Virtual HR: the Irresistible Force? – Part 3
Posted August 27th, 2009 by SSON
Of course, the possibly increased disconnection between end user and practitioner/provider – and therefore between employee and the organization – is only one of the new challenges thrown up by the emergence of “virtual” HR. The shift in emphasis from “traditional” “Personnel”-type HR operations to the new horizons opened up by automation and self-service signifies the replacement of old headaches with new ones (in the hope, obviously, of reducing the overall headache quotient). Some of these headaches (such as an increased focus on data protection with regards to confidential employee information) have clear counterparts in the wider business environment, and thus are accompanied by a number of time-honoured and established approaches for risk-reduction. Others, however, are specific to the discipline of HR itself and to this period of extraordinary change it is experiencing.
Alongside the aforementioned disconnection, Tim Palmer of PA Consulting outlines four of the most awkward challenges which he sees as arising from the accelerating trend towards “virtualization”.
Palmer points first to the issue of data protection alluded to earlier: “If you are capturing or giving out sensitive or important information,” he says, “such as might be required when recording a health and safety issue, you cannot rely on this to be done accurately, without the intervention of a qualified professional who understands what is required.”