This term e-HRM was first coined and explored in 1990s.It is planning, application, implementation and involvement of information systems in sharing of HR activities through networking and supporting performance activities.

e-HRM is the administrative support of the HR function inorganizations by using Internet technology. A way of implementing HRM strategies, policies, and practices inorganizations through the conscious and direct support of and/or with the full use of channels based on web-technologies. An umbrella term covering all possible integration mechanisms and contents between HRM and Information Technologies aiming at creating value within and across organizations for targeted employees and management. The mix of HRM, Internet and HRIS (Human Resource Information Systems) which helps in delivering Human resource services using technology.

Elements of E-HRM:

From the above discussion, it is evident that e-HRM has several crucial elements. It utilizes information technology in a twofold manner.

First, technology is necessary to connect usually spatially segregated actors and enable interactions between them irrespective of their working in the same room or on different continents, i.e. technology serves as a medium with the aim of connecting and integration.

Second, technology supports actors by partially – and sometimes even completely – substituting for them in executing HR activities. Hence, information technology serves additionally as a tool for task fulfilment.

The consideration of individual and collective actors takes into account that e-HRM is a multilevel phenomenon; besides individual actors, there are collective actors like groups, organizational units, and even whole organizations that interact in order to perform HR activities.

Besides, e-HRM, there are some further concepts which obviously refer to the same phenomenon. Widely accepted are such terms as virtual HRM, web-based HRM, or business- to-employee.

“Virtual HRM” refers to technological mediated networks of different internal and external actors providing the firm with the HR services needed without the further existence of a conventional HR department which therefore becomes virtual.

Types of E-HRM

There are three types of E-HRM.

1. Operational: Operational E-HRM is concerned with administrative functions – payroll and employee personal data, for example.
2. Relational: Relational E-HRM is concerned with supporting business processes by means of training, recruitment, performance management and so
3. Transformational: Transformational E-HRM is concerned with strategic HR activities such as knowledge management, strategic re-orientation. An organization may choose to pursue E-HRM policies from any number of these tiers to achieve their HR goals.

E-Recruitment/Applicant Tracking:

Organisations advertise the job vacancies through the World Wide Web (www) or send the information directly to the most competent people through e-mail. The job seekers send their applications through e-mail using the internet. Alternatively, job seekers place their CVs in the World Wide Web through various sites like hot jobs.com and jobs.com, which can be drawn by the prospective employers depending upon their requirements.

E-recruitment manages job descriptions and job vacancies, search for candidates and the interview process. It is also referred to as an applicant-tracking system; this is a web-based application that enables the electronic handling of organizational employment needs. These activities include posting job advertisement on web sites to stimulate and attract candidates, known as job boards.

Job boards allow candidates to apply on-line and the candidates’ data are stored on a database that allows searching, screening and filtering of applications. The application tracking system shortlists the candidates and arranges for interview and recruitment related activities.

E-recruitment maintains profiles, searches for and refers jobs to colleagues and follows the recruitment process. It integrates resume extraction capabilities using the Magnaware/Mohomine extraction engine to search for potential candidates. It uses event- driven applicant tracking and manages positions on multiple external websites. E- recruitment/applicant tracking systems reduce administrative tasks, cost and time required to perform recruitment activities.

Thus, e-recruitment carry out:

1. Storage of applicants’ details
2. Retrieval and modification of those details
3. Matching CV to job specifications and short listings
4. Link with internet recruitment processes
5. Letter-writing, acknowledgement, short listing intimation, call for interview, offers and rejections
6. Management reports, analysis of response to media

Advantages of e-recruitment include:

1. A click on the mouse presents 240,000 job sites to the candidate;
2. It reduces the cost by 95 per cent of the traditional recruitment;
3. It reduces the time from normal 43 days of traditional recruitment to just a few days;
4. It presents the list of job opportunities to the candidate when he submits details of his/ her skill set;
5. It shortlists the candidates by matching the candidate’s qualifications, skills etc., with those of skills and the right competencies inbuilt in the software;
6. It also prepares interview schedules and communicates the same to the candidates;
7. It streamlines the entire recruitment process for a given time and unlimited job requirements; and
8. The number of people required for handling of applications are reduced

In view of these advantages, a number of employers around the world recruit the people using Internet.

E-Selection:

E-selection has become popular with the conduct of various tests through on-line, contacting the candidates through e-mail and conducting the preliminary interviews and final interview through audio-conferencing and video-conferencing. Further, the employers get the reference letters/ opinions from the referees through e-mail.

Advantages of E-Selection:

1. The candidate need not move from his place to take the written test, preliminary interview, provide additional information and final interview. Thus, it eliminates inconveniences, reduces cost and time required to conduct the selection process;
2. It reduces the time required for other selection techniques;
3. It drastically reduces the overall cost of selection However, there are certain limitations of e-selection.

