With two thirds of HR departments experiencing significant structural change, many have been left with inadequate or out of date IT provision which is now holding them back.
Nearly two thirds of HR departments have experienced significant structural change over the last two years due to a desire to deliver services more cost-effectively and a need to better address wider organisational change.
But according to research among 100 organisations of all sizes undertaken by the National Computing Centre’s Evaluation Centre, a third complain that they are now being hindered in their efforts by IT systems that no longer meet their requirements.
As a result, about 28 per cent of those questioned said that they planned to replace their HR applications in the near future, while 19 per cent were intending to upgrade them.
Steve Fox, managing director at the Evaluation Centre, an online service intended to help IT buyers select and use technology, said: “The pressure is very much on HR departments to become more strategic and to develop a structure that delivers cost-effective services to the business.”
As a result, some 42 per cent of organisations have already adopted online or intranet-based self-service applications to enable staff to find answers to queries and update personal information more easily, while a further 20 per cent intend to do so in future.
The key appeal of such packages is that they lead to more accurate data as individuals input it themselves before it is automatically verified by the system. Another benefit is that such activity reduces the burden on HR departments, thus freeing staff up to focus on other more strategic areas. Workers also like self-services systems because they feel they have more control over their personal data.
Other change that has been embraced by the HR department, however, includes increasing levels of home and flexible working. Some 53 per cent of companies have now introduced the former, with a fifth is actively promoting its adoption.
A further six per cent plan to go down this route in future, meanwhile, while the same number is currently evaluating the situation. About a third have no plans to embrace home working policies at present, however.
As for flexible working, about a third of those questioned are now actively providing staff with the choice, while just over a quarter are promoting it. An additional six per cent plan to make the policy available as an option, while the same number are undertaking evaluation. But 22 per cent have no intentions of embracing flexible working at all, the survey found.
