Theoretical Background

In this chapter it becomes clear why the new technologies have such a big impact on the companies. Research from Gardner, Lepak & Bartol (2003) already indicates that IT can reduce the amount of time which is spent on routine tasks for HR professionals. Also the software ‘hidden treasures’ aims at providing big enterprises with many employees to gain a quicker overview about the entire diverse workforce. Tasks such as workforce planning, internal recruitment etc. can be handled in a much more efficient way through this advanced information technologies.

Todays computerized human resource information systems already have a big impact on the human resource activities of the companies. Some parts of HR are being outsourced such as payroll, training, compensation & benefits and even some times recruitment and selection tasks (Gardner et al., 2003).

The software ‘hidden treasures’ also aims at giving big enterprises some additional help in their HR activities such as workforce planning and internal recruitment. The software collects all relevant data from their employees in order to get a quicker overview of the skills and competencies which are present at the multinational companies.

An important term in conjunction with competencies and skills is competence management: it is a research object in the area of knowledge management. Furthermore it plays an important role as it identifies important knowledge an employee in an organization should have in order to meet his/her personal goals (Draganidis & Mentzas, 2006). Due to specific competence profiles, the HR managers and the line-managers are able to identify which specific competencies are needed to perform in the job. The software enables them to select some of these competencies and this program shows  the user who possesses those competencies. The target group of this software is big-sized companies with more than 250 employees. So it is very likely that someone else from within the company can possess the competencies. This is very helpful especially when it comes to unexpected changes if an employee gets sick as mentioned in the previous section. That is why this technology can also be used in change situations.

Moreover, the software is a tool which enables job-rotation as one employee of the finance department can also work in different departments or cross-functional teams in which all his competencies and skills can be used apart of the knowledge which comes from his position/job title in the finance-department.

Another important aspect is that the company also provides the service of advising the clients how to implement the new software correctly. Not only the implementation and the configuration with the already existing programs will be ensured. Also the implications of the software and how to deal with potential resistance from the workforce can be discussed. Resistance can arise on many different levels such as the fear of the unknown, the need for security etc. on the individual employee level. On the group level there can arise a lack of loyalty (Caluwé & Vermaak, 2003). Therefore, it is essential that the implementation is transparent and a lot of communication is required especially when it comes to the usage of social media with the software.

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