing review forms, analyzing proposals against the budgets and calculating the cost of performance related pay awards in accordance with different assumptions about amounts and the distribution of awards within a budget; Provide information to line managers which will guide them to do their pay decisions; Generate instructions to adjust pay as well as letters to individuals informing them of their increases; Managing employee wage and benefit plans. c) Performance Management 17

Generating forms; Analyzing and reporting on the result of performance reviews showing the distribution of people with different degrees of potential or performing at different levels; Highlighting individuals with particular skills or special promise; Writing role definitions; Generating employee opinion surveys online.

d) Training and Development: Training and developing employees; Storing e-learning modules on the database which enables trainers to select an appropriate module or mix of modules to meet a specified learning need; Analyzing the training recommendations contained in performance review reports to identify collective and individual training needs; Identifying suitable training courses to meet training needs; Making arrangements for off the job courses; Informing employees about the arrangements for courses; Handling correspondence about training courses; Storing data on standard or individually tailored induction, continuation or development training programmes, including syllabus, routings, responsibilities for giving training, test procedures and progress reporting; Generating instructions and notes for guidance for all concerned with providing or undergoing on-the-job training programmes; Storing progress reports and monitoring achievements against training objectives; Producing reports summarizing current and projected training activities and calculating the output of training programmes; Recording and monitoring training expenditure against budget.

e) Employee Relations: Promoting employer brand; Providing high standards of safety and welfare facilities to employees through easy accessible e-HR solutions; Frame employment policies online; Provide a network of internal communication; Consultation and negotiation facilities for employees.

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E-HR ACTIVITIES e- recruitment e- selection e-training e-performance management e-compensation

1.E-Recruitment : E-recruitment is the process of personnel recruitment using electronic resources, in particular the internet. Companies and recruitment agents have moved much of their recruitment process online so as to improve the speed by which job candidates can be matched with live vacancies. Using database technologies, and online job advertising boards and search engines, employers can now fill posts in a fraction of the time previously possible. Key stages of an e-recruitment process: An organisations e-recruitment site can do a number of different things. The complexity of the site, and hence the level of back-office technology required, will naturally be determined by the extent to which you bring the recruitment process online. Many e-recruitment sites include a selection of the following:

corporate brochure 19

which describes the nature of the business and its culture Graduate or other mass recruitment (e.g. call centre positions; apprenticeship schemes) channel Information on vacancies, including contact email or phone number Detailed job specifications and any information that you may normally send out with an application pack or at interview stage Speculative application facility Online application form Killer questions or self selection questions to help applicants decide if the job is really for them

Meaning of E-recruitment The buzzword and the latest trends in recruitment is the ERecruitment. Also known as Online recruitment, it is the use of technology or the web based tools to assist the recruitment process. The tool can be either a job website like naukri.com, the organisations corporate web site or its own intranet. Many big and small organizations are using Internet as a source of recruitment. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae (CV) through an e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CVs in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.

The internet penetration in India is increasing and has tremendous potential. According to a study by NASSCOM Jobs is among the top reasons why new users will come on to the internet, besides e-mail. There are more than 18 million resumes floatingonline. The two kinds of e- recruitment that an organisation can use is Job portals i.e. posting the position with the job description and the job specification on the job portal and also searching for the suitable resumes posted on the site corresponding to the opening in the organisation. Creating a complete online recruitment/application section in the companies ownwebsite. - Companies have added an application system to its website, where the passive job seekers can submit their resumes into the database of the organisation for consideration in future, as and when 20

the roles become available. Resume Scanners: Resume scanner is one major benefit provided by the job portals to the organisations. It enables the employees to screen and filter the resumes through pre-defined criterias and requirements (skills, qualifications, experience, payroll etc.) of the job. Job sites provide a 24*7 access to the database of the resumes to the employees facilitating the just-in-time hiring by the organisations. Also, the jobs can be posted on the site almost immediately and is also cheaper than advertising in the employment newspapers. Sometimes companies can get valuable references through the passersby applicants. Online recruitment helps the organisations to automate the recruitment process, save their time and costs on recruitments. Online recruitment techniques Giving a detailed job description and job specifications in the job postings to attract candidates with the right skill sets and qualifications at the first stage. E-recruitment should be incorporated into the overall recruitment strategy of the organisation. A well defined and structured applicant tracking system should be integrated and the system should have a back-end support. Along with the back-office support a comprehensive website to receive and process job applications (through direct or online advertising) should be developed. Therefore, to conclude, it can be said that e-recruitment is the Evolving face of recruitment.

