How Will New Technologies Change The Human Resource Profession? Technology--cell phones, the Internet, and wireless services, for example--has irrevocably changed every facet of life from the home to the workplace.  Change is happening so quickly and technologies are developing so rapidly, however, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to sift through all the information and understand what developments will be useful to the workplace and what impact they will truly have in the long term. Technology--cell phones, the Internet, and wireless services, for example--has irrevocably changed every facet of life from the home to the workplace.  It has spawned a new kind of global economy where the letter “e” is routinely attached to words like commerce, business and learning. Change is happening so quickly and technologies are developing so rapidly, however, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to sift through all the information and understand what developments will be useful to the workplace and what impact they will truly have in the long term. This issue of Workplace Visions explores the technological revolution.  This edition will provide an overview of what kinds of technology are currently available that will affect the human resource function in the short and medium term; discuss some of the emerging issues associated with the technology explosion; and speculate on the long-term effects technology will have on the workplace. The Ten Year Outlook Most futurists believe that because technology is developing so quickly, it is impossible to accurately predict what to expect in the way of new applications within the next three to five years.  Trying to predict the future seems to be human nature, however.  Therefore here are some of the technological advancements and consequences scientists expect within the next five to ten years: §         Within the next five to ten years, nearly every working person will wear a small voice-activated computer that will connect the wearer to a vast database of information.  The palm-sized computer will provide accurate, real-time answers to almost every question, spurring historically high productivity rates. §         Ray Kurzweil, author of The Age of Intelligent Machines, predicts that within the next ten years, computer screens will be placed directly on the retina, on eyeglasses, or on clothing.  Web sites and chat rooms, he predicts, will become three-dimensional meeting places, rich in detail and accessible at the speed of thought.  He also predicts that telephones that can simultaneously translate languages (for example from Japanese to English and back) will be perfected, allowing two different language-speakers to communicate instantly, greatly enhancing global communications. §         Aerospace technicians will be the first to embrace virtual-reality technology, discarding the thick design manuals they have used for decades.  Virtual-reality will allow them to see three-dimensional blueprin ...

1. How Will
New Technologies Change
The Human Resource Profession?
Technology--cell phones, the Internet, and wireless services, for
example--has irrevocably changed every facet of life from the
home to the workplace. Change is happening so quickly and
technologies are developing so rapidly, however, that it is
difficult, if not impossible, to sift through all the information
and understand what developments will be useful to the
workplace and what impact they will truly have in the long
term.
Technology--cell phones, the Internet, and wireless services, for
example--has irrevocably changed every facet of life from the
home to the workplace. It has spawned a new kind of global
economy where the letter “e” is routinely attached to words like
commerce, business and learning.
Change is happening so quickly and technologies are developing
so rapidly, however, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to sift
through all the information and understand what developments
will be useful to the workplace and what impact they will truly
have in the long term.
This issue of Workplace Visions explores the technological
revolution. This edition will provide an overview of what kinds
of technology are currently available that will affect the human
resource function in the short and medium term; discuss some of
the emerging issues associated with the technology explosion;
and speculate on the long-term effects technology will have on
the workplace.
The Ten Year Outlook
Most futurists believe that because technology is developing so
quickly, it is impossible to accurately predict what to expect in
the way of new applications within the next three to five years.

