Human resources perform many essential functions in the organization, including recruitment, performance management, learning and development, and many more. To better understand the function of human resources, we must first understand what human resources is.
According to Storey (1995), human resources management is an approach to achieving competitive advantages through the strategic use of a highly committed and capable workforce that uses an array of cultural and structural techniques. This article will look at some of the functions of human resources within the organization and how they contribute to the betterment of the company.
Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining Talent
Talent acquisition is among the popular functions of the human resources department. It ensures that the workforce’s capabilities and performance match organizational goals for the growth of the company. Companies like HR Elements managers will keep their attention on the company activities to ensure everything meets the demands of the organization. They are strategic when hiring or restructuring teams and make informed decisions about employers.
Recruiting Candidates
Finding the right talent starts with providing accurate and detailed descriptions of the job. Human resources must evaluate the market to know the salary range of that particular position before setting their salary and promoting the available positions on recruiting platforms. Normally, HR professionals will analyze applicants before deciding on the right candidate to hire. Once decided, they will set up an interview with the organization’s key players.
Hiring Employees
HR managers are the ones handling the work of performing background checks, onboarding new workers, and explaining payroll, benefits, and company policies. The hiring process involves some amount of legal and other paperwork, record keeping, and administrative responsibilities. They will ensure all the information is present, accurate, and well-protected to protect the employees and company security.
Click here to learn more about onboarding documents for new hires.
Retaining Talent
HR is partially responsible for retaining talented employees, which is sometimes overlooked when it comes to skill acquisition. Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) describes that the factors that employees identify that contribute to job satisfaction include receiving respectful treatment from everybody at all levels, trust between employees and senior management, giving them opportunities to showcase their skills and abilities at work, and compensation and pay job security.
Employee Engagement
Setting up a two-way dialogue and engagement between employees and human resources or the senior leadership is among the ways to build and maintain a healthy working culture where the company and everybody around is united and shares the same goal, mission, and value. This engagement will encourage workers to discuss concerns or report situations and ensure the problem is solved as soon as possible. This practice will also eliminate all kinds of dishonesty.
Some of the activities that can build rapport and trust in the organization include:
- Recognizing individual and group achievements
- Sharing successes and failures
- Asking for feedback and listening to concerns
- Organizing company-wide gatherings
- Communicating new policies, decisions, and strategic goals in a timely manner
- Mediating conflicts or tensions between employees
Compensation and Benefits
Another important function of a human resources manager is to calculate fair compensation rates and put together a comprehensive list of benefits that the company offers to its workers. After all, that compensation is the result of employees’ hard work and that’s the major reason they are doing the work. Here, the goal is to set a competitive and attractive price that will pay off the candidate’s experience and align with their expectations.
Compensation is the amount an employee receives annually or hourly and also includes other benefits, including:
- Health insurance (e.g., medical, dental, vision)
- 401k opportunities
- Education benefits
- Parental leave
- Paid holidays Paid time off
- Sign-on bonuses
- Referral bonuses
- Relocation assistance
- Stock options
Development and Training
HR departments are responsible for providing a lot of opportunities for their workers to improve their skills and learn new skills, which is also beneficial to the company. Attending professional development programs can have a positive impact on worker’s productivity and increase their performance and promotion opportunities within and outside the company. Employees who feel the company they work with is encouraging and investing in their growth are likely to work hard to shape the company for the better.
Human resources are also responsible for scheduling training sessions for the employees that will align with the company’s strategic goals and legal responsibilities. For instance, some companies schedule a company-wide informational session on topics like
- Diversity, inclusion, and equity in the workplace
- Recognizing and reporting sexual harassment
- Mandated Reporting
- Emerging technology
- Industry and marketing trends
Gain more insight into other informational session topics to discuss with employees: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-put-your-team-meeting-agenda-claire-lew.
Conclusion
Human resources perform a wide range of functions, including recruiting, retaining, and hiring talented individuals to the company, employee engagement, doing market analysis, and setting competitive compensation and development and training that will enhance workers’ skills and experience that is advantageous to the company.
