Foremost among them is the ability to thoroughly examine and verify the information that comes in with relation to HR resources (people). It is also the means though which HR plan performance/effectiveness can be measured through statistical analysis of the HR Plan, as well as the means through which key reports are generated (the brains of HR). These reports may include information concerning employee compensation, recruiting information, worker classification, training, legal compliance, liability areas, compensation, as well as special issues such as affirmative action. In addition to the immense functionality of the human resources information system, it can also function as a link between key HR staff, allowing them to be on the same objective page with regard to any specific issue. This can be of particular use when weighing difficult staffing decisions. After all, when information can be broken down to key "black and white" facts, much of the subjective confusion that can plague any HR department can be minimized.

4) Why does the following key factors support the need for human resources?

A planning: aging of the workforce, rise in health care costs, development and use of e-learning, ability to use technology to more closely monitor employees?

Many HR professionals believe that the business world of today involves several complex issues that make the effective management of human resources particularly difficult. These issues include the aging of the workforce, the exponential rise of health care costs, the rise of technical monitoring of employees (and all of the legal implications of that technology), as well as the increased use of mergers and acquisitions. Whether the relative difficulty of human resources management has increased or whether increased focus has been placed on HR planning itself is up for debate. However, it is clear that having a good HR plan can certainly minimize the effects of the above issues...

In many industries it is common to require "retirement" at a certain age due to safety or productivity issues (the airline industry, for example). Having a good HR plan can not only allow the company to "plan" in advance of a possible large workforce shortage due to mandatory retirement -- perhaps by scheduling recruitment activities far in advance, but may also allow for strategic monitoring of the common wisdom concerning aging and effectiveness (via the HRIS), perhaps allowing for a "rethinking" of those assumptions.
So too, such seemingly "mundane" issues as rising health care costs can have a huge impact on the "bottom line" of a company. Not only is this true of those companies who offer their employees expensive health care plans and packages, but it is also true of those who do not, but may still bear the brunt of reduced worker productivity due to insufficient preventative health care.

Even such issues as the rise of e-learning and electronic monitoring of employees can impact the role of the HR department. This is because, although it is clear that both technologies have had the power to greatly improve worker performance, they also carry with them significant risks that must be managed (again, through a good HRIS). Some of these risks may include false or sub-par education or skills gleaned from poor or fraudulent e-learning programs (that can reduce the productivity of HR resources), as well as the legal and motivational problems that may plague certain uses of electronic monitoring of the workforce.

Works Cited

Johnson, Gerry. Scholes, Kevan. (2001). Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. FT Prentice Hall. New York.

Kalra, Michelle (2005). The HR Plan. ProfitGuide. 27 January. Retrieved on February 22, 2005, from, http://www.profitguide.com/greatplace/article.jsp?content=20050125_093743_4752&page=1