Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) and Recruitment & Selection Effectiveness: Enhancing Efficiency, Transparency, and Decision Quality

Francis Twinamasiko

doi:10.37284/eajbe.9.1.4322

Francis Twinamasiko Bishop Stuart University

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Résumé

Digital transformation has increasingly reshaped Human Resource Management (HRM), positioning Electronic Human Resource Management (E-HRM) as a central driver of modern recruitment and selection effectiveness. This article presents a comprehensive qualitative systematic literature review of studies published mainly between 2015 and 2025 to examine how E-HRM enhances recruitment outcomes, with a particular focus on efficiency, transparency, and decision quality. The review synthesises empirical and conceptual evidence on the role of digital recruitment technologies, including online job portals, applicant tracking systems (ATS), automated screening tools, virtual interview platforms, and digital onboarding modules in addressing longstanding limitations inherent in traditional, paper-based hiring processes. The findings indicate that E-HRM substantially improves recruitment efficiency by automating repetitive administrative tasks, reducing paperwork, accelerating processing time, and enabling seamless communication with applicants. Additionally, E-HRM strengthens transparency and accountability through digital audit trails, standardised screening criteria, and traceable decision pathways that limit discretionary bias and promote fairness, especially within public-sector recruitment systems. The review further reveals that E-HRM enhances decision quality through structured, competency-based assessment tools, centralised candidate databases, consistent digital scoring templates, and analytics-enabled insights that support merit-based selection. However, despite its transformative potential, the study identifies persistent constraints including limited ICT skills among HR users, system usability challenges, infrastructure instability, data-governance weaknesses, and risks associated with algorithmic bias. The article concludes that E-HRM can significantly elevate organisational recruitment effectiveness, yet its success depends on holistic socio-technical alignment encompassing technology design, user capability, institutional culture, and governance mechanisms. The study provides practical, policy, and research recommendations to support sustainable and context-responsive E-HRM adoption across diverse organisational settings.

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