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Human Resources Processes with ERP
planning an expansion of social networking into the Human Capital Management module
in the near future as well.

Question:
1. In what ways could social networking improve human capital management
software?

175

Training and Development Coordination
The Personnel Development component of the SAP ERP Human Resources module allows
companies to plan and implement employee development and training activities that
maximize an employee’s ability to contribute to the organization. Because advances in
technology can quickly render an employee’s knowledge obsolete, employees will not
remain productive without continuing development and training efforts. In addition, many
positions require certifications that must be updated, and continuing education is
frequently required for recertification. Without an effective human resources information
system, managing the training, development, and certification needs for a company’s
employees can be both time consuming and prone to error.
In the SAP ERP system, employee development is driven by qualifications and
requirements. Requirements are skills or abilities associated with a position, while
qualifications are skills or abilities associated with a specific employee. Requirements and
qualifications refer to the same concept from a different perspective. By using the SAP
Personnel Development tool, a manager can compare an employee’s qualifications with the
requirements for a position to which the employee aspires. This comparison enables the
manager to identify gaps and to plan development and training efforts to close those gaps.
It can also serve as a basis for employee evaluation, and it can help motivate the employee
by providing a goal and the means to achieve it.
One of the most important reasons companies must manage the development and
training of employees is the need for succession planning. A succession plan outlines the
strategy for replacing key employees when they leave the company or move to another
position within the company. The success of a company depends in large part on the skills,
abilities, and experience of its management team. This is especially true for small companies
like Fitter. Savvy customers have been known to avoid establishing long-term relationships
with companies that do not have well-developed succession plans. The Career and
Succession Planning components of the SAP ERP Human Resources module allow human
resources professionals to create, implement, and evaluate succession planning scenarios.
Human resources departments use career planning tools when working with individual
employees, identifying potential career goals and drawing up career plans. Companies use
succession planning tools to find people to fill unoccupied positions. Succession planning
allows human resources employees to meet staffing requirements by proactively identifying
candidate employees within the company and ensuring that their training and development
plans will prepare them for the new position when it becomes available. Using the career and
succession planning tools in an ERP system ensures that human resources will have accurate
and timely employee and position data when developing those plans. The system also lets
human resources staff more easily track and integrate personnel changes (such as new

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