2. Trying to predict the future seems to be human nature,
however. Therefore here are some of the technological
advancements and consequences scientists expect within the
next five to ten years:
§ Within the next five to ten years, nearly every working
person will wear a small voice-activated computer that will
connect the wearer to a vast database of information. The palm-
sized computer will provide accurate, real-time answers to
almost every question, spurring historically high productivity
rates.
§ Ray Kurzweil, author of The Age of Intelligent
Machines, predicts that within the next ten years, computer
screens will be placed directly on the retina, on eyeglasses, or
on clothing. Web sites and chat rooms, he predicts, will
become three-dimensional meeting places, rich in detail and
accessible at the speed of thought. He also predicts that
telephones that can simultaneously translate languages (for
example from Japanese to English and back) will be perfected,
allowing two different language-speakers to communicate
instantly, greatly enhancing global communications.
§ Aerospace technicians will be the first to embrace
virtual-reality technology, discarding the thick design manuals
they have used for decades. Virtual-reality will allow them to
see three-dimensional blueprints literally before their eyes.
§ Technology will help create new jobs. Corporate job
titles of the future include “chief marketing officer,” “chief
knowledge officer” and “business etiquette advisor.” The latter
position will exist to create policies and procedures on the use
technologies such as e-mail and cell phones.
§ Telecommuting will increase, not just because it meets
work/life issues, but also because rising real estate costs will
push employers to use less office space. Futurist Joseph Coates
estimates that three percent of the workforce now telecommutes
on a regular basis. He predicts that by 2005, that number will
jump to 25 percent.
These predictions may seem farfetched at first glance, but in

3. many cases, t he technology is already available. It is only a
matter of time before it is perfected and widely available.
In the meantime, however, human resource professionals will
grapple with more than just what is (or will soon be) available
in terms of hardware and software.
Current Technology Use
In just a decade or so, Americans have fully embraced
technology, regularly accessing e-mail and the Internet.
According to a survey by the United States Census Bureau, in
1997, half of all U.S. workers regularly used a desktop or laptop
computer at work. One in five Americans, or 57 million people
three years of age or older said they used the Internet in 1997
and of the 43 million adults who surfed the Internet, 65 percent
said they did so from home, 49 percent said they accessed t he
Internet from work, and fourteen percent from school.
Although gender differences in the use of technology are
waning, they still exist. Fifty seven percent of women surveyed
by the Census Bureau said they used computers at work, versus
44 percent of men. Women appear to use computers differently
than men, using them mostly to run word processing programs
(60 percent of women versus 44 percent of men). Thirty four
percent of men reported using computers for analysis (versus 11
percent of women). Surprisingly, age, at least among working
adults, seemed to have little impact on computer usage. Fifty
four percent of employee’s aged 45-54 said they used
computers, versus 53 percent of employee’s aged 25-34.
A 1999 study found that computer use has increased
insignificantly even since the U.S. Census Bureau’s 1997
report. The study, Nothing But Net: American Workers and the
Information Economy (conducted
by Rutgers University’s John Heldrich Center for Workforce
Development and the University of Connecticut’s Center for
Survey Research and Analysis) found that 68 percent of
employees use a computer every day of work, and have access
to one at home. The report also found that the average worker
spends 35 percent of their work time---or three hours every day-

4. --on the computer and that 23 percent used the Internet at work.
Education Level
Use Computer At Work
Use Internet At Work
Some high school (9-11)
40%
29%
High school graduate
49%
22%
Some college (1-3 years)
71%
48%
College graduate
90%
64%
Post graduate
86%
64%
Source: Nothing But Net: American Workers and the
Information Economy, 1999.
Age and income are factors in the frequency of computer use,
according to the study. Older workers tend to use the computer
and t he Internet less than younger workers do. As for income:
employees in lower earning brackets are less likely to use a
computer and the Internet than those with higher earnings (57
percent for workers earning less than $40,000 per year versus
77 percent for workers earning more than $40,000 per year).
Education also plays a significant factor in computer use.
Workers with more education tend to report using a computer
more and accessing the Internet more often (see box, page 3).
The study also found that contrary to what one might expect
American workers view technology in a positive light. Three-
quarters of the 1,000 workers surveyed for the report said that
the information technology explosion was good for the economy
and for themselves.

