The Importance of Using Technology in Human Resource

Abstract

The manual processes undertaken by the City of Detroit HR department caused many problems such as errors in the payroll and hence the need to adopt the Kiosk Machine. A Kiosk Machine is a user interface and system software which offers remote monitoring to enable multiple kiosks to be managed from a single location. Adopting a sophisticated means of a technological system was a critical aspect of resolving some of the issues that decreased the morale amongst the employees and the level efficiency as well as effectiveness within the department. Technology is a vital aspect of addressing security by dissuading users from maliciously attacking the manual systems put by the HR department. The questions investigated in this report are:

1. What is the relationship of using technology in HR and efficiency of the department?
2. How important was it for the City of Detroit to adopt the Kiosk Machine (new technology for the payroll system)?
3. What is the relationship between the adoption of technology in HR and employees acceptance of the new payroll system?
4. What is the impact of adopting the technology in the HR department on the human resource practices of the City of Detroit?

To comprehensively address the questions posed, a literature review and detailed definition of human resource management are provided. Moreover, some of the human resource practices are elaborated explicitly in addition to the importance of technology in the human resource department. The literature review also explored challenges facing the City of Detroit. Methodology section contains the information on how data for this research project was collected. The study findings have been presented in addition to the conclusion and recommendations to be considered by the City of Detroit. The findings of this study depict that technology in the human resource department is critical for achieving efficiency and effectiveness. Some of the recommendations to the City’s HR department include automating other elements such as selection and recruitment as well as holding training and development seminars for all employees.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT. 2

CHAPTER ONE: DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM... 7

Introduction and Rationale. 7

Background of Study. 9

Research Problem.. 10

Statement of Purpose. 13

Research Audience and Rationale. 13

Research Questions. 14

Scope of the Study. 14

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW... 15

Definition of HRM... 15

Features of Human Resource. 16

Objectives of Human Resource Management 16

Human Resource Practices. 17

Performance appraisal. 17

Career management. 18

Reward system. 19

Training. 20

Importance of Using Technology in Human Resource. 23

Technological Tools Used By Human Resource Professionals. 26

Procurement. 26

Employee development. 27

Compensation. 27

Employee relations, communication and work environment. 27

Decision making. 28

Human resource information system (HRIS) 28

Human Resource Related Problems Facing the City of Detroit 28

The revenue problem. 29

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY.. 31

Research Approach. 31

Data Collection Approach. 31

Data Collection Procedures. 32

Data Analysis and Synthesis. 33

Methodological Limitations. 33

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS. 33

Introduction. 33

Research Findings. 34

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS. 39

Overview.. 39

Summary. 40

Conclusion. 41

Recommendations. 41

REFERENCES. 43

Figure 1 Overview of the HR roles. 36

Figure 2 Objectives of HRMIS. 37

Table 1 Payroll System Frequency Distribution. 38

Table 2 Compensation. 39

The Importance of Using Technology in HR and how it organizes the Department to be more efficient and effective

Chapter One: Definition of the Problem

Introduction and Rationale

According to Woodford (2001), the City of Detroit was the best commercial center in America during the 18th century, although it later developed into a manufacturing city in the 19th century making it a target for starting business ventures.

The City of Detroit has a problem in satisfying its employees, due to the human resource management problems that it faces. The problems arise due to the inadequate payment system that hinders the growth of companies and, at the same time, many employees in Detroit dislike it. Therefore, the administration has worked on solving this problem by introducing the Kiosk system that satisfies both the organization's management and the employees, while at the same time provides room for secure communication and controlling any payment errors that were prone in the previous system. Through the implementation of this Kiosk system, the City of Detroit ensured that it caters for the needs of employees who do not have computer knowledge or have minimal access to the computers (Harrison &Sheena, 2007).

