Planning for Technology in the Personnel Department

Personnel departments are critical to an education system's success. All school districts revolve around their personnel. In today's job environment we constantly seek the best employees possible. For each job opening we are inundated with several times more applicants than applied the last time the job was advertised. The duties of the personnel department within a school district keep growing independently of our ability to manage increased responsibilities. The technology invented during the '70s that allowed us to track applicants and administer policies centrally is failing us in the '90s. Information suppliers within our own data processing departments are now so overwhelmed by technology demands coming from individual schools that our needs are not given priority. Even the technology plans written for most school districts do not address the specific needs of the personnel department. Therefore, personnel departments must develop their own five-year plan for implementing technology. Further, that plan must incorporate the fundamental fact that central data processing as it exists today is disappearing. * Have Our Own Plan Devising an acceptable technological solution is the challenge. The key centers on the concept of Information At Your Fingertips (IAYF). This will make the personnel department practical and will build a base for the next big wave of technology. Our plan needs to address all aspects of personnel: * Document management (imaging); * Communications (voice and data); * Recruiting; * Payroll; * Personnel demographics; * Position control; * Absence tracking; * Job history; * Applicant tracking, evaluation and testing; * Credentials and skills; * Substitutes; * Salary projection; * Budget development; * Staffing; * Fingerprinting; * Drug testing; * Reporting; and * Word processing. Our technology goal in the '90 should be to finally make true IAYF possible by providing shared, friendly access to up-to-the-minute organizational data. Coupled with ever-more powerful computer-based applications, personnel will be empowered to increase productivity, quality and cost effectiveness. * Identifying Leadership Identifying a single person to provide overall coordination and leadership to a district's technology effort is not usually found, but highly recommended. Rather the trend is to have a person with responsibilities in a specific area such as instruction or information systems. These people often do not articulate and coordinate their efforts with other sections of a school system, such as a personnel department. A single person, like an assistant or associate superintendent for technology, can ensure that all of the various interests in the district are considered in planning and that the allocation of available resources meets all the needs. Since emphasis is always on students, personnel departments have not been given adequate attention when it comes to technology applications, especially when compared to the departments of instruction and business. Data processing is usually placed in the business department and focuses primarily on business needs. Unless persuaded with frequent requests or led by a personnel department's technical guru, data processing staff may not provide the necessary support. Therefore, if personnel departments are to get their fair share of the financial and human resources available, they must develop a clear plan for the infusion of technology into personnel procedures and keep this a high priority. * Empower Individuals to Solve Problems While the needs of personnel have been building very slowly, the term has emerged as an important concept and movement. At the core of the re-engineering movement is the idea of empowering individuals and teams, who would focus on processes instead of tasks, solutions instead of assignments. …