he internet is revolutionizing the recruitment process, allowing companies to bypass traditional situations vacant advertising and agency commissions by integrating careers sub-sections into their websites. Prospective employees can either apply directly to available jobs, or simply register their interest in working for a brand.
There is growing evidence that organisations are using Internet technology and the World Wide Web as a platform for recruiting and testing candidates. The primary drivers behind the decisions to pursue e-recruitment are:
The key limiting factors to e-recruitment most frequently reported are:
Issues raised as causing concern with e-recruitment included the quantity and quality of candidates applying using web-based tools (e.g. organisations being inundated with CVs attached by email, many of whom were not suitable for the post), the relevance of short listing criteria (e.g. the validity and legality of searching by keywords), confidentiality and data protection, and ensuring diversity of applicants.
The trends in e-recruitment use suggest a changing landscape whereby in future the candidate is connected to the central system and there is involvement of the line manager in the process. In addition to the reported benefits such as cost efficiencies, the role of HR in this model is viewed as more of a facilitative role, in theory allowing time for recruiters to become involved in the strategic issues within recruitment process.
The need for an employee relationship management system within the enterprise is critical today. ERM is not a technology, or a product or an application but a strategy that aims to bring conversation into newer avenues within an organization.
We deliver HR solutions using intranet and knowledge management solutions that can improve communication in your organization, cut costs and unite a decentralized workforce. We can help implement employee relationship management in your organization through collaborative tools like enterprise information portals, employee recruiting applications, performance appraisal applications, employee motivation applications, employee training and retention applications and other human resource-related applications.
Sharing and creating knowledge motivates employees to learn and think in terms of a learning community. Collective learning fosters coping skills and builds change-resilience skills in a fast changing new environment.
ERM is a system and a collection of tools that -
Bridging the gap between strategy and execution is the key to ERM solutions. This is dependent upon organizational alignment and the productivity, agility, and commitment of a loyal and high-performing workforce. Being a process-centric organization, we strive to achieve the same capability levels with customer projects and ensure that our applications deliver the same quality.
Human Resource vendors as well as Customer Relationship Management Vendors are trying to offer solutions for Employee Relationship Management. Employee Relationship Management is a science as old as business itself. One of the first technologies to improve employee relationship was the telephone and later the fax.
Defining employee relationship management is more difficult than defining something like Customer Relationship management. The nature of the relationship between a company and employee is far more complex than the relationship with customers. Customers simply go off to competitors when the relationship is not working while unhappy employees can remain for long periods in the company. Customers only experience the company at some key points of truth while employees are daily experiencing a relationship with their employer. The employee experience the relationship with the employer from the moment the employee enters into a workspace. Their moments of truth are overshadowed by a total experience over a period of time.
The question is however: "Why do we need Employee Relationship Management?" Before answering this question we need to reflect on what constitutes a relationship.
We have a relationship between two parties when;
- they feel close to each other,
- they have report with each other,
- they interact well,
- they communicate,
- they are sympathetic to each other
- they are responsive,
- they feel empathy with each other.
A good relationship is a relationship where there is a reciprocal exchange of value between two parties. Both parties must want to be part of that relationship and contribute to the relationship to work.
We believe that Employee Relationship Management will improve productivity by improving:
- Employee morale
- Employee loyalty
- Employee turnaround
- Employee communication
- Employee change readiness
Problem with a relationship is that it is much like an iceberg. The visible part of the relationship is only the tip of the iceberg that is visible above the water level. Most of the factors that determine the quality of a relationship are beneath the water. All these are done with the aim of improving productivity rather than interacting with employees.
The question is: Can Technology help improve employee relationships especially if such a large part of the relationship is based on hidden element?
Technology has already contributed to improving employee relationships:
- Companies already employ HR systems to ensure that employees get paid out the correct salaries on time
- HR system allows employees to manage training as well as their leave.
- Advance companies have performance measurement systems that assist with the monitoring and feedback of performance by linking it to bonus schemes.
- Work flow systems help to manage and coordinate the flow of work to and from employees.
- Organizational structure diagramming helped to make reporting lines and responsibilities clear.
- Business information management technologies provide employees with up to date information.
- Knowledge management technologies help employees to share knowledge of what is happening in the company.
- Email, company portals and electronic calendars are already tools in use in most companies.
- Chief Executives have use blogging as a means to directly communicate with employees.
- Online self training courses helps employees to stay up to date with the latest developments in the industry
Technologies improve efficiencies rather than relationships. The question is: "Can these technologies really help to improve employee relationships?" We think they can if these technologies are integrated and shaped around the needs of each employee.
A company will benefit only from Employee Relationship Management technologies if there are clear guidelines and rules of how these technologies should be used. A culture that values the employee must pervade the organisation before these technologies can begin to make a positive contribution. Without a clear management adoption of employee centered values, these technologies can become a destructive force which spread a negative morale rather than a positive one. Employee relationship management tools breaks down the dependency on hierarchical command and control systems and introduces more and more a self organizing culture of employees that are networked to collaborate on points of need.
Technology can definitely assist but old style interpersonal skills and conflict resolution techniques still form the baseline requirements for effective Employee Relationship Management.
Quality Excellence offers a collaborative Employee Relationship Portal that is web-based and comprises of wide ranging elements that streamline and automate the entire Human Resource department of an Enterprise, enhancing employee experiences and thereby bottom-lines.
Today, Enterprises are replete with tools that manage business processes and information applications, including workflow and project management; but these remain largely unused due to lack of employee involvement and participation. To tackle this issue we have come up with an innovative solution for augmenting employee involvement and participation.
Instead of presenting the intranet as a mundane and 'forced on by the management' entity, we introduce it as infotainment channel that focuses on facilitating the users -the employees in this case- with information that is relevant to them, interspersed with light diversions such as; games, polls, classifieds, birthday reminders, e-cards and the like; all this, just to get them hooked on and comfortable with the system. Once, the comfort level has been established, we then introduce the official elements such as online and on demand induction, online appraisals, policy announcements, department guidelines, online collaborations for projects, documents and much more - depending on each organizations requirements. The end result is enhanced workflow and effective teamwork, with willing participation from each employee. Ultimately, what it does is enhance employee engagement and retention, which in turn rationalize an organization's intellectual assets and operations for greater success.