Midterm 2 - IT Flashcards
Identify five of the most significant ways that IT is supporting HR functions in today’s workplace.
STGPT
- storing important data such as wages, and vacation and sick time∙
- transferring employee data between HR and outside payroll systems∙
- generating organizational charts∙
- posting job openings within the organization∙
- tracking labour costs
What are the differences between a human resources information system (HRIS) and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution?
Human resources information system (HRIS) – a comprehensive across-the-board system for HR management that includes subsystems or modules such as recruitment and selection, time and attendance management, training and development, and pension administration.
It involves acquiring the best available software product that will encompass a broad range of HR functions (e.g., benefits, payroll, time and attendance, training, etc.). The system collects, stores, maintains data, and retrieves information about employees and their jobs.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) – commercial software systems that automate and integrate many or most of a firm’s business processes. An ERP can integrate HR data with other systems in the firm (e.g., finance, logistics, production, and accounting). HR then becomes one application among others and is a subset of ERP software solutions_
What is a self-service solution? What are some of the major functions of HR self-service solutions?
Self-service solution – a technology platform that enables employees and managers to access and modify their data via a web browser from a desktop or centralized kiosk.
Functions of HR Self-Service Solutions_∙
> entering or modifying employee information∙
> applying for travel reimbursement∙
> enrolling in training classes∙
> enrolling in and viewing benefits∙
> viewing job openings and applying for positions in the company∙
> managers can access employee information for those they supervise∙
> recording turnover and absenteeism data
Define enterprise portals
Enterprise portals are knowledge communities that allow employees from a single or multiple companies to access and benefit from specialized knowledge associated with business tasks. Enterprise portals are one of many IT tools that allow efficient access to relevant content and applications.
provide an example of how enterprise portals provide solutions for and improve human resource planning.
> HR portals are sophisticated websites that are designed to communicate a range of human resources information and a variety of organizational resources.
> They provide a single site for employees to access HR services. They are, in a sense, HR’s front door as they offer a web-based access point to all information sources, tools, and systems needed to consume HR services effectively.
Employees can access the portal to share information and collaborate more effectively with customers, partners, and suppliers using a secure infrastructure. The portal might also allow employees to sign up for direct deposit or view their time cards. Employees may also gain access to a knowledge repository and e-HR functions_
Discuss and provide an example of one app that provides solutions for and improves human resource planning.
In some instances HR departments are offering apps for HR that include obtaining and sharing legal information and benefits. While recruiting heads the list of HR mobile apps, experts predict that tracking time and attendance and payroll will dominate over the next years. Some new apps that are becoming popular include_
- People search applications_ This mobile app allows recruiters to mine social media to pull information from Twitter, Facebook etc. about candidates.
- Benefits administration_ This app allows employees to request vacation time, track their use of benefits, and submit claims.
- Talent management_ The app allows managers and employees to view current skills, job histories, and succession plans as well as get data on open positions, head counts, turnover, and other HR planning metrics_
List the stages of HR technology adoption. Provide an example of one stage.
INPUT, SUPPLEMENT, ACCESS, MINE
ISAM
> Stage 1_ At this initial phase, companies simply codify employee data such as name, job, compensation, etc.
> Stage 2_ The basic data is supplemented by data pulled from other sources, such as performance ratings and training outcomes.
> Stage 3_ In this stage, employees are given access to their data and can update or edit their profiles. They can also access career trajectories and indicate their career preferences.
> Stage 4_ This is the data mining stage, where organizations use statistics, such as turnover data by occupation, to predict employee behaviour and link it to organizational outcomes_
Define how enterprise resource planning (ERP) provides solutions for and improves human resource planning.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are based on software systems that automate and integrate data from diverse applications into a common database such as many or most of a firm’s business processes.
The fullest range of organizational activities can include finance, logistics, production, accounting, and HRM.
ERP computer systems are used by large corporations around the world, adopted with the aim of achieving substantial cost savings and improved access to “tried and tested” solutions, new releases, and an opportunity to update procedures and align them with the so-called “best practices.”
