Human Resource Management and Information Technology
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One of the functions where HRM is likely to be neglected is information technology. Most IT functions started as relatively small units. The new technology was both difficult and exciting. Initially, a high starting value was attached to the jobs concerned. Small teams of dedicated people would work round the clock, without prompting a financial reward, in order to get their system 'up and running’.
Over a period of time, for no very good reason, a certain amount of alienation from other sectors of the business community crept in. IT staff reacted in many cases by developing a rather self-conscious professional pride. This has occurred to such an extent that they are often accused of being professional at the expense of company loyalty, unfairly so since the two conditions are not mutually exclusive.
In any event, IT functions have expanded considerably. Departments of fifty people are common, some run into hundreds and even thousands. It is now taken for granted that new systems will work and that production will proceed smoothly and regularly - given capable management. Inevitably the early status symbol has disappeared and bureaucratic controls have been imposed. But this means that the days when high motivation and work dedication could be taken for granted are gone. The younger generation of IT staff, as with their colleagues in other sectors of business, are affected by and respond much more to their environmental conditions.
Yet IT is still a highly volatile area in terms of technological development, and senior IT management spend a great deal of their time trying to get the technical environment right. This is encouraged by the fact that, in many organizations, the IT Manager is expected to be the source of all technical expertise, and top management criticism of IT performance is often misdirected towards its technical competence. The fact is, as IT audits often reveal, that the value of time spent on matters of technology is offset by the corresponding lack of time given to overall general management, of which HRM forms a vital and substantial part. This often results in failure to deliver new systems on time, unplanned resource demands, gaps in the required mix of skills, and weaknesses in user communications.
A great deal of attention has been given over the years to the technical problems of computing hardware and software. Large-scale digital communications networks, at international, national and local level, have been and are being implemented to support the needs of the next decade. Computer facilities have been brought into the office environment, not only by the on-line terminals to mainframe computers housed at corporate headquarters, but more so by the large numbers of standalone personal computers which are used to support word processing, spreadsheet and local database requirements. Earlier attempts to introduce an integrated approach to information systems have failed, and many of the manufacturing and supplying organizations have overstated the capabilities of their hardware and software to support the advanced concepts. The human resource has not been given due consideration, either in terms of the effects on end-user personnel of the automated processes themselves, or the needs for developing human resource management strategies and policies to support the manning requirements for the immediate, medium and longer terms.
For many commercial and information systems managers, the concepts of human resource management, which include manpower planning, are seen to be activities which take place at corporate headquarters. These corporate-level activities often result in broad generalized statements being made about people problems and manning levels -statements which are too remote from the actual problems faced by local management.
Our research findings suggest most companies do not attempt comprehensive human resource management to support their investments in information technology.
On the other hand, the complexities of forecasting techniques, establishing procedures for acquiring data, implementing productivity assessment systems, understanding motivational patterns, creating management development programmes, setting up skills inventories, and ensuring that all the modules are integrated correctly, can lead executive and line management into forgetting the reasons why these activities were required in the first place. Whilst all these components are necessary for a systematic approach to developing human resources, managers should ensure they place sufficient attention on careful identification and discussion of the local issues associated with information technology - especially with the advent of end-user systems.
