Tanzania like other emerging economies, has decided to use HRIS to replace the paper-based record system. The usage of HRIS in Tanzania dates back to 2011 when the Government introduced HRIS in its ministries, departments and Agencies (MDAs) and Local Government authorities (LGAs). The aim of introducing HRIS in the MDAs and LGAs was to reduce manual performance of administrative activities and enable HR officers to maintain complete, accurate and up to-date employees’ information by using computerised application software . Available evidence indicates that the reality on the ground differs from the expectations. Fraud in the public payroll, employment of unqualified public servants in the government agencies, delayed public sector promotions and poor management of employee training and development plans are examples of unexpected malfunctions of HRM in the public sector . These weaknesses were disclosed in the nationwide auditing of public servants report of 2016 presented by the Minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Public Service Management and Good Governance. The persistence of challenges raises concerns on the effectiveness of HRIS usage in the public sector organizations. However, so far there is no any review that has been undertaken to synthesise the usage of HRIS and identify challenges observed in the HRIS usage. In that view, we critically reviewed the existing literature on HRIS usage and challenges facing its uptake in Tanzania. The paper therefore provides unique information that can be used by policy makers and practitioners to improve HRIS implementation in Tanzania and other settings in the emerging economies.
Unsteady Financial Capacity
The cost of installing and maintaining HRIS is high. The system encompasses electronic databases for storing information, software for entering and updating data, and reporting and analysis tools. For the system to function properly, it requires purchase and installation of relevant hardware (e.g. desktop PCs for accessing and inputting information locally, Uninterruptible Power Supply - UPS, Printers), software and support components (e.g. Server-side software such as HTML, Java, Perl; Intranet communications protocol; Relational database/Information processing software for records, payroll) . A critical challenge here is that the Government has not invested sufficient funds to procure the required quantity of computers and accessories for maximum utilization of the HRIS. Both MDAs and LGAs are affected by limited investment in HRIS. For instance, there is an insufficient number of computers and their accessories compared to the number of trained system users in many MDAs and LGAs. In Mwanza Municipality, for instance, there is a deficit of five (5) computers connected to HRIS, and therefore, system users have to share the few computers available. The thrust of installing one HRIS in the Public sector was to minimize cost. It is argued that it is costly and difficult to sustain two (or more) systems under chronic shortage of financial resources at the central level . The same challenge is also faced by other developing countries. Insufficient computers are a challenge faced by public sector employees in the development of management information systems in River Nile State – Sudan . It is reported that, one of the major obstacles in acquiring maximum potential of HRIS is insufficient finances to purchase hardware and software for application programs, along with costs of maintenance and updating . Reports that the major reason for lack of enthusiasm in adoption and implementation of HRIS is the immense funds needed for HRIS adoption and implementation. In the same vein, cost of instituting and maintenance of the HRIS is the major barrier in HRIS adoption and implementation.
Inadequate ICT and HRIS Expertise
Expertise entails special skills or knowledge acquired through training, study or practice. In HRIS, expertise in Information and communications technology (ICT) is highly needed to manage the system effectively. The system serves different purposes including among others; human resource planning and records management. Insufficient ICT expertise and manning levels were reported to be the major challenges facing the usage of HRIS in Tanzania. The National ICT Policy identifies two main challenges in the adequacy of ICT human capital: 1) non-recognition of ICT professionals and 2) inadequacy of ICT proficient human resource base to accelerate the nation’s socio-economic development efforts in the information age. In addition, the slow pace of employers in training and developing employees in the ICT field has widened the expertise gap. The scope of the inadequacy of expertise encompasses two groups of employees. The first group includes system users who have direct access to the HRIS. These are mainly human resource officers (HROs). According to the HCMIS User manual, it is only the HROs who have been given access to HRIS can maintain their employees’ information and make all necessary changes as needed. It is therefore recommended that these HROs should be knowledgeable on more than one functional area, particularly, ICT and HR functions. The actual situation in the field indicates that the majority of the HROs have limited knowledge of the use of the system. In Mwanza Municipality for instance, the average rate of system use is around 43.3%. This low use of HRIS has to a large extent been attributed to insufficient knowledge in system use. In addition, evidence shows that none of the system users had knowledge on using Personnel Administration form 21 (PA21), Personnel Administration form 34 (PA34), and Allowance form TZ042); and very few could use Payroll form 15 (PR15) which is a special form for uploading multiple deductions and Personnel Administration form (PA52.4) which is a very essential form for hiring new employees . The challenge of expertise inadequacy was also reported in other employing ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The majority of MDAs have a few trained HROs who have direct access to the system. These include the health sector and Local Government Authorities (LGAs) . Some HROs were not trained on HRIS usage but only learnt about HRIS through the use of user guideline/manual that were sent to them. The available evidence informs that lack of training leads to some HROsnot using HRIS. Inadequacy in the number of HROs with sufficient computer skills was reported in almost all MDAs. This problem was noted when those with expertise were not in office for activities such as meetings . In order to get out of the hurdle of expertise inadequacy, training and development on information systems should be given adequate impetus. The second group of personnel is ICT experts responsible for maintaining, evaluating and enhancing the databases to avoid information leaks or losses. According to the HRIS Payroll Software, the system requires maintenance as follows: (1) monthly maintenance is done to fix bugs in coding, configurationand upgrading the system; (2) quarterly maintenance for reviewing and fine-tuning the system’s security access; (3) biannual maintenance aims at removing all obsolete reports, functions, and features from the system and organizing well the information and dashboards; and (4) annual maintenance for reviewing the system to make sure that all relevant compliance needs are being taken care of, and also removing terminated employees’ records . It is recommended that system maintenance be done by in-house experts to reduce costs on maintenance . However, the major challenge faced is lack of sufficient number of ICT specialists in MDAs who can maintain the HRIS . This challenge contributes to high maintenance costs and delays