The ERP approach promotes the use of a single, shared relational database for critical information across the organization. This fosters the enforcement of consistent processes and procedures throughout the organization and ensures that administrative units can easily share information and communicate with one another.
Describe one benefit and one challenge for HR in implementing ERP applications.
For HR, the enterprise-wide solution provides a platform for:
> better integration of HR and finance in the management of payroll. When HR finds it difficult to obtain budget approval for investments in an HRIS solution, the enterprise-wide solution offers an opportunity for automation along with other administrative functions.
HR professionals may also gain credibility as a result of their effective involvement in an ERP implementation.
The ERP approach, however:
> is often quite costly with a lengthy implementation, as it involves significant organizational and contextual change.
> HR may get sidelined in the process of integrating a whole range of functions across the organization.
> Also, because ERP systems are built with “generic users” in mind, they may not be well adapted to the specific practices and requirements of the HR user group in any given company. This may create tensions regarding the organization’s unique identity_
When attempting to assess an organization’s readiness for Big data, the five pillars of Big data give some indication of the resources required to extract value from the investment required to collect, store, and analyze Big data. Define Big data and describe one of the pillars (or attributes).
Big data is the integration of digitized data from multiple sources and in multiple formats, including structured and unstructured data.
The five pillars refer to the attributes of volume, velocity, variety, veracity, and value.∙
- Volume. The volume of data that organizations can collect today is staggering. As people’s choices and preferences become issues of public record through social media, and as the Internet of things proliferates, making the usage of many common everyday items measurable, the volume of data available for capture is rapidly expanding. The first resource requirement for organizations considering trying to make use of Big data is having the capacity to store the potentially overwhelming volume of data.∙
- Velocity. This refers to the requirement to be able to transfer large amounts of data in a reasonable period of time. It might be possible to warehouse large amounts of video data, but if they cannot be accessed and searched in a reasonable period of time, it becomes increasingly difficult to integrate those data into any kind of analysis or to combine them with other data in a meaningful manner.∙
- Variety. Big data can come in many formats, as suggested by the possible types of unstructured data. Organizations must have the ability to deal with a wide variety of data types to make the most use of Big data.∙
- Veracity. As the variety and volume of data increase, the old saying garbage in, garbage out becomes even more relevant. When considering the way that unstructured data might be error prone (for example, the metadata might be incorrect for photo files, or object recognition from video files might be error prone), and the reduced ability to verify the accuracy of external data, the potential for error in the data leading to incorrect inferences from the data becomes greater, and the ability to detect and reduce those errors becomes more difficult.∙
- Value. With the ability to capture data from so many sources, how do organizations determine what data is of value and what to ignore
Define HR analytics.
HR metrics and workforce analytics applications address the challenge of getting business intelligence for strategic decision making. HR analytics has been defined as an HR practice enabled by information technology that uses descriptive, visual, and statistical analyses of data related to HR processes, human capital, organizational performance, and external economic benchmarks to establish business impact and enable data-driven decision making.
List three uses of workforce analytics.
Some uses of workforce analytics are_
• Predicting the probable success of a candidate.
• Identifying and quantifying physical risks to employees.
• Identifying workforce characteristics that contribute to fraud.
• Measuring employee engagement and predicting turnover.
• Identifying obsolete departments and or positions_
What is AI and machine learning?
AI is the ability of a piece of software to learn.
> A software-based ability to demonstrate learning and decision making.
Machine learning is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning focuses on the development of computer programs that can access data and use it.
What are the 3 roles of workforce analytics?
- Descriptive > data aggregation, data mining
- Predictive > statistical models, simulation
- Prescriptive > optimization models, heuristics
What HR planning functions can IT support?
IT supports these HR planning functions:
WFE
- Workforce management and scheduling
Example – Call Centre – call volumes, handle times and overhead to manage staffing & scheduling requirements - Forensic reporting
Employee monitoring – Compliance – safety inspections and overtime payments - Ensuring data security
Legislation regarding Employee Information – Authorization
