Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT OVER 1
TECHNOLOGY USE POLICIES
Literature Review: Human Resources Management Over Technology Use Policies
Amber C. Taylor
Liberty University
BUSI 643-B02
3 March 2019
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Abstract
As the business market of today’s time is constantly evolving, business owners and managers
must adapt to changes within the market in order to remain up to date with competitor
businesses. One key aspect of today’s business market industry involves the incorporation of
technology into the workplace. The use of technology alongside of social media familiarizes
workers with an additional way of conducting business and remaining up to date with specific
business matters. While the incorporation of business into the workplace is beneficial in many
areas, it also presents a variety of challenges concerning confidentiality matters, sexual
harassment, and finding opportunities to implement new training. It becomes human resources’
responsibility to create, adjust, and implement specific policies and procedures concerning the
utilization of technology and social media into the workplace in order to avoid the detrimental
consequences that result from misusing the technological devices. This literature review
combines the research performed from various authors and researchers concerning the
progression of technology throughout history with the specific need and desire for it in today’s
business world.
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Literature Review: Human Resources Management Over Technology Use Policies
Introduction
In the ever-changing world of business, there are a variety of cultures, policies, and
procedures that are required of corporations to adapt to in order to remain in the market industry.
While business cultures have a variety of factors that have impacts on the way in which a firm’s
environment is run, the external culture of the land surrounding the business also contributes to
its internal culture. One major impacting factor that greatly influences the shaping of a business’s
culture is the department of human resources. Human resources has a main goal of constructing
and implementing resources that benefit a business through its organizational techniques in order
to receive a competitive advantage. The purpose of this literature review aims to analyze,
compare, and contrast a corporation’s human resources department as it implements policies that
address the employment legislation of the business as it is incorporated into the various
enterprise categories that are entangled into the web of international standards. The core policies
can be divided into four distinctive categories that each have its own distinguishing feature, yet
share in similarities with one another.
The first policy, the use of technology, involves the relationship that human resources has
with the constant evolution of a business’s culture, as the dependability of technology provides
competitive advantages in performing specific tasks at a quicker and more efficient pace. When a
business evolves onto further levels of personal growth, the dependency on technology typically
tends to grow more heavily. As the growth in technology rises, it is crucial that human resources,
alongside of management, implement technological policies that provide a business’s employees
with specific updates that accommodate and provide clarity to any potential issues that may have
arisen from this growth. Additionally, these policy changes will create a cause and effect pattern
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that will drive necessity on conducting further policy changes concerning the realms of
confidentiality and sexual harassment. By implementing new policy changes through new rules
and trainings for employees, human resources is able to further accomplish its department’s
strategic goals.
The Use of Technology
The origin of technology began with an individual’s ability to systematically process
knowledge, science, and creativity, and by the early nineteenth century, grew to further advanced
realms that focused more heavily on industrialization and machine-centric procedures (Linker,
2018). In today’s time, the department of human resources seems to exist more as a portal in
opposition to a person (Stone, Deadrick, Lukaszewski, & Johnson, 2015). Now, the majority of
corporations allow management and employees to have universal access to the human resources
department and its services through the providing of web-based applications and the newest
technological features; this update in technology has significantly changed the daily practices
and routines of human resource management (Lee, Leem, & Bae, 2018). When new
technological devices or updates in technology are implemented into any business, several
aspects and procedures begin to change, including, but not limited to, the relationships between
coworkers, daily work practices, specific job characteristics, and organizational practices (Stone
et al., 2015). While changes in technology generally appear to be beneficial to employees, some
view the use of technology in the workplace as unsatisfactory and consequently, may negatively
influence some workers’ views.
Although quite beneficial, implementing technology into the human resources department
serves as a catalyst for challenges to come. The challenge has not been found through cost, as
human resources has managed to significantly reduce the cost of the implementation of the new
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technology, but instead, concerns the potential abuse of technology that could be a huge
challenge for businesses. There are some areas of concern that are more easily able to deal with,
as the impact that results from the incorporation of technology and social media is not as
detrimental in small businesses as it is in larger organizations. In larger organizations, the main
area of concern relates back to the usage of social media networking and its effect on ones work
life.