The following guidelines regarding e-recruiting will be highly useful for recruiters: talents. e-recruiting needs to be aligned with organizations strategic goals. Organizations that have reputation can benefit from e-recruiting. Firms need to use e-recruiting as one of the sources but not the only source of attracting May attract frequent job hoppers. 21

 The websites should be designed for easy use, simple to navigate and attract candidates rather than simply screening them. Organizations should develop online screening system based on job analysis and ensure that inferences made from the system are reliable and valid. The system should give adequate information about the company and the position to the candidates. Organizations should use websites to promote values that will be attractive to most employees rather than just select those that fit with traditional culture. E-recruiting should not be used as fad but should be measured in terms of successful placements made. Collect feedback from job applicants on the direct and indirect messages conveyed by the website regarding the climate of the organization. Companies should use appropriate languages in the website for people with diverse background can use the website. The system should be simple and should not cause anxiety in the minds of job applicants while navigating the site. Should meet all legal requirements and without any bias based on caste and religion. Should attract disadvantaged sections of the society. Protect the privacy of individual. The web should have limited access to data and the data collected are relevant to the job.

Advantages of E-Recruitment are: Lower costs to the organisation. Also, posting jobs online is cheaper than advertising in the newspapers. No intermediaries. Reduction in the time for recruitment (over 65 percent of the hiring time). Facilitates the recruitment of right type of people with the required skills. Improved efficiency of recruitment process. Gives a 24*7 access to an online collection of resumes. Online recruitment helps the organisations to weed out the unqualified candidates in an automated way.

Disadvantages of e-recruitment: Apart from the various benefits, e-recruitment has its own share of shortcomings and I I 22

disadvantages. Some of them are: Screening and checking the skill mapping and authenticity of million of resumes is a problem and time consuming exercise for organisations. There is low Internet penetration and no access and lack of awareness of internet in many locations across India. Organisations cannot be dependant solely and totally on the online recruitment methods. In India, the employers and the employees still prefer a face-to-face interaction rather than sending e-mails. Online recruitment techniques To measure the effectiveness of online recruitment, set up the metrics for recruitment spending. A detailed job description should be given while posting jobs to attract candidates with the right skill sets. Give a precise and unambiguous questionnaire to reduce time in searching for a suitable candidate. Ensure that all the approaches related to recruitment are linked to and centred on your own recruitment site. Integrate e-recruitment into your overall recruitment strategy. Applicant tracking system should be of a high quality and should be integrated with the back-office. Develop a comprehensive website to receive and process job applications whether through direct or online advertising. Source: Industry experts The benefits of online recruitment It is much faster than traditional modes of recruitment. One can post a job online in just 20 minutes and receive resumes within minutes of the job going live. Access an online pool of resumes on a 24X7 basis. It allows the hiring manager to screen out unqualified candidates in an automated way, which saves over 65 percent of the hiring time. One can track the progress that the candidate is making in various stages of the hiring process. Source: Monster.com 2.E- Selection: 23

E-selection includes such activities as 800 number scheduling , web based testing , face to face interviewing and job offering. The purpose of e-selection are mainly three: a. b. c. Achieving cost reduction. Maximum utilization of human capital Sustainability.

