HI6008: Impacts of Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment

This report delves into the significant impact of the internet and IT on human resource management and recruitment practices. It examines how technology has revolutionized various HR functions, including recruitment, employee performance analysis, and data storage, leading to more efficient and effective processes. The report explores the benefits of internet and IT recruitment, such as global reach, cost-effectiveness, and streamlined application processes. It also addresses the challenges, including the overwhelming volume of applications and the need for efficient screening methods. The literature review highlights the shift from traditional to online recruitment methods, the use of various online tools, and the overall impact on productivity and organizational success. The report emphasizes the importance of aligning recruitment goals with business strategies and adapting to the evolving technological landscape to optimize HR practices. The paper examines how technology has simplified HR operations and facilitated a paperless work environment, ultimately increasing the efficiency of HR departments.

Running Head: Impacts of Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 1
Impacts of internet and IT on HR management and recruitment
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Impacts of the Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 2
1. Introduction
In the world today, human resource management is regarded as a fundamental process in
a company. There is a need to create new strategies in order to be relevant in the shifting world
business environment. Human resource management is a process that encompasses attracting,
creating and maintaining qualified employees to support a company's strategies, mission, and
objective. One of the most important functions of HR in an organization is recruitment which
has a great impact on an organization's performance (Lussier & Hendon, 2017). Gravili and Fait,
(2017) assert that recruitment refers to the general process of attracting, picking and hiring the
right candidates for jobs. Additionally, HR management oversees the organizational cultures and
leadership and also ensures that the present labor and employment laws are complied with. The
increased importance of internet and IT in HR management and recruitment has been
demonstrated from the existing literature. Internet recruitment is a simple away which is used by
various organizations to recruit employees than the traditional method. The use of technology
has made an impact on the general human resource function. Therefore, the implementation of
internet recruiting in organizations simplifies the work of the HR department.
2. Project Objective
The purpose of this research paper is to scrutinize the impact of the internet and IT on human
resource management and recruitment. The paper identifies the contribution of the internet and
IT recruitment which facilitates paperless work in the HR department. The approach taken is
developing research based on the existing literature. This paper has tried to present a
comprehensive understanding of the effects of the internet and IT in HR management and
recruitment.

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3. Project Scope
This research paper deals with the subject of internet and IT recruiting as an important function
of human resource and its benefits to companies. It highlights how the HR department uses the
technology to get the best candidates thereby increasing the productivity of an organization.
4. Literature Review
Internet and IT practices have been found to facilitate the Human Resource department in
management and recruitment thereby leading to paperless Human Resource process. The
fundamental function of the HR department is to deal with issues associated with employees
(Bach & Edwards, 2013). Internet and IT alters the way the HR area contact employees, analyze
the performance of employees and storing of files. If it is utilized well it makes the practices of
HR more efficient. When poorly used, it can affect the way HR manages a company. Therefore,
the proper use of technology in HR practices increases a company's benefits and reduces
problems. The Internet and IT has provided an easier and convincing way of recruiting people
from every part of the world and fosters opportunity, it helps an organization to be globally
recognized, aids in delivering any form of HR programs easily, and it facilitates the HR section
to scrutinize the performance of the employee more accurately and carefully. The recruitment
process entails; evaluating the job requirements, attracting recruits for a job, assessing and
selecting applicants, employing and incorporating the new employee to the company (Parry,
2017).
Chanda, Krishna, & Shen, 2007 states that today the management understands the power
of the internet and IT for achieving the various business targets. The use of IT not only helps to
attain a defined organization's goals but also improves the work processes. Present studies results

Impacts of the Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 4
and trends confirm the various contributions of Information Technology tools in the HR
department that is, most HR tasks are accomplished by the use of IT capabilities. The various
benefits of the internet and IT recruiting that exist are specific for different organizations because
of the different strategies and goals. An organization must align its recruitment goals with its
strategies in order to make it competitive therefore internet and IT recruiting effectiveness differ
among the organizations. Application of information technology (IT) and the internet in HR
management is essential as it helps to meet the demands of an organization. In the changing
world, new technologies have been developed like the use of smartphones to access information
anytime and from anywhere.
Internet and IT tools supplement management and improve efficiency in the HR
department which leads to the overall success of an organization. HR can sometimes determine
organization performance by comparing it against the standards found on the internet. Through
this, the organization can assess and analyze its findings and design its controls appropriately to
improve the performance of the organization. Consequently, the use of technology tools the HR
department can ensure that the employees are engaged in the goals of an organization. Also, the
management must ensure that every department is improving its processes and controls and it
targets its activities on better achieving organization's competitive differentiation through what
the staffs do and the way they are doing it. Nowadays, most companies have realized the
importance of using the internet and IT for effective recruiting. For instance, organizations can
now use the internet to access job portals and search for qualified candidates. The employers can
provide all information necessary for a particular post on the portals online. This process can be
made effective by the HR department which ensures that the organization has hired efficient
employees (Leonard, 2013).