The human resource department at Detroit believes that every employee in the City should uphold the following duties to ensure a rise in the economy. First, an employee has to understand and embrace any new ideas set by the organization. The employee should implement the concept without questioning its origin since it is critical for the wellbeing of the team. Additionally, all employees should adapt to new business approaches adopted by the organization. A good example is the changing of the old payroll to the Kiosk Machine system where Detroit encouraged that all employees understand the importance of the system by educating them on its importance (Woodford, 2001). A Kiosk Machine ensures that there is no misuse of the features that are present. Compared to the manual system, the Kiosk machine makes services in the HR more secure.

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Background of Study

In the 1950s, Detroit was one of the most populated cities with over 1.8 million people and had globally recognized industries, the result of successful industrialization. However, in 2013 Detroit City was declared bankrupt due to various reasons, the major one being that the City’s outflow exceeded its income. Part of this problem came about from generous pension promises made through the years that were not matched by the city allocating enough money (BBC News, 2013). However, the City introduced new investment and payroll systems that ensured that most City employees got the share they deserved for their work. Detroit attracted many investors and mainly focused on improving the lives of young people who would later come to make the City one of the best investment areas. Education is one of the most significant challenges in the City of Detroit (Woodford, 2001).

Detroit has the vision to strengthen the financial capability of the City by reducing unnecessary costs, thus, introducing human resource systems to motivate employees such as the Kiosk Machine. However, due to the high rate of the computer illiteracy, the City is unable to fully implement the system, since there is resistance from employees who are not familiar with the usage of modern technology in human resource management. Detroit’s bankruptcy is also one of the main reasons why the City has devoted itself to advanced technology to improve the financial status of the people (BBC News, 2013).Recently, Detroit has changed economically and socially due to the negative forces within the government that lead to poor leadership and mismanagement of public funds, and this has resulted in a minimum income generation during the past years. Detroit City had to find a way to curb these problems to ensure the growth of the City, and one of the ways was to minimize corruption by introducing the Kiosk System that would assure employees of their full pay (Woodford, 2001).

After the introduction of the Kiosk Machine, a system which seeks to automate manual HR practices and make them more secure, the City of Detroit had a vision for the system. The aim was to provide credible data for all employees, assist with the human resource management matters whether tiny or huge and also assist with the payroll of all employees. The Kiosk system was built with an aim to provide high professionalism among the employees of Detroit City and reward individual efforts to the employees who worked extra hard for the success of an organization (Reppert, 2007). The Kiosk system would also provide physical and technical knowledge on how to run organizations, which would help the employees plan their work and ensure they complete their daily assignments for the organization (Reppert, 2007).

Research Problem

The research was carried out to examine the importance of the new Kiosk Machine and how it would solve the human resource and management problems. The poor state of Detroit City was one of the primary reasons leading to the research in an attempt to find solutions and to make the City successful in business ventures as the Kiosk Machine ensures efficient payment of taxes (BBC News, 2013). Reports from various organizations in Detroit City suggest that, as a City, Detroit is not living up to its expectations, and that there is a rising need to improve the communication and payroll system to increase the City’s production. Introduction of a Kiosk Machine and clock system proved to be a critical factor for the future of business in Detroit (BBC News, 2013).

One of the significant problems in the City of Detroit is the cost of human resource and management support. However, through the introduction of the Kiosk Machine, this issue has highly been controlled since the system can connect to the City’s workforce automating the human resource access and the payroll systems (Woodford, 2001). Moreover, the Kiosk system looks into the employees pay rate and pays for any overtime job. Some employees in Detroit are unable to manage their profiles that may be due to computer illiteracy or even lack of extra time to perform such tasks. However, by the use of the Kiosk system, such problems are curbed since the system can manage the employees profile automatically, thus giving the employees ample time to do their jobs without any inconveniences.