Cost reduction is the main objective and infact, it is mainly for cost saving that organization switch over to e-selection from conventional selection process. E-selection help cost reduction in several ways. Loss rates between events in the selection process are minimized, administrative cost involved in the selection process are reduced and cost of sourcing candidates into the employment process become less. The second option of e-selection is to achieve maximum utilisation of human capital. this is being achieved through high retention rates, increase percentage of candidates who meet employment and improved productivity after the new hires. Sustainability is the last objective of e-selection. Sustainability refer to the organisations ability and willingness to maintain the e-enabledsystem and also progressively evolve the system to satisfy changing requirements. Sustainability is necessary to ensure that the business continues to reap ongoing benefits from e-enabled system. . 3.E-performance management: performance management is another area which has been e based. The use of technology in performance management tends to increase productivity, in hence competitiveness and motivate employees as indicates. This is possible through two ways: 1. technology may facilitate measuring an individuals performance via computer monitoring activities. 2. Technology become a tool to facilitates the process of written reviews or generating performance feedback. Ex here include multi-raterappraising that supervisors or teem members generates online, as well as of the shelf appraisal software packages that actually construct an evaluation for a manager. This particulars technological approach occurs more often in the context of jobs the involves personal judgement and high discretion. Technology can be applied in performance management in several ways. In the first place, routine or low discretion jobs can be subject to computerized performance monitoring(CPM) system that helps generate performance data. Second, software are available that help generate appraisal forms and their accompanying narrative.

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Third, performance management system can be interigated with an overall enterprise resource planning(ERP) software system. This approach helps HR professionals to identify high performers, spot skill and competency gaps and to analyse pay relative to performance. With this information being available, HR manager can plan for training, coaching and education. Forth, firm interanets and internet may also help performance management process. Fifth, stand-alone software packages are a great help in performance management system. Some of these packages are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. The greatest benefits of appraisal software are the elimination of paper work and simplification of the logistics for evaluators, workers and administrators. Software pacakages facilitate the automation of the tedious parts of evaluation, enabling manager to focus on contents of the evaluation process rather than on forms. In addition, some programmes allow users to click buttons on screen for each rating and simultaneously create sentences and paragraphs of text. Appraisal software may also include a coaching utility that provides information to evaluators about coaching individuals they evaluate. Some pacakeges content psychometric features. Psychometric features help check evaluators from inflating ratings. Such built in checks boost robustness and accuracy of ratings. 4.E-learing E learning refers to the use of internet or an organizational interanet to conduct training online. Elearning is becoming increasingly popular bcoz of the large no of employees, who need training. Take wipro, for ex, out of its 17500 employees, 2500 are on site an 15000 employees are in of shore centers at Bangalore, hydreabad, Chennai, pune and delhi. How to organize training for all these? Wipro also ahs a policy of subjecting any employee for a 2 week training every year. E-learning helps wipro consderabily. Similarly, at satyam nearly 80% of the 9000 employees are logged into the in-house. Learning management system for various courses. Infosys has almost 10% of its total training through e-learning. E-learning has come a long way from its early days when it was used extensively for technical education such as learning new language and familiarization with new technologies. Today firms, are introducing soft skill modules as well. Satyam uses e-learning modules on management provide by Harvard manage mentor plus. Satyam has even tied up with universitas 21a consortium of 16in international university and Thomson learning- for an online mba. Requisites for e-learning: 1. sufficient top management support and funding needs to be committed to develop and implement e-learning. 2. managers and HR professionals need to be retrained to accept the idea the training is being decentralized and individualized. 3. current training methods are not adequately meeting org training needs. 4. potential learners and adequately computer literate and have ready access to computers and the internet. 5. sufficient no of learners exist and many of them are self motivated to direct their own learning.

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ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF E-LEARNING Advantages Disadvantages 1. It is self paced. Trainees can proceed 1. May cause trainee anxiety On their own time 2. It is interactive, tapping multiple 2. Not all trainees may be ready for eTrainee senses Learning 3. Allows for consistency in the delivery of 3. Not all trainees may have easy and training uninterrupted access to computer 4. Enables scoring of services/assess4. Not appropriate for all training ments and the appropriate feedback content ( e.g. leadership, cultural changes) 5. Incorporates built in guidance and 5. Requires significantly upfront cost and Help for trainees to use when needed investment 6. It is relatively easy for trainers to 6. No significantly greater learning evidenced in update content research studies 7. Can be used to enhance instructor led 7. Requires significant top management Training support to be successful Success factors: Cultural changes has taken place about how training and learning happens and is delivered. E-learning is closely aligned to the needs of the business. E-learning is closely blended with other types of training such as classrooms activities and is not used to wholly replace other activities. Learning needs that drive the technology rather than the other way around E-learning has ongoing support from a senior level and is marketed effectively throughout the organization. A range of people with different skills are involved, including expert trainers, facilitators, champions of e-learning and specialist web and graphic designers.