5. Technology and Privacy
Employee access to such technology as e-mail and the Internet
raise mutual worker-employer concerns. Who owns an
employee’s e-mail? What are the ethical implications for
surfing the web at work? What kinds of websites are
appropriate to view? Is online shopping an employee perk or an
outlet for lost productivity? If an employee has an employer-
owned computer at home, is it okay to visit questionable
websites ”after working hours”? What are working hours, now
that technology has created a 23/7 workplace? Perhaps most
importantly, how can HR professionals harness emerging
technologies to make the workplace and their own jobs more
effective?
U.S. employers are actively trying to answer some of these
questions. According to a 1999 William Olsten Center for
Workforce Strategies study, 63 percent of companies currently
use Internet technologies to communicate among their own
workers. Another 21 percent are now considering it. Two-
thirds of employers say they have some sort of telecommuting
initiative available to employees (see box, page 4). Ninety
percent of high-tech employers use corporate Intranets, as to do
three-quarters of manufacturers.
It also appears the more and more employers are taking
advantage of available software to monitor their employees’
web use (see box, page 7). A 1999 American Management
Associations survey found that 27 percent of major American
firms regularly check employee e-mail, up from fifteen percent
in 1997. Company policies on employee monitoring vary
widely. Consider:
§ Burger King has a corporate policy that allows some
personal use of company e-mail and the Internet, providing the
employee uses the technology on company time and ensures that
it does not interfere with business or job performance.
Employees must sign the policy and accessing pornographic or
hate sites is prohibited.
§ The Miami-Dade School District in Florida allows

6. students and staff unrestricted access to the Internet, although,
according to the district’s written policy, Internet use must be
“consistent with the educational objectives of the district.”
§ The Broward County School District in Florida,
however, has a strict policy that bars students and staff alike
from sending e-mail to the outside world. It also uses special
software that blocks access to “unseemly” web sites.
§ Ameritech Corporation has a zero tolerance policy that
clearly states that computers and other company equipment “are
to be used only to provide service to customers.”
§ BellSouth Corporation has a policy similar to
Ameritech’s until 1998, when it changed it to a more permissive
one. Now, employees must click “OK” to a message warning
them about the misuse of e-mail and the Internet. The message
also reminds them that their actions may be monitored.
Regardless of the policy an organization adopts, experts say that
the key is to develop one and to stick with it. “If a policy says
no personal e-mail, there should be no personal e-mail,” says
Mark Grossman, a partner with the Miami, Florida law firm
Becker & Poliakoff. “But I wouldn’t advise a client to have
that sort of policy. That’s the same as firing an employee
because he picked up a phone and made a thirty second phone
call.”
Attorneys also advise companies to write policies on e-mail and
Internet use and electronic monitoring procedures. They also
advise employers to regularly alert employees that their online
activities may be monitored and that inappropriate use may
result in disciplinary action. The advice is sound, since
electronic monitoring of employees resulted in the firing of 40
Xerox employees for visiting pornographic, gambling and
shopping websites on company time. The New York Times also
fired 23 employees after electronic monitoring showed that they
were sending abusive e-mails.
Some organizations also choose not only to monitor employee
usage, but also to prevent employee access to certain Internet
web sites. Zona Research, a Redwood City, Calif., Internet

7. market researcher, found in May 1999 that one-third of
companies surveyed screened out Internet sites not on an
approved list. The survey of more than 300 companies also
found that 20 percent of respondents said they filter sites based
on the user’s job and 13 percent based on the time of day.
There may be good reason for employers to be concerned about
employees’ use of the Internet and e-mail for personal use.
Active Research, Inc., a San Francisco Web-based market
research company, reports that “retail clicks”---the number of
people logging on to Internet shopping sites---start to gain
steam about 9:00 a.m. on weekdays and peak at lunchtime.
Gamedealer.com, an Internet games sit, estimates that 65
percent of its orders are placed during the week between 9:00
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. And, another recent survey found that about
90 percent of employees use their company computer for
personal projects.
While monitor employees’ computer use may be safeguard
employers from some lawsuits, privacy groups warn that it may
not only harm morale, but may also raise privacy concerns when
companies unwittingly uncover employees’ visits to web sites
offering advice for family or health problems. According to
Lewis Maltby of the National Work Rights Institute,
“Monitoring by employers has become even more pervasive
than I ever dreamed about. It smacks of big brother and has
gone too far, eroding employee rights in the workplace.”
Maltby also speculates that employee monitoring might
backlash against employers, as employees leave to seek out
more “web-friendly” firms.
Generally, courts of law have ruled that employers not only
have a right to ensure that employees are not visiting
questionable web sites or sending offensive e-mails out under
company domains, but to a certain extent, an obligation to do
so. In the recent past, however, these court ruling have been
successfully challenged by employees under the National Labor
Relations Act (NLRA). The NLRA protects the rights of
workers to communicate freely with one another about work

