Information technology important for industrial relations

A conference held by the UK's Institute of Personnel and Development in June 1998 highlighted the importance of information technology in the management of human resources.

TheInstitute of Personnel and Development (IPD), the professional organisation representing some 80,000 personnel and training managers in the UK, prides itself on being a catalyst for discussion and debate in the area. Its Computers in personnel conference at the end of June 1998 appeared to do just that in sparking off reflection about the role of information technology and information systems in the management of human resources and industrial relations.

The potential for the use of information technology appears to be substantial, especially if reported developments in the USA are anything to go by. Areas in which new software packages are emerging include: recruitment and selection - where advocates say they can be used to make the screening process more efficient; training - where simulation is seen as a major step forward; and communications. In the latter case, it has been suggested that organisations should use e-mail, for example, not only to communicate directly with employees, but also to conduct regular attitude surveys.

It is the implications of the merging of human resource and payroll systems, however, which is exciting many commentators. The evolution of human resource information systems, in the words of one commentator, from "standalone record-keeping devices to report generators to integrated analytical tools" offers scope for a more strategic approach. Possible scenarios and major changes in pay systems and collective bargaining arrangements can be modelled and costed much more easily than before.

A major problem is as yet that there is very little evidence of the sophisticated use of information technology. The annual survey (PDF file) undertaken by the IPD in association with the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) at Sussex University continues to report than only a handful of companies think they using their information systems in innovative ways.

The reasons are not altogether clear. A key factor is reckoned to be a skills shortage, of people information technology skills in general and of people with both technical and behavioural skills in particular. The extent of this shortage has been confirmed in a separate study by the IES for the Department of Education and Employment ("Keeping IT together: skills for information technologists", S Dench, Institute of Employment Studies Report 346 (1998)).

Organisations which wish to take advantage of the potential of the new information technology have also been reminded of the need to take into account the new Data Protection Act which comes into force in October 1998. The original 1984 Act, which covered information on computer files only, is being expanded to include information on manual files. Trade unions will no doubt be asking questions about what information is being held on file as well as monitoring more closely management's more general use of information technology.

Reference: "A slow application", Geraint John, in People Management, 25 June 1998.