5.E-compensation E-compensation represent a web enabled approach to an array of compensation tools that enabled an organization to gather, store, manipulate, analyse, utilized, and distribute compensation data and information. Using an internet browser, the internet and the world wide web, individuals access electronically distributed compensation software, data bases, and analytic tools from anywhere- their office, their home, on vacation and on the other side of the globe.

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HR professionals are able to gain access to knowledge management databases, best practices and competitive information. Web- enable tools also enhance HR professionals ability to distribute this key information and compensation metrics to employees and managers for critical decision making. In addition, web based tools help increase HR managers productivity through automating information access and distribution of transactional compensation administration responsibilities to line managers and employees.

IMPLEMENTATION
E-HRM enhances your human resources management. There are five main phases in the implementation of the E-HRM business solution. 1.Analysis (Infrastructure): We analyse the existing infrastructure with regard to quantity of data and classification of business activities. 2.Business processes in the company: After the existing processes have been analysed, the options for automating these processes in the client's environment are proposed. Finally a project plan is developed based on the model of the processes identified. 3.Implementation: After a fundamental analysis of the processes in the work team, individual modules are deployed in the client's environment. With modular design a gradual implementation is possible. Company-specific functionalities are discussed with the client and built upon request. 4.Implementation and training: A complete knowledge of the components of the solution is a key factor for successful implementation. The entire team of project managers, information technology professionals and human resources specialist are thus involved in user training and implementation. SRCI.SI provides well planned and quality training of future users, including initial training in their work environment. 5.Maintenance: Fast technological development and development of new modules make cooperation after the implementation indispensable. A maintenance contract typically includes: technical support experts available by phone, through e-mail or on-site adaptation of existing modules or development of new ones 27

 application software adjustment to changes in the system environment or operating system functionality improvement and software upgrades in the form of new versions consultation about further development of the system

BENEFITS OF E-HRM The main benefits of e-HRM are an increase of quality and pace, because the existing administrative processes were slow and inefficient conditional upon mainly paper-based processes. a) Standardization: By standardizing the system used within the group and by providing employees with direct access to records, particularly leave records, the company can achieve a significant reduction in employee queries and reduce the need for HR to undertake data entry of employee records. b) Ease of recruitment, selection and assessment: e-Recruitment can be one of HRs nightmares. With e-recruitment the company gets an additional possibility besides the normal application by paper to recruit people over the web in an online-application process. Although this, and like processes, will always need significant human intervention. E-HR systems can streamline the process and reduce errors. c) Ease of administering employee records: Whether be it leaves, benefits, personal details, accident and discipline reports, etc., it is generally accepted that once everyone can overcome the initial it phobia, HR and employees will experience fewer headaches and efficiency will rapidly increase. d) Reductions to cost, time and labour: Reduced duplication, reduced time spent fixing errors, reduced labour costs through ESS, reduced or no hard-copy entry. Not only manpower can be saved, the processing time can also be shortened. With this e-HRM reaches the prime objective of cost effectiveness. e) Access to ESS training enrolment and self development: e-Training can enable employees to search for and enroll in training programmes on-line and validating course availability. This can streamline the training administration process enabling employees to access computer based training. Cost and pace can be individualized as well. f) Cost and ESS: ESS reduced the workload of HR department by more than 50%, for instance in the traditional method the employee has to type in a formal leave application get approved from his/her direct boss who will send it to the HR department for further approval which would consume lot of time to be processed. On the other hand, with eleave, the employee needs only to log in and make his/her leave application and his/her 28

boss will be alerted to approve. Upon approval the leave balance is automatically updated and this is just one aspect. g) Location and timeliness: With ESS, the employee could log in online anywhere and anytime without being in the office and without the leave card could be sitting at the boss table for a few days, lost or buried.

