Abstract

     The purpose of this study is to explore how human resource management can be digitally transformed in the context of the digital economy. The drivers, directions, and impacts of human resource management digital transformation constitute the major study content. The study proposes that five factors—internal customer digital needs, industry digital innovation, competitor challenges, digital innovation governance, and digital era needs—drive human resource management digital transformation. It analyzes the essence of the human resource management digital transformation, such as digital workplace, digital human resource management processes, and digital employee services. Particularly, the study points out that digital human resource management processes refer to the implementation of selection, training and development, and assessment functions leveraging state-of-the-art digital technologies. It is emphasized that although digital transformation brings benefits for business development, its potential impacts cannot be ignored, including how the old and new human resource management systems are converted and the negative effects of the new system.

Introduction

     The current period is known as the “digital age,” and digital transformation has become a global consensus among enterprises. 5G, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, IoT, blockchain, and other technologies have become the driving and enabling forces of work (Yu & JInajun, 2020). Enterprises need to change their business models to harness the exponential changes brought about by the full arrival of the digital era so that they can act faster and adapt more quickly to the rapidly changing environment.

     Digital transformation has forced us to change the way organizations operate, to the extent that becoming a fundamental part of corporate strategy (Heavin & Power, 2018). The impact of digital transformation can be found to lead to changes in consumer behavior, evaluation of services and products, and expectations (Mosca, 2020). To cope with the change in market behavior, many enterprises realize the need to transform business models to gain a sustainable competitive advantage and maintain pace with the digital evolution of their industries.

     Before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, there were changes in business claims or leader claims regarding digital transformation. Before the outbreak, it may have been more of a rush or a desire to grow quickly. But the outbreak made it clear that this digitalization or online and offline integration has become a necessary point for survival. If enterprises fail to do this, they may not survive (Yu & JInajun, 2020).

Contributions and Conclusions

     This research provides the following recommendations for HRM practitioners as well as theoretical researchers. (1) The study analyzes the drivers of HRM digital transformation for organizational managers and HRM practitioners and helps them to understand the underlying reasons for HRM digital transformation. As a result, people need to reconsider the possibility or the urgency of HRM digital transformation in the context of the internal and external organizational environment. As a business partner, HRM needs to face internal customer requirements (e.g., to deliver digital HRM processes) as well as external factors such as competition, industry developments, and government regulation. In order to meet these internal and external demands, there is a need to carry out HRM digital transformation and upgrades, without which it cannot face competitive pressures and gain a business advantage. (2) In addition to the drivers for transformation, HRM needs to consider the direction of transformation, that is, what HRM business area to transform in. This helps to direct attention to the key of digital HRM transformation so as not to stray from the core digital HRM business area. The study analyzes the elements of digital HRM transformation from the HRM perspective, including shaping the digital workplace, providing internal digital services and digital HRM business processes (e.g., selection, training, and assessment). (3) Our study also considers some of the consequences of the digital transformation of HRM. Managers need to consider and assess these consequences in advance. Possible implications include how to transition between the two HRM systems, the negative impact of the new digital HRM system, the impact of digital HRM on work outcomes, and digital ethics. The study reminds managers of the need to consider the possible implications of the new digital system. After assessing these impacts, organizations need to decide whether to adopt minor digital HRM changes to transition or a large-scale approach.