The use of smart phones has been both praised and criticized surrounding the boundaries
that are set between work and family time, as being on these devices has a tendency to blur these
margins (Derks, van Duin, Tims, & Bakker, 2014). Being that the world is constantly changing
and informing all people with updates through the use of smart phones and social media,
employees find themselves having a hard time disconnecting from the social aspect when in the
workplace (Kim & Christensen, 2017). It is recommended that human resources use surveys that
specifically discover and track employee engagement and attitude in order to get a better
understanding of the balance that exists between their work and personal lives (Yueh, Lu, & Lin,
2016).
Implementing these policies will begin the earliest stages of the new ‘Digital
Management’ policy, which seeks to address management more so than employees. Being that
managers serve the roles of authoritative figures, employees may feel pressured into answering
any incoming phone calls or respond to any sent messages that management has extended
towards its employees (Derks et al., 2014). Management has used smart phones and social media
as a better attempt to reach out to and connect with their employees, as they understand the
pressured feelings of an obligated response to an employee’s authoritative figure.
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Within recent years, smart phone companies such as Android and iPhone have
incorporated new tools into their software that allows users to digitally track and monitor how
much time they spend using their phones. When a smart phone user is able to track the daily
amount of time spent using his phone, he will have a better understanding of the time in which
he has taken away from engaging in more important activities, such as working on school or
work related assignments, interacting with family members, and performing household chores.
Similar to the way in which smart phone companies have provided their users with virtual time
management tools, human resources should connect with the information technology department
and discover and implement technological tools that will help employees manage the balance
between their work and personal lives through the use of their smart phones.
In the Bible, God’s Word describes individuals who can and cannot be trusted,
mentioning those that can be trusted with a little bit of information can also be trusted with a
large amount of information, and those who are dishonest concerning little are also dishonest
with much (Luke 16:10). The story surrounding this passage involves an unreliable son that lost
his inheritance and must give account of his management to his master, who in the end, was
impressed by his work. This story is used to explain that ones treasure should be built on earth as
opposed to waiting until he reaches heaven (Matthew 6:21). In the same manner that God trusts
His children to be managers of their rewards here on earth, employers must also trust their
employees to be good managers and utilize and implement all provided company tools and
policies. The relationship that exists between an employee and his employer should ultimately be
strengthened when provided with useful tools, such as virtual time management instruments, as
these acts show the care that human resources members and managers have towards their
employees.
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Confidentiality
As human resources incorporates the use of technology into the workplace and adjusts
and implements new policies accordingly, the department must also adjust its policies on
confidentiality. In some corporations, the leaking of confidential information could be extremely
financially detrimental to their business. After conducting their research, Hannah and Robertson
(2014) have discovered that once an employee is introduced to confidential information
concerning the company he works for, vulnerability arises, simply because that employee now
has the possibility of deliberately or inadvertently revealing that information to people outside of
the company’s walls. Furthermore, Thomas (2014) recognizes that technology in the workplace
provides employees with the opportunities to reveal this confidential information at the ease of
their fingertips where they never have to even leave company walls. This is part of the risk that
comes with allowing technology devices within the workplace and the reflection upon the trust
level that exists between human resources managers and all other workers that exist within the
company.
It is one of the many duties of human resources to ensure that all information surrounding
employees’ personal data and files, as well as any issues that are concerned with employees or
management, are all kept confidentially within this particular department. With the rise of the
digital age and new technology updates and devices constantly entering into the market industry
and workplace environment, it is important that human resources implement new training for
employees that teaches workers how to maintain confidential information with using modern
technology and social media (van Gramberg, Teicher, & O’Rourke, 2014). Although the simple
checking of social media may not seem harmful concerning potential leak possibilities, it must
be ensured that smart phones are not being used to share said confidential information on any
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social media accounts (Derks et al., 2014). There has been an increasingly amount of work-
related disputes between employees and employers that have surfaced due to employees leaking
work-related issues onto social media (Yueh et al., 2016). Although, in these situations,
employers have the desire to address and discourage this type of behavior, they must remember
that taking any form of affirmative action against an employee must be done with caution, as
there are federal and state laws that could potentially be violated.