Through the Kiosk payroll system, the employees can access various work categories. First, employees can check and manage the progress of their payment, which is an excellent improvement to the old payroll system where a customer had to confirm with their managers on a specific amount. Additionally, some organizations have employee motivation benefits, and through the Kiosk system, an employee can monitor all the business sales, while at the same time viewing their benefits or compensations for the sales (Reppert, 2007). The Kiosk Machine will also record any losses incurred by the employee when working, and this will be reflected in the final payments to the employee. Moreover, this method ensures that the City of Detroit maintains transparency to its employees, which helps a relationship based on trust. Secondly, an employee can update and change their data in the payment system instead of going through the organization’s administration system, which is a time-consuming process. The system can keep employees up-to-date with the payment changes by sending data to the employees’ e-mail. Additionally, Detroit City prefers this method since the administration can directly communicate with its employees through it. Thirdly, the human resource management of Detroit City updates job availabilities and the City information, thereby providing opportunities to the jobless, focusing mainly on the young people (Harrison & Sheena, 2007).

Some of the reasons that influenced Detroit to introduce the Kiosk system are the following. Formerly, the employees in the human resource department had to issue papers to show the work they had done on a working day, but by using the Kiosk Machine, the employees can merely print pay stubs, which is much easier than checking all employees’ papers. Regular transactions from the organizations to the employees did not provide the necessary transparency and, therefore, the need to create a more transparent way of payment and communication came up. According to Woodford (2001), the Kiosk Machine system minimizes any inconveniences since it provides all the details of a payment explaining the deductions or compensations involved. In the payroll system, the employees had many issues with their salaries; these problems consumed time, which could be used to make Detroit a more productive nation. The payroll system used in Detroit did not provide a chance for an employee to communicate with the human resource department or the administration. However, the Kiosk Machine enables employees to exchange e-mails with any members of the organization when the need arises. Moreover, using e-mails, the organization can communicate to all members in one message informing them of any developments in the business to (Woodford, 2001).

The City of Detroit strives to ensure that all the employees get a good-working environment where they can work to their best to improve the economy of the City. Some of the beliefs associated with the human resource department in Detroit City to enhance excellent services using the payroll system are the following. First, Detroit City ensures that their employees have good ethics in their organizations and are confident in what they do (Harrison & Sheena, 2007). The City of Detroit provides that all employees get genuine payments, which are timely and accurate. Moreover, the human resource and management department ensures that the employees respect each other and maintain job ethics such as integrity, courtesy, and honesty among others.

Statement of Purpose

The City of Detroit came up with three explanations as to why they needed to replace the payroll’s manual system with the Kiosk Machine. One of the reasons was to make sure that they came up with a method that would improve the human resource services by interacting with all the employees in the City (Harrison &Sheena, 2007). The system would not just be used for employee payments but also for transmission of relevant information such as city news and developments.

Communication is a crucial tool to keep a close relationship between people in a business and, therefore, by doing this, the City of Detroit would ensure that they have loyal and trusted employees. Another reason for the creation of a more developed payment system was to improve the economy of the city by saving costs (Reppert, 2007). The Kiosk payment system would mainly reduce the errors on the payment mechanism of employees. The reduction in errors saves time which increases production in the organizations. Finally, Detroit saw the need to advance the level of technology utilized by the employees in the various companies and corporations and to in turn to improve the efficiency of work in the organizations (Reppert, 2007).

>Research Audience and Rationale

The research is intended for organizations in Detroit City that use modern technology in their human resource and management department to work with their employees. The Kiosk system has assisted many employees in improving efficiency in work and minimized the error factor in employees’ payments. Detroit City has taken the right step to reclaim its 1950’s glory after its bankruptcy in 2013 (BBC News, 2013). With technological advancements in place which include the use of Kiosk Machine in payments, it would be easier for Municipalities and City Departments to achieve a high level of efficiency since the most significant part of an organization is the human resource department surcharged with the responsibility of keeping the employees satisfied at all times.

Research Questions

The following are the research questions that this study seeks to answer:

1. What is the relationship between use of technology in HR and efficiency of the department?
2. How important was it for the City of Detroit to adopt the Kiosk Machine (new technology for the payroll system)?
3. What is the relationship between the adoption of technology in HR and employees acceptance of the new payroll system?
4. What is the impact of adopting the technology in the HR department on the human resource practices of the City of Detroit?