8. terms and conditions and since the widespread implementation
of corporate e-mail, the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) has been weighing how those rights apply to
employees’ use of e-mail, bulletin boards and chat rooms.
Recently, the NLRB reversed the firing of an Ohio computer
programmer who publicly denounced his company’s new
vacation policy via e-mail. In another case, a Florida engineer
from Pratt & Whitney successfully challenged a blanket
company policy prohibiting employees from using e-mail for
non-business purposes. These NLRA decisions may cause
employers to tread more carefully where employee use of e-mail
and the Internet are concerned.
The Telecommuting Explosion
Futurist Joseph Coates predicts that telecommuting will become
more popular among employers and employees, as employers
seek to reduce real estate costs and employees seek to strike a
better balance between their work and home lives. Indeed,
some futurists see a day where inner cities are virtual ghost
towns, as more companies go virtual. Severe labor shortages in
developed countries will require companies to become more
global, employing skilled workers from all over the world to
meet their goals and objectives. These global employees will
not necessarily relocate to corporate headquarters. Instead, they
will remain in their own countries and work virtually through
wireless technologies and videoconferences. For workers who
crave a more social atmosphere, shared community work places
will be built, allowing telecommuters to rent space as needed.
As interested as workers and employers may be in
telecommuting, it appears that, at least for now, the desire
outweighs reality. According to the study Nothing But Net,
forty-one percent of workers said that with proper technology,
they could do their jobs from a remote location. Yet only
sixteen percent said their employers offered them such an
option.
At AT&T, five years after the company started a formal
telecommuting program, the number of managers who

9. telecommuted at least once a week actually dropped from 29
percent in 1998 to 24 percent in 1999. Nationally, the number
of telecommuting workers has hovered at about 8 percent.
Experts say, however, that this is just a lull before the storm
and that telecommuting will explode as technology becomes
more sophisticated, allowing workers access to the Internet at
home as quickly as at the office.
Telecommuting offers its own, unique challenges for the human
resource professional. Many workers who have tried to
telecommute have returned to the office, saying that they felt
disconnected from their colleagues. Others said they feared
they were losing out on promotions. Human resource
professionals who have offered telecommuting options to
employees quickly realize that there is more to a successful
telecommuting program that providing an employee with the
technical tools. Some companies have initiated telecommuting
training, allowing both the employer and employee time to
assess if telecommuting will meet the employee’s needs.
Managing a regular telecommuter also poses challenges to
supervisors who may feel they have lost the ability to
effectively oversee and develop the employee.
Despite these challenges, telecommuting is potentially a win-
win situation for organizations, offering increased productivity,
higher job satisfaction, lower overhead costs, and better
retention rates.
Company Intranets
Some employers have taken the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join
‘em” approach to employee Internet use, particularly in their
use of online shopping sites, by creating stores or gateways
inside their company Intranets that allow workers to shop at
certain sites online. Employers are even touting this as a new
corporate benefit, setting up deals with online grocers and
discount pharmacy chains that offer discounts to employees who
order goods and services online. These kinds of ventures
among employers and vendors will become more widespread.
Human resource professionals were early supports of company

