Electronic Human Resource Management
Electronic Human Resource Management can be defined as “The processing and transmission of digitalized HR information, especially using computer networking and the Internet” (pg. 52) basically, because technology has such a hold over most of the world, e-HRM is considered beneficial. It is faster, sometimes easier, and can be more proficient than the ‘over worked and under paid’ employee. Just because almost everything is now electronic doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need for humans any more.
Someone has to sit behind that desk and enter in all of the electronic information, look through the records and make sure all of the social security numbers are correct, and be there for technical support when the system is down or someone is having a user error. Many businesses’ today rely solely on e-HRM like the Armed Forces. Here at Mountain Home Air Force Base we have such system called The Portal. Inside this Portal, everything about anything you have ever done or would want to know can be found in here. Many HRM practices are done through this portal for all military and DoD civilians.
My work as a Personal Property counselor survives and is only possible with the use of e-mail. Because we work with everyone, including the deployed members currently serving overseas, what we do is damn near impossible without the use of our email. We cannot inform members of required documentation needed, deadlines that must be met, and forwarding up information to our headquarters, which is located in Colorado Springs, CO. My office at MHAFB uses the HRM practice of analysis and design of work faithfully on a daily, even weekend basis.
Recruiting: With our Portal, we have an Intranet based link called AMS, Assignment Management System. Through here, you can look at every single job opening on every Air Force Base in every country. When I log onto this AMS site, I can look at every job opening and the requirements for that job based on my job title. I can also choose to apply for this job through this system. Another practice of HRM is Training. In the Portal, everyone has an account in ADLS, Advanced Distant Learning System. In ADLS you may take any number of classes, free of charge to further your knowledge of the Air Force and the programs it has to offer.
Selection includes testing. Also found in ADLS are countless CBT’s, Computer Based Training. Everyone must complete specified CBT’s from Homosexual training to Chemical Warfare in a deployed location. At the end of every CBT, a certificate will be printed out with proof of completion and how well you did, giving your UDM (Unit Deployment Manager) an idea of who she’s working with. The last practice of HRM is compensation and benefits. The portal has a link you can click in that will lead you to your myPay account.
Through your myPay account you can see where every last penny came from, your current and past LES (Leave & Earning Statement), even your retirement plan that you have set up with the Air Force. The Air Force is just one example of how the majority of businesses are now electronic. Sooner or later we will live in a ‘Paperless work force” and everyone will be using e-HRM in one way or another. RESOURCES Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. Trends in Human Resource Management. (pp. 52) NewYork. Mcgraw-Hill Irwin. Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright. (2007)