Scope of the Study

The scope of this study was explicitly limited to the new technology adoption in the HR department by the City of Detroit, specifically the Kiosk Machine. The study explores how the use of technology improved efficiency and effectiveness within the department. Moreover, it explores the relationship between the new technology and its acceptance by the employees of the City of Detroit.

The findings of the study are intended to inform the stakeholders of the City of Detroit and other organizations of the need and importance of deploying technology in the human resource department. The findings report can be utilized by an organization to form policies and guidelines that seek to have human resource practices automated for the benefit of the employees and the business. The scope of the study was, therefore, guided by the research questions formulated pertaining the importance of technology in the HR department.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Definition of HRM

Byars and Rue (2006) explained that human resource management is a style of managing employees with strategies that focus on achieving the organizational goals. According to Byars and Rue (2006), employees are merely the human resources of a company classified as the most critical assets of the organization. There are different definitions of human resource management, but the main point in all definitions is that human resource management aims at employee satisfaction in any company.

Byars and Rue (2006) stated that for an organization to have an active and capable workforce, the agency should use the human resource management to acquire new employees who have the required skills and knowledge needed. Moreover, the human resource management is used to provide essential plans for the organization and analyze the jobs available. The organization has the challenge to provide its employees with the best working conditions that will improve the morale of the workers (Hendry, 2012). Workers who feel trusted by the organization work with little or no supervision since they have the target of the organization in mind (Hendry, 2012). The human resource management has the power to terminate employees’ contracts when they fail to live up to the expectations of the company. Byars and Rue (2006) noted that, in case of any health issues in the organization, the HRM is responsible for providing solutions and also keeping up with the current trends in healthcare.

The evolution and development of human resource management began in the 1900s when the European economy was preparing for the First World War (Hendry, 2012). Industrial production at this time required skilled, disciplined, and well-organized labor force. During this time, leadership formed; rewards and punishments became introduced to the workforce, and the leaders assigned responsibilities to the people (Hendry, 2012).

Features of Human Resource

Hendry (2012) stated that for an organization to be successful, the manager has to be very careful and responsible in choosing the staff who will work under his supervision to ensure the company succeeds. Managers have to select the best team for a specific operation in the organization to ensure efficient accomplishment. In the human resource management, the managers are open to seek help and advice from more experienced people to improve the services they (Hendry, 2012). Additionally, the human resource department is open to interacting with all the functional areas in an organization and, therefore, all managers in every office should cooperate to ensure the successful running of the business. Hendry (2012) explained that human resource management is a continuous process and must be conducted from time to time to ensure that the company’s objectives are all achieved.

Objectives of Human Resource Management

First, the primary aim of human resource management is to achieve the organizational goals set by the company (Byars& Rue, 2006). Secondly, HRM aims at the full utilization of employees in an organization. In this case, the organization employs multifunctional employees, engaging part-timers and subcontractors to ensure the achievement of every target. Human resource management ensures that there is full utilization of available resources in the company, applying the concept of team work among employees and strengthening the organizational culture.

Human Resource Practices

Performance appraisal

According to Armstrong (2012), performance appraisal is a method in which the organization improves the ability of an employee with the aim of increasing production. Armstrong (2012) noted that there are two forms of performance appraisal namely systematic and non-systematic evaluation. In the regular assessment, which is also known as the formal appraisal, the employee is closely supervised by the employer in an aim to evaluate the work done by the individual or group towards attaining the required target.

Armstrong (2012) noted that through performance appraisal, the human resource management could indicate the weaknesses of their employees and in this case, there is the need for, training and development planning. Some employees require supervision while doing specific tasks through performance appraisal; the problem is minimized, since the employees are rated from the best performers to the average ones and, finally, to the poor performers. Additionally, this rating enables the organization to know the level of supervision that a specific group of employees requires.