10. Intranets, seeing the value of putting certain employee
information, such as health care claim forms and benefit plans
online. According to the 1997 SHRM World Wide Web survey,
85 percent of human resource professionals said that their
company’s Intranet was useful for disseminating such
information. Eighty percent of companies report using their
Intranets as the primary method for delivering HR-services; up
from just 50 percent just two years ago, according to a 1999
Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey.
Organizations are becoming even more creative at offering
employee services over an Intranet. At General Electric,
employees can create a personalized web page where they can
read industry-specific news or check the weather. They can
also download tax forms and review benefit information. The
company also offers an online marketplace that offers employee
discounts on GE products, Dell computers, and more.
At AT&T, employees can also manage their benefits through the
company’s Intranet; check their 401(k) plans and make
investment changes. Hallmark Cards in Kansas City uses the
Intranet to post cafeteria menus, an employee newsletter, and
job-training resources. And at Texas Instruments, new
employees will soon be able to access the company’s Intranet
before they start their new jobs, allowing them to become
acquainted with company policies and procedures. The site also
includes a concierge service that will help plan an employee’s
vacation, run errands, and help choose a doctor from the
company’s health plan.
Most of these Intranet offerings appear to be standard fare for
most human resource departments. According to a recent
report, Managing New Technology, by
the William Olsten Center for Workforce Strategies, 60 percent
of human resource department post health care benefits on the
Intranet. Sixty percent also post employee newsletters; 58
percent post training materials; and 33 percent post job
applications. The survey also found that most human resource4
professionals (61 percent) found that Intranets helped speed the

11. delivery of corporate communications, reduced printing and
mailing costs (49 percent) and increased productivity (47
percent).
It appears, then, that corporate Intranets are here to stay and
have alleviated much of the administrative burdens on human
resource professionals. The question for many, then, becomes
“what next?”
Technology and Human Resources
Preliminary conclusions to a state-of-the-art study by Patrick
Wright and Lee Dyer of Cornell University suggest that the
effect of technology on human resources will, like so many
other professions, be profound. The key words to keep in mind,
according to Wright, Dyer, and the high-tech and human
resource leaders they interviewed, are “faster, better, smarter.”
Technology, according to Scott Pitasky, director of strategic
growth for Amazon.com, will change the face of human
resources entirely. “We can’t do HR the traditional way. We
have to blow it up and entirely reinvent the way we do HR
here.”
Technology will require human resource professionals to stop
thinking in terms of months and years and start thinking in
terms of weeks and days. This will require human resource
managers to change their mindsets from being a strategic
partner within an organization to being a change agent.
But what does that mean? For Al Ormiston, vice president of e-
Sun, that means to facilitate the rapid pace of change introduced
because of technology. According to Ormiston, “the key role
for human resources to play in this is facilitating change. The
change component is incredible, and I look to human resources
for that. The books on change don’t work. It’s understanding
the company and the executive personalities, and how to drive
change in the context.”
Human resources has already shed itself of the rudimentary
aspects of the profession through automated delivery of
benefits, record keeping, and employee service. Now,
according to Wright and Dyer, it is time to focus on the higher

12. human resource functions, such as knowledge management,
strategic redirection, managing cultural change, and developing
employees.
This will mean that the delivery has to speed up to keep up with
corporate pace. For many, this means faster delivery of training
(including offering online training opportunities); focusing on
the increased job hopping that a strong economy and technology
seems to encourage through stronger recruitment and retention
programs (to staunch some of the executive brain drain); and
instituting tailored compensation plans to keep up with
changing jobs.
In the midst of all this change and fast pace, there may be a
silver lining; Wright and Dyer both predict that job descriptions
will become obsolete, since they will change too rapidly to keep
up with tomorrow’s workplace.
Bibliography
Due to the length of this issue, a full bibliography of resources
is available through the online issue of this newsletter. Please
refer to the SHRM Workplace Trends homepage
at www.shrm.org/trends.
Society for Human Resource Management, Copyright 2000.
How Will New Technologies Change The Human Resource
Profession?
Read the following vintage article written in 2000 concerning
how new technologies will change the HR profession:
SHRM Workplace Trends. (2000). How will new technologies
change the
Human Resource profession? Retrieved
from http://www.indiana.edu/~jobtalk/HRMWebsite/hrm/article
s/hrm/TechnologyChange.htm
Your task is to rework this article to represent the present day.
Provide sections titled

13. 1. Current Technology
2. Technology and Privacy
3. Technology and HR
4. Changes to HR Technology in Next 1-5 Years
Write your response in a 7- to 8-page blog format, complete
with pictures and/or graphics. At the end of your blog, provide a
list of the sources utilized to prepare your submission.