DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A WEB-BASED PLACEMENT SYSTEM

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Human resource management (HRM), also called personnel management (Douglas, 1992), consists of all the activities undertaken by an organization to ensure the effective utilization of employees toward the attainment of individual, group, and organizational goals. An organization's HRM function focuses on the people side of management. It consists of practices that help the organization to deal effectively with its people during the various phases of the employment cycle, including pre-hire, staffing, and post-hire. The pre-hire phase involves planning practices. The organization must decide what types of job openings will exist in the upcoming period and determine the necessary qualifications for performing these jobs. During the hire phase, the organization selects its employees. Selection practices include recruiting applicants, assessing their qualifications, and ultimately selecting those who are deemed to be the most qualified. In the posthire phase, the organization develops HRM practices for effectively managing people once they have come through the door. These practices are designed to maximize the performance and satisfaction levels of employees by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their jobs.
A HRMS (Human Resource Management System) is a combination of systems and processes that connect human resource management and information technology through human resource software (Zafar, 2013). A HRMS may help to revolutionize a workplace. The automation of repetitive and time consuming tasks associated with human resources management frees up some of the organization’s most valuable employees and allows the focus to shift to culture, retention, and other highly impactful areas.
Selection of a HRMS to handle HR activities is a trademark of a modern company, there are few successful companies that do not have some sort of automation in place for HR tasks at this juncture. Web accessibility has further worked to transform the landscape of HR, putting information and task management at the fingertips of employees and managers. HRMS has helped to effectively break down bureaucracy and “flatten” many organizations.
Security is of great concern when it comes to choosing a human resources management system (Chasserio & Legault, 2009). The information stored in a HRMS is highly sensitive, including proprietary organization data and volumes of personal information about employees.  It is essential for companies to choose a solution that utilizes a method of secure transmission such as SSL which encrypts the data as it transmits over the internet.
Internal security is also critical, information should be guarded by passwords that have varying levels of access in relation to what is needed for the job position. While most organizations now allow employees to access portions of HRMS solutions, employees must understand the importance of maintaining the integrity of the system and protecting the security of the information it contains (i.e. no password sharing). Safeguards should also be in place to quickly bar terminated employees’ access to systems.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Even the smallest of organizations need to implement some form of digitized information system to meet up current technological improvements. Organizations generally have a choice between using a computerized or manual HRM. Manual system in organizations offers a number of potential problems which includes:
1.2.1 Administrative Overwhelm
Many organizations, especially Sabon Gari LGA, still carry out their HRM manually. A manual HRMS typically requires a great deal of paperwork. A manual process also creates an administrative burden for HR staff of the organization.
1.2.2 Organizational Issues
A related problem uncovered during requirement gathering in Sabon Gari LGA include, not keeping all important HRM records and information in an organized, effective and accurate manner. This problem is simply a matter of work flow, as keeping files and documents in a central location is not actualized in Sabon Gari LGA.
1.2.3 Financial Implication
For most organizations, a paper-based system is costly and insecure. A paper-based system for managing documents and information in Sabon Gari LGA is expensive because the organization must allocate financial resources for both the cost of the materials and the labor power of managing them, including printing, collating and filing costs. This could mean employing additional workers who require salaries and benefits.
Similarly, paper-based systems make it difficult to share documents. When an organization office is distributed nationally or internationally, the ability to send and share documents quickly is key necessity. With HRMS, this becomes much easier and faster. 
1.2.4 Motivation of the Study
Over the past decade, virtually every major industry invested heavily in computerization and this has pushed organizations to change from manual to digitized technique of information management. Yet, despite these advances in our society, majority of organizations handles HRM using paper based techniques, and very few employers of labor are able to perform recruitment without speaking to real human resource personnel.
The primary motivation of this work is the common transition from paper based information system to computerized information system by various organizations due to advances in technology.
During the information gathering phase of this work, the earlier mentioned motivation of interest turned solid as the need for specific features in Sabon Gari LGA Secretariat showed up; these features include:
i. The need for an improved data management: An HRMS can manage all employee data as well as information on benefits, such as enrollment and status changes ii. The need for employee self- service: An HRMS enables employees to update personal data without having to involve HR for simple tasks. This frees up the time of HR professionals for more strategic functions.
iii.             The need for a central storage: Because data is stored in one place, this means reporting can be more efficient. It makes access of compliance records simple. It also means there is a central location for documents such as employee handbooks, procedures and safety guidelines.
iv.             The need for on-demand reporting: Customized executive and management reporting can be done on the fly. For example, a manager might want to look up employment data by location, and could do so without having to contact HR. Managers can access the information timely as it pertains to employee development, performance improvement, and wage detail (as appropriate).
The need for managing and tracking recruitment data: Many HRMS systems include recruitment components such as applicant and resume management.