Through performance appraisal, the organization can provide an analysis of how well an employee has performed in their job. Therefore, the organization can calculate and determine the employee’s compensation based on the work done. Armstrong (2012) acknowledged that a reasonable benefit to the employees motivates them to do a job efficiently, and in most cases, with minimal supervision. Performance appraisal enables the human resource managers to train employees and come up with development plans (Armstrong, 2012). Through the performance appraisal, the organization can know the skills, capability, and expertise of employees and, therefore, they are given tasks according to their abilities (Hendry, 2012).

Career management

According to Cascio andAguinis (2005), career management is a plan of an individual’s activities in a certain job whereby the individual acquires skills and is financially stable to enhance their future career growth. Through career management, an individual is able to embrace various life aspects such as self-awareness, career development, and exploration (Cascio and Aguinis, 2005). Successful career management can be attained through normal life habits such as involvement in career development talks, setting new goals in life, and updating career development plans. Some of the benefits of the career management program to the organization includestaffing inventories, whereby the career management ensures that there is a hope for the future of the company by managing young professionals.

Cascio and Aguinis (2005) observed that career management helps the organization in fighting problems such as women discrimination and favoring some recruits by ensuring that there is equality in the organization. Employees who are driven by passion are motivated to reach their career objectives and thus, they benefit the organization by increasing the rate of production. Career management helps in solving organizational and employee problems since recruiting of the new workers is much easier when the job seekers learn that the company offers career opportunities to its employees (Veneeva, 2014). Organizations need to provide their workers with opportunities to realize their career potentials since the career expectation is high in the modern society (CascioandAguinis, 2005). Therefore, career management helps to satisfy these needs and enable the employees to realize their career expectations.

Reward system

According to Delery and Doty (1996), the reward system aims at the motivation of employees based on their value to the company. The reward system has various objectives such as training the current employees by making them feel appreciated for their services to the company. The system also provides financial sustainability to the company and ensures that all employees comply with the demands of the organization (Delery& Doty, 1996). One of the main reasons for the system is to motivate the employees and strengthen the organizational culture in a company. Delery and Doty (1996) explained that there are different types of individual and corporate rewards, namely, intrinsic rewards, esteem and development rewards, extrinsic and security rewards among others. However, some organizations chose to offer only team rewards, namely the team bonus or the group cooperation rewards.

Organizations should create an environment where all employees feel appreciated for their participation towards the company (Hendry, 2012).Corporations use rewards to show gratitude to their employees, especially after accomplishments of specific tasks. When some organizations reward employees when they have not attained the required target, it affects them negatively since other employees may not take it lightly making them less committed to the tasks assigned with (Hendry, 2012). Rewarding employees reasonably help in the following ways: according to Delery and Doty (1996), the system acquires flexibility such that all employees are accountable for the rewards they get. Secondly, organizational objectives are achievable and more comfortable job evaluation is carried out. The workers are satisfied, and in this way, the morale of an organization remains high, enhancing more cooperation and efficiency (Hendry, 2012).

Training

According to Patrick and Bruce (2000), training has grown into a fundamental part of Human Resource M. Training is anexercise in the human resource management used to improve the skills of the employees as well as increase their knowledge on various issues concerning the job to increase production in the organization. Training involves practice on the employment, education, and development.

There are various methods used for training employees. First, there is the technical training that involves teaching the employee on how to use modern technology to improve speed and efficiency while doing a job. In some cases, and especially in the sales department, training can be used to show employees how to use the customer relationship management system or to find new selling methods and customers. Secondly, there is the quality training which involves teaching the employee how to conserve valuable items in an organization and also how and when to use specific elements to enable the aspect of conservation. Thirdly, there is the skills training which teaches the employees various methods that can be used to do a particular job. Byars and Rue (2006) explained that skill training is the necessary things that every employee needs to know.

One of the most critical skills is the team training, where the employees are taught on how to relate and cooperate with other workers to obtain the primary objective of the company. Team training enables employees to know each other, interact, and motivate each other, identifying each other’s strength and weaknesses and, most importantly, improving the organization's productivity (Hendry, 2012).

