Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 6th Edition by Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart,Patrick Wright

Exercise 21

How e-HRM Helps Plan International Respond to Crises with Agility
As a nonprofit aimed to promote development worldwide, Plan International has some tough challenges in talent management. The organization's more than 10,000 employees work throughout the world. Not only are they spread out, but much activity takes place in 50 developing nations of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Work on projects to promote child welfare and bring these communities better education, water, sanitation, and health may receive funding for a few years, and then the organization needs to send employees to a different project for which donors have provided funds. Also, Plan International's employees help rebuild communities after disasters. From an HRM standpoint, that means sudden, unexpected staffing needs under the worst conditions. In one case, employees were engaged in a disaster recovery and needed a French-speaking accountant. The organization frantically e-mailed its offices around the world, looking for that particular skill set.
To meet these HRM challenges more efficiently, Plan International purchased e-HRM software from a company called SuccessFactors.
The software unites applications for recruiting, hiring, training, compensating, evaluating, and promoting employees. Because data storage and processing are handled remotely via cloud computing, with information available over the Internet, employees in any location with Internet access can use the system. For example, an employee can look up organizational goals, set individual performance goals that align, and keep performance records where they are easy to retrieve. The system also provides a searchable database of job candidates, so the organization can recruit from the database as new needs arise.
One situation where e-HRM proved its value to Plan International was the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan, which recently struck the Philippines and destroyed the homes of 800,000 people. The agency needed to quickly locate the employees with the needed combination of language skills and experience in meeting particular kinds of needs, such as education and child protection. By searching its SuccessFactors HR system, Plan International located employees not only by the skills they originally brought when hired, but also taking into account their learning and development during their time with the organization.
Give an example of how e-HRM improves the efficiency of human resource management for Plan International.