Organisations adopt eHR for reasons that include: the aim of HR service improvement, making it more strategic and business focused. This may be facilitated by e-developments. the objective of cost cutting and aiding operational efficiency the desire of the HR function to change the nature of its relationship with employees and line managers the transformation of HR into a customer-focused and responsive function the offer of services that fits the new world of work and is attractive to current and future staff the ability to produce comprehensive and consistent management information. There is little independent evidence on the extent of take-up of eHR. Most of the research is from the USA, and is carried out by consultants and vendors. Before embarking on eHR, organisations should review and optimise their business processes. This may be a case of major process redesign, or a more tactical exercise tackling areas of concern. Following a process review, a common next step is to introduce a form of self service. This is likely to involve employee self service, where staff can access their personal record and update it or add new information. Manager self service is usually a logical

In considering eHR, organisations have a number of design decisions to make: What proportion of services will be delivered through employee and manager self service? What are the best means of delivery voice, web or call centre technologies, for what circumstances? How do the above delivery mechanisms link up with generalist HR business-partners, specialist advisers, centres of excellence etc.? 29

 Where do you locate call and service centre(s)? How important is co-location, or can you support a dispersed delivery of services? Which services will be delivered via a shared service centre? What kind of shared service separate entity, internal cost or profit centre, outsourced? Redesigning the HR function will impact on the roles and skills of HR staff. There will be many areas of upskilling as the move away from transactional work gathers pace. This will stretch the capability of staff, not just in terms of technological facility but also in customer and relationship skills. A number of challenges face those moving to eHR. There is an imperative to align any investment in eHR with the strategy of the business. The design of eHR should take account of the needs of a varied workforce, their access to, and familiarity with, technology. It is desirable to customise your eHR offering wherever possible (within reasonable costs). This could be by location or activity Resistance to change is likely, especially within the HR function. Users are also likely to be uncertain, unless their requirements are acknowledged at an early stage. Information overload managers and employees may get weighed down by the volume of communication in a way that they may perceive as more intrusive than in the past.

The e-HRM business solution: gradual implementation adaptability to any client collection of information as the basis for strategic decision-making integral support for the management of human resources and all other basic and support processes within the company prompt insight into reporting and analysis a more dynamic workflow in the business process, productivity and employee satisfaction a decisive step towards a paperless office.

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The leading solution for electronic Human Resource Management : System Manager: The Architecture of the eBizOs System Manager module allows users to customize the application menu, control entire system security and set up all necessary HR pre-define data. The System Manager consists of Menu Management, User Management and Pre-Requisite. Features: a) Menu Management: Able to set up unlimited application Section, Module, Sub-module and Document Able to set up customize functions b) User Management: Providing remote maintenance security level Flexible maintain User Profile User-friendly change Password Flexible assign individual or group access right

Different user access level for employee information, which enables you to restrict user to view the earning and details c) Pre-Requisite: Allowing users to pre-define necessary master data such as User definable Approval Loop, Bank, Bank Branch, Clinic Company, Country, Course Category, Course Type, Currency, Department, Department Cost Code, Designation, Disciplinary Action, Disciplinary Offence, Email Alert, Employee No. Format, Employee Type, Generic Training, Government Ref., 31

Hiring Source, Job Category, Job Class, Leave Entitlement, Leave Setup, Leave Type, Nationality, Par Action, Par Group, Payroll Setup, Property List, Race, Religion, Retire Age Setup, Section Code, Shift, Socso Type, State and Target Group.