Recruitment

Recruitment as a human resource practice helps to give an organization suitable employees with the skills needed for the job. For recruitments to take place, agencies use a process explained as follows (Veneeva, 2014). In the first step, the organization identifies the vacant position in the company. The company evaluates the skills needed for that department and starts looking for an individual with similar attributes or abilities to fill the position. The company should develop the position description in the second step of recruitment, whereby the human resource professionals come up with interview questions. In the development of the job description, the human resource manager should consider certain aspects such as the minimum requirements for the job, the required qualifications, and the primary purpose of the vacant position.

In the third step, human resource professionals develop the recruitment plan. Veneeva (2014) outlined the elements required in the recruitment plan that included the posting period that gave dates on when interested job seekers should enquire for the job as well as for placement goals. The list also includes additional advertising resources, diversity agencies, and the resume blanks. In the fourth step, the company should select a search committee, which is well conversant with the field, and set up a panel that will decide the suitable candidate for the position. Veneeva (2014) acknowledged that the organization should post the position in the fifth step and review the job seekers who have applied for the job in the sixth step while developing a list of the people to be interviewed in step seven .The selected job seeker should be hired and shown the working department. In the ninth and final stage, the organization can close the recruitment process as the employee is now ready to perform any task given.

Recruitment as a human resource practice helps to give an organization suitable employees with the skills needed for the job. For recruitments to take place, agencies use a process explained as follows (Veneeva, 2014). In the first step, the organization identifies the vacant position in the company. The company evaluates the skills needed for that department and starts looking for an individual with similar attributes or abilities to fill the position. The company should develop the position description in the second step of recruitment, whereby the human resource professionals come up with interview questions. In the development of the job description, the human resource manager should consider certain aspects such as the minimum requirements for the job, the required qualifications, and the primary purpose of the vacant position.

In the third step, human resource professionals develop the recruitment plan. Veneeva (2014) outlined the elements required in the recruitment plan that included the posting period that gave dates on when interested job seekers should enquire for the job as well as for placement goals. The list also includes additional advertising resources, diversity agencies, and the resume blanks. In the fourth step, the company should select a search committee, which is well conversant with the field, and set up a panel that will decide the suitable candidate for the position. Veneeva (2014) acknowledged that the organization should post the position in the fifth step and review the job seekers who have applied for the job in the sixth step while developing a list of the people to be interviewed in step seven .The selected job seeker should be hired and shown the working department. In the ninth and final stage, the organization can close the recruitment process as the employee is now ready to perform any task given.

Importance of Using Technology in Human Resource

According to Tafti et al. (2009), 70% of managers in organizations use the internet to improve employment services and planning the sustainability of the electronic human resource. To achieve results with internet recruiting, Tansley and Watson (2000) stated some of the advantages that come with the usage of technology in human resource. Some of these benefits include lowering the cost of training, sending invitations, and postal charges of new members. Data processing and getting to know about new members is also undemanding, since, by use of technology, the company creates employees’ profiles, which contain all their details. According to the research, the duration needed by an employee in a particular organization and the point in which the new employer begins to work in the company is cut by 12 days, therefore, showing the effectiveness of technology in the recruitment process.

Through the internet, organizations can acquire better and more qualified personnel for the job. According to Lindstrom (1997) et al., since the introduction of new technology, companies are provided with a significant advantage for working. Technology has brought new ways in which organizations can work in human resource. One of the ways mentioned was by teleworking. Through teleworking, agencies can use computer and telecommunication services to simplify the employees work and make it fast and efficient. The use of teleworks, technology brings work to the employees instead of the employees moving towards the work.  Teleworking has three advantages to the human resource categorized in the following ways. First, telecommunication decreases absenteeism of employees in a big way. Secondly, there is an enormous improvement in the work done in the company since most of it is eased by the use of teleworks and finally, telecommunication brings a special relationship between the owners and the employees. The utilization of teleworks improves the morale of employees and makes them satisfied with the job they do, and therefore they do it to the best of their ability. In addition to employee satisfaction, the teleworks are also helpful to human resource since through their usage, there are flexible working hours, which is the twenty-four-hour concept, and this helps to improve the customer services (Lindstrom, Moberg& Rapp, 1997).

