Computers in Personnel: Slow Progress Available to Purchase

There is not much evidence of a computer‐led revolution in personnel management. An ongoing survey of the uses to which computers are put in 350 establishments suggests a generally superficial take‐up of computer applications, with more being done to take over previous clerical operations than to sharpen the personnel contribution to management decision making and action. It appears that computer scope is not being utilised in the personnel function because many people are fearful of what computerisation could do to the essence of the personnel role; the recession has diverted energies into the problems created by redundancies and training needs; and because in many organisations there appears to be a pecking order for computerisation, with financial and stock control and invoice processing taking precedence. A final point established is that only 70 per cent of establishments using computers in the personnel area allow employees to see their own records, despite the provisions of the 1984 Act.