The introduction of e‐HRM at Philips: some lessons for large organizations : Don't leave it all to the technical specialists

Purpose – The paper aims to describe attitudes toward electronic human resource management (e‐HRM) at Philips (Electronics) Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the results of an online questionnaire, in which 99 managers and 257 employees of the company participated. Managers and employees answered questions as to their previous experiences with regard to IT systems in general, their preferred HR roles, and their attitude to e‐HRM systems. Findings – The paper reveals that differences in perceived usability of current IT systems, as well as the preferred HR roles of strategic partner (high preference) and employee champion (low preference), were related to a positive attitude towards e‐HRM systems. For managers, user support was also found to be a predictor of a positive attitude towards e‐HRM. Practical implications – The paper highlights the importance of not leaving the introduction of e‐HRM to technical people alone. Originality/value – The paper helps HR specialists in large organizations to implement e‐HRM as smoothly as possible.