Lindstrom et al. (1997) named project orienting work with subcontracting as the other way in which organizations can improve their work through the human resource. Based on the economic theory, the main reasons for having the human resource department in a company is to achieve work partitioning which results to cost reduction and flexible management of work among the employees. Technology plays a significant role in uniting people with the same interests, ambitions, and skills together to create a long-term or short-term project depending on their will. Some of the main advantages involving the project orienting work with subcontracting include the introduction of new ideas and an improved workforce (Lindstrom, Moberg, & Rapp, 1997).

Human resource technology has grown by more than 50% in the last five years due to the increasing demand for organizational efficiencies (Taft et al. 2009). Moreover, the workforce has highly increased in many organizations since the human resource platforms provide systems with data analytics. With the use of technology, human resource managers can now manage their businesses with value-added solutions. Additionally, they can participate in the long-term growth of the company and also discard the employee management process which they had adopted before the invention of technology in organizations (Tansley& Watson, 2000).

Ashbaugh and Miranda (2002) compared the traditional human resource and the modern human resource that uses technology and noted five different trends. First, the usage of technology in human resource has reduced the costs and time for many activities carried out in the human resource department in an organization. Some of the areas where costs and time have significantly decreased in a company include the training of employees, supervision of employees and career management (Ashbaugh& Miranda, 2002).Secondly, technology has given the employees administrative powers in the human resource department such that they know what should be done without any supervision. Through this trend, the employees can focus on the more important tasks for the company and therefore make them more strategic. The use of paperwork has reduced due to the utilization of technology.

The third trend involves familiarizing the employees with more information about an organization, which helps them improve their speed and efficiency while performing certain tasks. In the traditional human resource, salaries and benefit options were the primary domains of the human resource department, but through technology, the internet has made this information available to the employees.In the fourth trend, technology has helped the human resource department to integrate with other sectors in the organization such as the information system (Ashbaugh and Miranda (2002). The human resource department operated as a standalone unit in the company and only interacted with other sectors when there was a problem, but through technology, the other areas now cooperate with other departments in the organization to ensure the success of the company as a whole.

The most precious assets in a company are its people, and therefore technology helps to coordinate them through information sharing and also to recruit others in times of need by the use of emails and the internet. Finally, in the fifth trend, technology had improved the speed in which a company recruits new employees and maintains the talented employees in the human resource department (Ashbaugh and Miranda 2002).

The use of technology has many benefits to human resource. Some of these benefits include: increase in efficiency, whereby the human resource professionals concentrates less on administrative functions and concentrate more on the way the information from their customers should be interpreted (Tafti et al. 2009). Therefore, the human resource managers and employees can respond to questions asked by their clients about certain products or the services they offer. Through technology, the human resource department can collaborate and communicate to the organization's customers and other workers or partners through the use of e-mails, video conferencing teleworking, and electronic workgroups. This technology enables the smooth running of the business even if some partners or the owner is not physically available to discuss matters concerning the organization.

Information technology improves the skills of employees in decision making and also retrieving information from the internet. Competent management is also one of the benefits provided by the use of technology in human resource. The human resource managers can gain knowledge, synthesize, learn and most necessarily be good decision makers. Human resource managers use information technology tools such as the virtual collaborations, data storage, intranet, and data obtaining to gather knowledge as well as empower various sections within the organization (Tafti et al. 2009).

Technological Tools Used By Human Resource Professionals

Procurement

Procurement is the most significant characteristic of human resource management that includes recruitment, selection, and placement of employees. Through procurement, the human resource department can get information about job seekers, and in the process, they can hire employees with the best qualities(Shrivatsava& Shaw, 2003).The technology tools used in procurement include social media sites such Facebook and LinkedIn, human resource planning and forecasting, induction packages and e-recruitment web portals. The human resource managers or the organization post their vacant positions in these sites, and the job seekers with the required qualifications apply online.