Over the years, the role of human resources has changed and evolved based on the needs of our society. Put in basic terms, human resource management must change as the business environment in which it operates changes. An article written by Susan Heathfield, states that while successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change direction, the HR professional is considered by line managers as a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate and a change mentor (Heathfield, 2006). Human Resources professionals have gone from simply handling personnel issues to making strategic contributions to the future development of an organization. There are various factors that have contributed and will continue to contribute to the evolvement of human resources management, some of which include technology, globalization, diversity and immigration and an aging workforce.
Technology
The effect of technology on human resources management has increased significantly over the years. Since our society is so far advanced with technology, human resources is evolving from working completely on paper forms to working on databases or human resource information systems. A HRIS, human resource information system is a computer system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve and distribute information related to an organization 's human resources (Noe, R., et al., 2003). Many organizations have decided to use a HRIS so that is also an essential skill for the human resources professional. Organizations have also opted to update the technologies used in daily business. So in addition to making resources available through an internet or intranet website for its employees to access information, they are also updated the technologies used to conduct business. What this means to human resources, is that they must also be up to date on those technologies and be able to either prepare its current workforce for what is
References: Cannell, Mike. (2006). Succession Planning. Retrieved March 25, 2007 from http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/hrpract/general/successplan.htm Heathfield, Susan. (2007). The New Role of the Human Resources Professional. Retrieved March 25, 2007 from http://humanresources.about.com/od/hrbasicsfaq/a/hr_role.htm