Limitations of E-Selection:

1. It cannot operate certain selection-tests like psychological tests;
2. Mechanical defects in transmitting information reduce the efficiency of selection techniques; and
3. Judgement based on the e-selection process cannot be as perfect as traditional

E-Performance Management:

Several software packages are developed to measure employee performance and offer suggestions for improvement of employee performance. Many employers tend towards using these software packages and computerize the employee performance appraisal systems.

The software on employee performance appraisal provides a number of statements and sub- statements on each of the performance categories. The appraiser selects and clicks the appropriate rating for each statement. The system generates a detailed report, by the time the appraiser has moved all the performance categories and sub-factors. This report can be modified, comments can be added or deleted by the appraiser and a final report can be prepared by the manager.

Further, organisations use computer networks, sophisticated telephone systems, and video equipment to monitor and record the employee work activities.

An online performance appraisal system is a software program that facilitates the completion of performance evaluations online. It may be integrated with an employee position description module, allowing managers to pull data from the employee’s position description and insert this information into the evaluation.

Further, it can act as a historical archive, storing past evaluations and permitting comparisons between evaluations over time. The primary advantage of these systems is the accessibility of

the data any time from any computer with internet access, as well as the ease and speed with which they can generate accurate HR-related reports.

An effective e- performance management system can play a very crucial role in managing the performance in an organization by:

1. Ensuring that the employees understand the importance of their contributions to the organizational goals and objectives.
2. Ensuring each employee understands what is expected from them and equally ascertaining whether the employees possess the required skills and support for fulfilling such expectations.
3. Ensuring proper aligning or linking of objectives and facilitating effective communication throughout the organization.
4. Facilitating a cordial and a harmonious relationship between an individual employee and the manager based on trust and empowerment.

An effectively implemented e- performance management system can benefit the organization, managers, and employees in several ways as depicted below:

Organization’s Benefits: It improves organizational performance, employee retention, and loyalty, improved productivity, overcoming the barriers to communication, clear accountabilities.

Manager’s benefits: Managers receive instant feedback on performance with drill down to individual employee performance. With this, there is no need to rewrite performance contracts each year. Simply they could upload and edit from a previous period and then, development the needs emanating from performance discussions would be automatically fed into the individual development plan.

Advantages of E-Performance Management are:

1. Managers can manage more number of employees with less effort;
2. Appraising performance can be done in less time; and
3. Employees can also know the areas/categories of appraisal, ratings of appraisal

E-Compensation Management:

Almost all the organisations started using computers for salary fixation, salary payment, salary calculations, fixation and calculation of various allowances, fixation and calculation of various employee benefits, welfare measures and fringe benefits.

E-Compensation represents a web-enabled approach to an array of compensation tools that enable an organization to “gather, store, manipulate, analyze, utilize, and distribute compensation data and information”. Unlike previous compensation software, the e- compensation tools are web-based, rather than a client-server-based or stand-alone PC-based. This allows the individual’s access electronically distributed compensation software, databases, and analytic tools by using an internet browser from literally anywhere on the earth. E-Compensation tools can provide HR managers with the ability to effectively adapt compensation systems to meet the current challenges, manage and maintain all aspects of equity in pay plan design, and to align the compensation systems with the strategic management of the organization.

Overtime payment is one of the overheads under the compensation management of the human resource Department. Introduction of electronic technology in the human resource task results in better controlling and cost-saving.

Biometrics is the latest electronic technology design for accurate attendance maintenance of human beings with zero errors or frauds. Biometrics scan finger of human and stores permanently as his identity and proof that he is present. Many companies are entrusting attendance management to biometrics that gives accurate attendance dates with an in and exit time of employment. The time employee remained in office at work can be monitored exactly and hence paid appropriate remuneration for his total working hours. Biometrics are playing a very crucial role in the employee work time management that is linked with compensation management and also in a cost saving by measuring employee work time contributed to organizing.

Advantages of E-HRM

1. Improving quality
2. Ensuring efficient services at an amazing
3. Facilitating routine tasks like record keeping, maintaining the portfolio, collecting and storing relevant information regarding the human resource.
4. Helping the reduction of costly time and labor.
5. Improving accuracy and reducing human
6. Making, reporting and analyzing data
7. Benefiting everyone through standardization and
8. Handing bundles of employee data from multiple locations fairly and
9. Performing crucial functions of HRM such as recruitment, selection, training, and development by using web-based technology.
10. Playing decisive roles towards a paperless
11. Maintaining anonymity of staff in evaluation/feedback

Disadvantages of E-HRM

1. It involves a high cost to maintain and implement E-HRM.
2. It is difficult to maintain the confidentiality of the input
3. Electronic media are vulnerable, which may be attacked by viruses from anywhere on the Internet. Contracting a virus can disable your HR management system severely enough to render it unusable for an indeterminate time. E-HRM is subject to corruption, hacking or data losses.
4. Computers and their associated programs are only as effective as their human users, data entry errors can and do occur. In HR management systems, such errors can have grave

Organizations need to to-invest more on training and development before adopting e- HRM