Challenges Confronting Implementation of Electronic Human Resource Information System in Public Institutions

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to determine the challenges in implementing an electronic human resource management system in public institutions in Zanzibar. The study was conducted at the Ministry of Labour, Empowerment, Elders, Women and Children Zanzibar (MLEEWC). The target population was the employees of MLEEWC, including the directors, officers in charge, heads of departments, human resource and administrative officers, planning officers, IT staff and other official staffs of the Ministry from different departments. The methodological tools that were employed in the data collection include questionnaires, and interviews. The sample size was approximately 85 employees. The respondents were administered with a Likert based structured questionnaire to rank the technological, organisational and environmental(regulatory) challenges for e-HRIS implementation. With the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), descriptive and correlational analysis was used to assess the technological, organisational and environmental challenges in implementing electronic human resource system in MLEEWC. The results show that all the indicators used to assess the technological, organisational and environmental challenges contribute as challenges in the course of e-HRIS implementation and that there was a positive correlation between the three categories of challenges and the e-HRIS implementation. The study recommends for the public institution administrators and particularly policy-maker among other things, to improve technological resources, enhance the management support and establish a sound ICT policy in order to ensure effective implementation of intended information systems.