The human resources department is a critical part of every organization. No company can survive without a team, and HR must ensure that a great team is hired and can work effectively in a good environment.
Human resources involve much more than hiring and paying employees. Several areas of human resources must be managed effectively for a company to succeed.
Here you’ll find a list of the most important HR areas that HR professionals must be prepared to handle.
Recruitment and Hiring
Recruiting and hiring a great team is the first goal of the HR department. It starts with understanding all of the roles required for the company to function so that job descriptions can be created for all positions. Those job descriptions are then made into job postings for job boards, which must be designed to attract applicants. HR professionals must also know which job boards are best for finding candidates for specific positions.
But often, active recruitment is often required in order to find the best talent. The HR department has to scan the job boards looking for qualified candidates, review their resumes, and reach out to them to invite them to apply. Often, recruiting is a process of having several conversations with the applicant to garner their interest in the position.
The HR department then has to review all received applications to find applicants that are qualified enough to move on to the interview process. Then, interviews must be conducted by the HR department, and potentially by the manager of the job position’s department. Interviewing is an art that HR professionals must master.
A process must be developed to handle the selection process and to make the process effective and efficient. This may involve skills testing at some point to make sure the applicant’s skills match their resume.
Finally, the selected employees need to go through an onboarding and orientation process before they can start working. The HR department must manage this process to make sure that employees get off to a positive start.
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Employee Relations
It’s also important to make sure that the employees hired are engaged and do well in their roles. This first involves actively communicating with employees to see how they feel about their roles and if they are satisfied with their jobs. This is an important part of creating a positive company culture. HR must get feedback from all employees in order to make changes when necessary to provide the best work environment possible, which is key to employee retention.
Employee performance also must be monitored and managed on an ongoing basis. HR must communicate with department managers to track employee performance and take appropriate actions, whether positive or negative. This may involve disciplinary action or firing in cases of poor performance or recognition and even awards in cases of exceptional performance.
Compensation and Benefits
Of course, employees must be paid and receive benefits! The HR department has to work with upper management to determine wage and salary levels for different positions, as well as potential incentive or bonus programs. They also must put together a competitive benefits package that will help to attract and retain employees, which will include things like health insurance and retirement plans.
Then the HR department has to manage the payroll process and the administration of benefits. This is no easy task, so usually a specific area of HR is responsible for this process. Payroll taxes must be handled properly, as well as benefit payments, to ensure that employees are getting what they’re due, and that all regulations are followed.
Employee development and training
It’s important for employees to be able to learn and grow, for the benefit of both the company and the employees. Employees want to know that they have a career path to follow within the company, or they will eventually seek other opportunities.
HR departments are responsible for putting together training programs and materials, as well as providing access to other resources that can help employees up their skills.
Often, the HR department will bring in outside experts to provide training in certain areas, such as sales or management.
Compliance and Legal Issues
HR is responsible for making sure that all HR processes comply with the law at the federal, state, and local levels. This includes minimum wage and overtime laws, but it also involves creating and implementing discrimination and harassment policies. These policies should be in line with the laws, including equal pay laws.
Workplace safety and health regulations must also be followed to ensure compliance and the safety of all employees.
Finally, HR records must be documented and stored according to the law, and the privacy of employees must be protected under the law as well.
HR Information Systems (HRIS)
HR software and tools are used to streamline HR processes, and to track things like employee engagement feedback and performance data. HR professionals must be well versed in these systems to use them effectively.
HR professionals also deal with large volumes of data on a daily basis, including employee information, performance metrics, and payroll data. Effective data management and analysis is essential for making informed decisions and improving organizational performance. By analyzing this data, HR professionals can identify trends and patterns, measure performance, and make data-driven decisions.
The HR department must also report to management about key metrics and work with them to make improvements that can increase efficiencies.
As technology evolves, HR departments need to stay up to date on the latest tools and systems that are available to automate processes, collect and aggregate data, and create reports. When new tools come to the market, they need to inform management and discuss making appropriate software purchases or upgrades.
Conclusion
Clearly, all of these HR areas are critical to the successful operation of any company, but providing a healthy and happy environment for the company’s employees is perhaps the most important. Companies are becoming more and more aware of the importance of creating a positive company culture, so HR professionals who understand their role in creating such a culture will be the most successful.
