Technical Note on Human Resource Management Information System Modernization in Cambodia

Cambodia has made incremental progress in modernizing its core government systems since 2020. In particular, the country has improved its scores in the Government Technology (GovTech) Maturity Index (GTMI) from 0.45 in 2020 to 0.58 (out of 1) in 2022. Despite this improvement, there is still an absence of a well-functioning and centralized full-suite Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) to manage public sector personnel information and data. This issue presents myriad challenges for effective and efficient human resource management (HRM) in the Cambodian civil service, currently consisting of more than 284,484 active and contracted staff. Lessons learned from the development and pilot implementation of the online payroll data entry service module prototype have shown that it is possible to utilize modern technology to improve the quality and efficiency of HRM in Cambodia at a moderate cost. Going forward, it is then necessary for Cambodia to formally adopt the HRMIS modernization roadmap and commence implementation as soon as possible The HRMIS modernization roadmap offers a gradual approach towards implementing a full-suite HRMIS. It outlines a set of prioritized modules for MCS to develop in the short-, medium-, and long-term toward a functioning full-suite HRMIS capable of generating valuable analytical insights for improving HR management and deployment. Successful roadmap implementation can also help to facilitate process streamlining reform toward improving efficiency in HR related tasks, thereby reducing manual and paper-based work and allowing employees to reallocate saved time to focus on more strategic and critical tasks at hand