The HR Manager is comprised the Employee Management, Leave Management, Personnel Action Management, Training Development, Medical Management, Approval Management, Recruitment Management and Organizational Charting. a) Employee Management Comprehensive employees personal details. It consists of Working Profile, Personal details, Family, Education, Working Experience, Property List, Payroll information, Bank information and allowing for photo scanning. Providing rehiring details b) Leave Management Easy to define, monitor the balances of different types of leaves used in your organization Able to view all leave entitlement days taken and balances by monthly and yearly basis Able to specify balance leave to be brought forward to the following year Providing auto generation of leave entitlement to all employees Allows users to adjust balance leave to be brought forward Providing flexibility online leave data entry for Single or Group employees with or without approval loop process c) Personnel Action Management Provides online Personnel Action, such as employee evaluation, employee promotion, employee confirmation, employee resignation and transferring employee Providing appraisal template for you to analyze and assess the performance of the employee Able to transfer employee of a group of employees, either inter-departmental or inter-company Providing the histories of employee resignation records Provides approval configuration for every Personnel Action Keep track of employees discipline issues d) Training Management 32

 Flexible to identify training programs, courses, venues, schedules, participants and course materials Keeping track cost of training, on all training activities Allows to setup and plan the details of course like course name, conductor, venue, training date, number of participants allowed, cost and etc Keep track of employees attendance details of the course upon completion of the training Providing online course registration e) Medical Management Keeping track of information on accident cases, accident prevention action, employee hospitalization, employee medical leave and employee medical benefits Providing online apply medical leave Providing a template for importing the Billing data from Panel Clinic, as well as Billing entry form to key in manually f) Hostel Management Providing user-friendly hostel property maintenance Able to keep track the hostel owner particular and hostel property details information Able to keep track the current owner of the hostel Fast and easy to search the current hostel availability Providing employees details for those stay in the hostel g) Approval Management Providing application approval such as Leave, Confirmation, Promotion, Resignation, Allowance and Transfer employee Providing To Do List interface to list out number of applications they need to approve Allows delegate the job responsibility to another person. h) Recruitment Management Allows each head department online request for particular employee job posting Allows job vacancies publish link with company home page Providing candidates resume collection and online evaluate applicant details while interview them

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Time Manager is completely time and attendance recording system. It is integrated with electronic Time Clocking Devices and various attendance and exceptional reports are available for attendance monitoring purposes. It is also catered for all types of shifts and time recording methods, calculating Overtime and shift allowance The Time Manager design partially is Client / Server architecture. It comprised the Setup, Overtime Management, Schedule Management and Attendance Management Features a) Time Clock Support Support all models of time clock available in the market: Barcode, Proximity and Biometrics b) Setup Flexible to keep track of attendance from different time clock and different site Providing pre-define overtime formulae Able to pre-define various shift for different employee groups Able to specify off day and working day for different shift group Flexible forfeit holiday setting condition which including absent before or after holiday and absent before or after unpaid leave

Provide flexible attendance setting which including: Late In Early Out, Early in for entitle overtime, minimum Overtime hours, cut off date and etc c) Attendance Management The Attendance Management module is not only built-in evaluate employee attendance but also automatic calculating Overtime, allowances and providing online today attendance for different site Providing keep track of employee Late in Early out Providing separate storage attendance data for those employee incomplete attendances. Example: In but no Out Providing the user-friendly data entry for Superiors to modify incomplete attendances Providing the batch processing for Public Holiday replacement d) Schedule Management Providing online and unlimited changes of shift group for individual or group of employee Providing flexible users-interface of daily shift changes in advance for individual or group of employee e) Overtime Management Enable online Overtime Planning in advance by Superiors 34

 Allows users to key in online for their overtime records Providing online Overtime approval Payroll Manager provides an accurate and timely payroll computation. It is integrated with Leave Management, Employee Development, Loan and Claims Management, Personnel Action Request such as Promotion, Confirmation, Appraisal, Resignation and Transfer for payroll needs. The Payroll Manager design partially is Client / Server architecture. It comprised the Setup, Allowances & Deduction Management, Annual Bonus Management, Process Management, Export Management, Loan & Subsidy Management, Tax/EPF/Socso Management and Advance Payment Management Features a) Setup User definable Allowance Setup, Deduction Setup, Overtime Setup, Bonus Setup and Load & Subsidy Setup Allowing pre-setting twelve months Allowance and Deduction amount for the year. The system will update the monthly payroll with the values setup automatically b) Allowances & Deduction Management Providing online data entry for Claiming Allowance and Deduction data entry c) Annual Bonus Management Calculation of Bonus Payout by using the following methods: a) By Percentage b) (YTD / 12) x No. of Months c) Fixed Amount d) User Defined (Master Basic x Ratio x No. of Months) d) Process Management Providing user-friendly Payroll Calculation interface Allowing two cycles Payroll run in monthly Providing formulae view log for you to audit your payroll calculation Cater for Payroll calculation without Time Management module Providing month end closing Payroll transaction

