When is it successful?

Identifying and Measuring Outcomes

This is all about identifying and measuring the outcomes from the implementation of the e-HR solution and comparing those with the stated goals. As already stated, outcomes can be positive and negative, intended and unintended, and the extent to which e-HR has resulted in outcomes is still uncertain.

On the one hand, some surveys have reported quite dramatic reductions of up to 60% in transaction costs, the length of time taken to deal with queries, reductions in inquiries directly to HR and service centres, and reductions in headcount associated with HR administration. In addition, they have also reported increases up to 50% in employee satisfaction with HR and impressive returns on investment, showing payback times of 22 months (Singapore Ministry of Manpower, 2003; Watson Wyatt, 2002; CBI and KPMG Consulting, 2002).

Case Study – Surrey County Council

In the public sector, an article in Personnel Today (12 September, 2006) reported that Surrey County Council had saved more than £9m in the past four years by dramatically slashing the number of jobs in its HR department from 400 to just 40. This involved a major organisational restructure, where HR administration was transferred to an internal shared-services centre, and most of the HR support service for education was outsourced. Graham White, the HR Director at that time reported that: "Through effective use of TUPE, internal relocation and natural turnover, a very large part of the process was completed with little to no disruption."

The ratio of HR people to employees dropped from 1:80 to 1:600 and HR function completely changed its profile within the council. Graham White was very clear about the reasons: "We wanted to raise the game of HR, to move beyond being a large bureaucracy into a dynamic, strategic player in the organisation."

Although in the case of Surrey County Council it was believed that the reductions in HR staff and the associated cost savings did not impact HR service quality, the temptation to promote the cost-saving aspects of e-HR, however, may disguise a plethora of tensions concerning the wider organisational and relational impacts. Reddington et al (2005) draw attention to the need to manage the inherent tensions between cost savings and human interaction.

Given this situation, it I helpful to look at a range of outcomes that can result when e-HR is introduced.