Sexual Harassment
A major area of concern that derives from technological growth within corporations and
its merging of public and private communication that is held on social media forums involves the
issue of sexual harassment. Various human resource departments have already implemented
strong sexual harassment policies and take them very seriously. Normal sexual harassment
policies confine the harassment to take place within a corporation’s business borders; however,
the connection of technology and social media broaden the sexual harassment boarders and
create a cause to adjustment to the already existing policies in order to incorporate a larger and
more legalized standard (Chelliah, 2015). Literature has illustrated the progression of sexual
harassment in the workplace as it has stemmed throughout history, where any misconduct
explicitly took place within the workplace in the past, to today’s time where the sexual
harassment can take place over virtual communications. Technology based sexual harassment
has been on the rise in recent years and involves virtual sexual misconduct in the forms of
communications through explicit emails, social media messages, and SMS messages. In fact, this
virtual type of sexual harassment has not been referred to as ‘textual harassment’ (Mainiero &
Jones, 2013). Regardless of where they take place, abused workplace romances should not be
taken lightly and the appropriate repercussions need to be implemented on either or both parties.
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While human resources ensures that it reaches all areas and realms where sexual harassment can
potentially take place, it must not forget that social media needs to be included within these
bounds when protecting employees against sexual harassment.
Training Opportunities and Expectations
God desires for His children to create a clear vision that outweighs any fears that they
might have and has others eager to know about it and want to get on board with it (Habakkuk
2:2). Similarly, human resources have a duty to create specific visions and policies that provide
further growth for the corporation. These policies must be so clear and evident that all employees
understand each concept and are eager to be on board with investing further into the corporation
and all of its visions for growth. While technology is continually enhancing and evolving, it is
necessary that all users are adequately equipped and adapted to knowledge that comes along with
it. Training individuals on updated technology is a feasible act that is expected of corporations in
order to instill the necessary knowledge and skills needed to further progress forward with the
new advancements provided through the technology.
When effectively training employees, the possibility of job satisfaction increases.
Training opportunities is an important factor that must be undergone, as it defines certain
problem areas that are deemed as beneficial from the appropriate training. For example, the
implementation of technology is expected to provide an ease of use for various employees, but
mainly for older ones (North & Fiske, 2016). Additionally, in their research, Holland and Bardoel
(2015) discovered that training opportunities play important roles in defining the degree of
information technology self-competence; this concept is especially considered to be beneficial to
the employees that have lower educational levels.
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Part of the training opportunities involves teaching the employees to be responsible when
using the new technology and to carefully avoid anything that would dishonor the policies
concerning confidentiality and harassment. Human resources must provide policies that include
surveys and evaluations that monitor and supply guidance to all employees concerning the
training that has been implemented, as well as allows suggestions for areas of opportunity for
future training opportunities. When a company desires to build a corporation comprised of
sustainable workers, it will implement various sources of training in order to succeed at this
mission.
Conclusions and Recommendations
While the use of technology in the workplace has been increasingly beneficial in many
aspects, it has also caused many challenges for businesses, human resources, and management to
manage and monitor. There are many original policies that must be adjusted and newer policies
that must be created and implemented when incorporating technology into the workplace. It is
the duty of the department of human resources to ensure that the addition and updating of
technology into a corporation’s work environment does not lead to workplace abuse in the forms
of confidentiality exploitation or sexual harassment. As these are major concerns when
technology partners with the social world, human resources must ensure that it appropriately
trains its staff with the knowledge surrounding the use of technology both inside and outside of
the workplace and the detrimental consequences that can occur if a breach of trust occurs.
It is recommended that human resources or any management personnel conduct extensive
research before considering the allowance of smart phones or any device that directly connects to
social media while in the workplace. When conducting extensive research, one will discover
various situations that have involved breaches of trust concerning employees and their employers
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through the use of technology and social media. These situations will bring to light several
different examples and reasoning behind why management or human resources should reconsider
the allowance of a connection to social media or smart devices while in the workplace. Although
technology has been proven to be beneficial to the workplace and working environment, it must
also be taken into the consideration the negative effects that could spiral from allowing the
usage. By conducting further extensive research, human resources will have a more clear
understanding of exactly what the department is getting itself into and can better decipher
between whether or not it wants to allow or continue allowing the use of modern technology and
social media in the workplace.
God has specifically provided His children with a series of biblical applications that will
aid human resources managers in the decision making process of choosing to allow or prohibit
new technology into the workplace. It is further recommended that human resources managers
seek God’s Word for guidance and pray to Him for direction in choosing the best path that will
ultimately bring a result of glory and honor to Him.
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