Providing EA form generation for single or many employees e) Export Management Bank auto payment on Diskette. This transferring process will only search for those selected employees which payout by bank 35

 Diskette downloading for EPF, SOCSO and CP39 respectively f) Loan & Subsidy Management Providing online data entry for Loan and Subsidy data entry g) Tax/EPF/Socso Management Providing Tax, EPF, SOCSO template for you to update the latest information Allows HR and Finance to view the current Tax, EPF and SOCSO table information online h) Advance Payment Management Providing user-friendly interface for salary payment in advance entry LIMITATIONS OF E-HRM While the Electronic Human Resource Management described earlier has many benefits, it also has many problems which need to be addressed to before it can really be useful. Some of them are described below: It can be expensive in terms of finance and manpower requirements. It can be threatening and inconvenient to those who are not comfortable with computers. For computerized information to be useful at all levels there is an urgent need for large scale computer literacy. Often the personnel designing e-HRM do not have a thorough understanding of what constitutes quality information to the uses. Thus, the users do not get exactly the reports which they want. Producing information that is of quality to the users requires an investment in time, effort and communication on the part of e-HRM managers. Computers cannot substitute human being. Human intervention will always be necessary. Computers can at best aid the human effort. The quality of response is dependent upon the accuracy of data input and queries fired. The garbage-in garbage-out is the key expression in any computerized system.

SUGGESTIONS The e-HR technology should be modified as to increase efficiency of conducting einduction meetings via web technology in order to bring in high efficiency level of employees. The pay structure defined currently is insufficient, therefore the HR department can give in more break ups or a more detailed description of what is being currently given. The HR department has to given in a description on how assessment of the employee performance is made online in order to realize the payments calculated online. E-HRM still has to be responsible to build high level performing teams. In that case the HR department can conduct more reviews and training in order to pick out high performing teams. E-HR can also improve organisational performance through reframing the HR policies according to the preferences of the employees. HR department has to implement policies that serve to benefit for all the employees in order to plan and develop their career. The HR department has to bring in more options under e-HR technology for employees to enroll for 36

flexible benefit administration. The HR department can often make use of chat rooms, fairs, networking etc for recruiting in order to make them effective in the organisation. The HR department has to give in a detailed employment contract offer online in order to make it clear for employees. The HR department should record and maintain all incoming applications online in order to make the applicant tracking system easily accessible. The department has to take into consideration that the transformation of HR has to be client focused and a responsive function that it gives immediate response even to the clientele. The HR department should also give preferences to policies that change the nature of relationship with the employees and managers.

CONCLUSION The transformation of HR has a range of facets which have been posed out in the study at Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Ltd., expose the main themes of cost, the relative capabilities of self-service, shared services, outsourcing and crucially, the quality of the people in HR function. From the study we can understand that most of the human resources functions of Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Ltd., has been automated and the employees are quite comfortable using these functions through web based technology. It also shows the amount of interest people within the company show towards the function and the effort put forth in order to learn how to perform these functions. It is also evident that the system followed at Cognizant Technology Solutions India Private Ltd., is quite effective and user friendly. Thus it is advisable to other organisations also to use e-HRM technology, as the software solutions promises to give a trouble-less system and inexpensive technology though in fact the level of this promise is made up only to a certain extent. But the software solution keeps up the promise to provide a useful, efficient and increased performance through this e-HRM technology inspite of all barriers it has to face. Perhaps the ultimate determinant of the success of HR will be its own ability to source and develop human talent with the capability to share and lead HR into a pre-eminent position within the business, where its own value is then truly perceived to be creating value through people.

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