Government Structures for Handling of Personnel Data
In Tanzanian, the HRIS and payroll process involves multiple actors. These include Public Service Department (PSD) for personnel policy formulation and implementation, Ministry of Finance (for financial policy formulation, budgeting, treasury functions, accounting and pension administration); employing ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs; parent ministries for common cadres such as the Administration Cadre and the Accounting Cadre; and service commissions such as those for teachers, police and the judiciary (for recruitment and the approval of promotions). Others include the Office of the Controller and Auditor General (for auditing the Government accounts), Workers Councils representing employees at all levels within MDAs; and the Public Social Security Fund. The whole process of handling employees’ data starts from recruitment and selection which is a shared responsibility among different organs. It is initiated by the Director of Administration and Personnel (DAP) in the employing ministry to request approval to appoint from the Permanent Secretary of the (PSD). The PSD checks to ensure whether the available budget can accommodate the appointment; if so, it authorizes the appointment. A request is then sent to the appropriate service commission to initiate the selection process and once completed; the name(s) of the successful candidate(s) are forwarded to the MDA to proceed with appointment. The candidate then is added to the payroll, the DAP prepares a letter of appointment and forwards it to the Chief Accountant, who completes a data entry form for submission to the PSD for approval. Once appointment is approved, the form is forwarded to the Budget Commissioner to verify that funds are available to make the appointment Once the three relevant authorities (the DAP, the head of the Establishment Division and the Budget Commissioner) have signed the data entry form, the forms are batched and data entry is carried out in either the Treasury or the PSD. The presence of multiple actors sometimes poses a challenge on usage of HRIS. There are several cases where some actors have failed to implement their responsibilities on time causing delay in the decision making process. This indicates that there is poor cooperation between departments in sharing information, example a delay in removing employees from the payroll because heads of department had delayed to pass on information on deaths of employees to the system users soon after the deaths. In another case, it is reported that secondary education department failed to inform system users on resignation of employees in the department on time. It was reported that the system requires information on transferred employees, employees to be promoted, employees to be removed from the payroll, employees for data cleaning, and employees to be subjected to disciplinary actions. All this information must be received by system users from other departments so that such information is timely fed into the system. It is argued that to facilitate information flow that is used by system users in updating information in the system, there must be close cooperation between HR departments especially HRIS offices and other departments.
Unreliable Internet Connectivity
For HRIS to function effectively there must be reliableinternetto easily send and receive information between departments. It has been reported that there is a direct relationship between use of HRIS and network stability. Network is the engine of HRIS in the sense that availability and stability of network will facilitate effective use of the system and minimize time taken to serve customers. In Tanzania, since 2011, the government opted to use reliable and inter-operable ICT infrastructure achieved through deployment of the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) and landing of two submarine cables in Dar es Salaam, namely Eastern Africa Submarine cable System (EASSy) and Southern and Eastern Africa Communication Network (SEACOM) [37]. EASSy has a capacity of 4.72Tbps, SEACOM has a capacity of 1.28 Tbps, and coverage of 7,560 Km long and NICTBB Optic Fibre Cable has a capacity of 4.8Tbps [37]. The Government of Tanzania (GoT) has networked almost all regional headquarters and all LGAs with NICTBB (National Information Technology Backborne) Optic Fibre Cable to replace low capacity and expensive satellite bandwidth for local and international communication (URT, 2016). NICTBB Optic Fibre Cable network is operated by Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) [9, 37]. However, despite all these efforts, reliable network has remained a challenge that affects HRIS application in some MDAs. This is due to the fact that there are some MDAs which have no reliable internet connections for official use. These MDAs instead rely on employees’ personal internet modems to get online and update HR information. Modem use slows down system usage since users have to spend a lot of time waiting for network response or spend a lot of money to recharge the modem.
Inadequate Top Management Support
Support from the organization’s top management is an important tenet for ensuring effective HRIS performance. Top management support may be ensured through provision of financial and psychological resources needed to produce reliable information for sound decision-making. Research evidence proves that top management commitment is an indispensable component in HRIS implementation and effectiveness. Top management support influences HRIS adoption pace in many organizations. Similarly, inadequate top management commitment found to be one among the major barriers to successful HRIS use . Underscoring the role of top management support for effective HRIS implementation emphasizes on the need for top management of organizations to provide adequate top management support to employee training programs to eliminate skill gaps. In Tanzania, top management support is one of the major challenges facing HRIS implementation. For example, there is inadequate interaction between people and technology because middle and senior managers use the systems differently. While the middle managers often use the system to monitor their supervisees’ work, analyze, and create information; senior managers rarely use the systems. This is so because they rely heavily on their junior colleagues to supply them with paper-based abstracts or summaries. In addition, the insufficient number of computers and use of a single room to accommodate all system users was observed in some MDAs partly constitutes evidence on inadequate top management support purchasing adequate number of computers. Inadequate top management support has often been reported to be one of the major causes of delays in decision-making in the MDAs. For example, some of them had many pending actionsin the system simply because some of top management members (approvers) failed to act timely.
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