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While it is accepted and understood that making poor recruitment decisions can continue
affecting company’s performance and hinder goal achievement, the public service agencies are
taking a long time in many areas to recognize and execute new, operational hiring strategies.
Procuring and retaining a qualified workforce is essential for the success of an organization.
With the increasing competition in the job market and the diverse growth of the skills, available
recruiters require being more careful in their choices. This is because lack of proper recruiting
decisions can contribute to long-term adverse effects such as increased development cost and
high training. This decreases the prevalence of poor performance and high turnover which in turn
affect the staff morale, production of goods and services of high quality and the maintenance of
the organizational memory. When a company fails to achieve its aim it can lose its competitive
power and market share (Karim & Rahman, 2018).
The use of the internet and IT is quite easy and cost-effective which helps to recognize
candidates from inside and outside the organization. Internal job posting provides employees
with promotion opportunities and reduces complains of discrimination and unfair treatment.
Employing is not an easy activity. The process consumes a lot of time and money. However, the
benefits or cost analysis of determining a paper-free process requires to be assessed so as to
establish the method to be acquired for each process. An improved process may or may not
decrease the number of workforces. Personnel cost can change from the function of the business
to IT so as to support the paperless process. Technology costs may rise and require to be
carefully assessed to make sure that the costs of supporting new software are included. Also, the
costs involved in training personnel about internet recruitment should be considered. Recently
the demands for internet and IT recruitment tools have grown due to the explosive increase of
online businesses. Online recruitment relies on the technologies and it can be easily accessed by

Impacts of the Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 6
the general public, unlike traditional recruitment which does not need any specific technology
(Strohmeier, 2007).
Initially, internet recruitment and IT meant applying online resources to identify
candidates for different job positions. Resume databases and job boards were used by the
employer and employee to search, find and also contact each other (Walsh, 2012). After
establishing contact, the next task was the hiring process which was conducted through face-to-
face interviews and some other traditional processes. Today, internet and IT recruitment
comprise of online advertising, pre-employment evaluation tools, job boards, and efforts of
social recruitment. Moreover, various software packages have been established to enable the
human resource personnel and recruiters to expedite the process of hiring via autoresponders,
evaluation tools, and automated database searches integrated into internet-based hiring
applications (Reynolds & Weiner, 2009).
Internet recruitment and IT allows the HR department to automate and reorganize simple
tasks, leading to more productive and effective hiring processes. The recruitment process still
remains to be a people business even with the developments of technology. Direct interactions
with people take a significant amount of time and effort and the process is supported by online
technologies which add efficiencies and automation. This shows where internet recruitment and
technologies excel and the immense value that can be obtained from them. Internet and IT
recruitment have increasingly gained a large market share in most advertised jobs. Most of the
organizations use their websites to advertise for job openings thus attracting candidates
(Armstrong, 2012). However, there is a concern regarding internet and IT recruiting because
there is no adequate time to go through all the resumes, there are too many resumes, and also due

Impacts of the Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 7
to the easy way of the application process, there are too many applicants who are not qualified
(Torres-Coronas & Arias-Oliva, 2005).
IT experts and HR professionals say that executing internet-based methods can reduce the
use of paper thus saving money and time. Also, the paperless system increases efficiency and
productivity and computer-based systems substantially minimize the storage space required. A
number of HR departments have abolished most of their paperwork such as payroll
administration and other functions but not in processes like performance management (Banfield,
Kay, & Royles, 2018).
Thite (2018) found that there was a large difference in the recruitment process between
paper-based and electronic-based recruitment. Thite found that through the electronic method the
HR would put their hiring requirements into the word document and send it to the reliable
recruiter. This would enable the recruiter to pick the best applicant. Many of the young
professionals use Twitter and Facebook more commonly than reading newspapers. Through the
use of smartphones, one can access job seeking websites which give applicants an opportunity to
apply for the various positions. The use of the internet and IT in recruitment helps employers to
save their resources and time. Companies can easily use the recruitment software to select the
candidate and save applicants data. According to Buckley, Halbesleben and Wheeler, (2014)
internet and IT recruiting has contributed to changes in companies and staff’s lives through
maximizing productivity and wealth of both employer and employee. Some of the tools used on
the internet and IT recruiting include online radio, job sites, online newspapers, and social sites.
Organizations have used various online sources such as Viber, Skype, and others to conduct an
interview (Marler & Fisher, 2017). Many researchers concurred that the internet and IT

Impacts of the Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 8
recruiting is assisting the applicants well compared to traditional recruitment (Bratton & Gold,
2012).
Some of the countries which have adopted the internet and IT recruiting are Pakistan
(Bratton & Gold, 2012). Most of the private companies such as telecom companies, NGOs,
banks, educational groups, multinational companies, and many others in Pakistan have shifted to
online recruitment thereby playing an important role in the development of the country.
Accessing the internet easily has largely benefited Pakistan people because they are able to
identify opportunities and apply for multiple jobs at the same time. According to (Bartram &
Hambleton, 2005) about 80 percent to 90 percent of most big firms use their own websites for
recruitment because it is cost effective and has a quick response.
From research about the search of jobs through the technology and unemployment
period, it was found that unemployed people looked for a job online and they were very quickly
reemployed (Ones, Anderson, Viswesvaran, & Sinangil, 2018). The authors concluded that
searching jobs through the internet and IT speeded up reemployment. Also from a survey
undertaken among several HR managers, it was found that internet recruitment improved the
efficiency of recruitment activities. All HR managers unanimously agreed that internet and IT
application and recruitment process decreased the time used in every recruitment activity and
consequently simplified the process of recruitment.
5. Conclusion
From the literature review, it is clear that use of the internet and IT in HR management
and recruitment has various benefits such as a reduction in the use of paper, minimizes the
storage required, reduction of time wasted in papers, decrease in the use of manpower, and easy

Impacts of the Internet and IT on HR Management and Recruitment 9
access of data when it is needed. Internet and IT in HR management and recruitment can be
clearly understood by studying how the society and the external environment in general affect
internet and IT recruitment and its application, and the perspective of an institution which can be
possibly beneficial. Further studies on how various elements of the internet and IT recruitment
contribute to productivity and effectiveness can establish which elements are more important
than others. Thus, research can be conducted to determine how and why technology improves
the recruitment process and how certain internet and IT recruiting processed ascribe to this
performance.

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References
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