What Do Human Resources Do: Here Are the Top 13 Responsibilities

What do human resources do? When I was at school, I didn’t really have much of an idea. I imagined they were a kind of high-flying mini-manager who threw their weight around to ensure the entire company ran smoothly. 

These days, with more education under my belt (if I could only get it off my chest), I know slightly better.

Despite the seemingly simple nature of their job title, human resource professionals are among the most important team members in any organization.

Consequently, it’s important to understand what human resources do and why they do it. Let’s dive in.

What is a Human Resources department?

To begin with, Human Resources, often referred to as HR, is the department within a company in charge of handling all employee and staff-related issues.

They deal with the employees or workforce of an organization. In simple terms, this means building and maintaining the workforce or workforce of the business. 

The HR department’s purpose is to ensure a company’s smooth running.

Generally, they deal with all employment-related matters. This includes hiring and firing, dealing with employee complaints, recruitment and training, and helping to establish policies in line with legislation.

Human Resources (HR): What Do They Do?

The following are the major responsibilities of the human resources department in an organization. 

1. Hiring of New and Ideal Employees

It is difficult to find an employee who proves to be a complete match for the job that is expected to be filled for him/her.

With over a million businesses and organizations in the USA alone, human resources managers are tasked with hiring new employees that are both qualified and well-suited for their positions. 

But with the help of the human resources department of any organization, it is much easier to locate such people and employ them in a company. They ensure that the company hires the right candidates as employees and makes sure they do their work well.

2. Management of Compensation and Benefits Packages

The HR department is often where employees go to sort out benefits packages.

Employees also learn about career opportunities or find answers to questions they have been pondering from HR. The HR department also handles employee compensation, benefits, and rewards packages. 

Compensation and benefits are ongoing support functions designed to pay and reward employees in ways that help increase their productivity and retention. 

3. Fostering a Safe Work Environment

Human resources are all about making sure that everybody in the company is healthy and productive.

The department also seeks to improve the workplace by improving productivity and creating job satisfaction. Furthermore, it fosters positive conditions where employees can achieve their full potential. 

However, it goes beyond just giving workers health care coverage or matching their 401k contributions. The department is also tasked with maintaining a safe work environment.

From training employees to enforcing discrimination and sexual harassment policies, HR departments play a critical role in keeping firms healthy.

4. Handling of Disciplinary Needs

Every organization has disciplinary needs. Without proper discipline, there would be no repercussions for mistakes, and the workplace would be a complete mess. Human resources are also tasked with handling all disciplinary needs. 

They are responsible for any legal matters that the company gets involved in due to discipline.

In many businesses, employees have appealed their decisions and received disciplinary actions from human resources. 

Let’s face it. When employees are not following the rules, slacking on their responsibilities, or are just plain being bad, there is a need to deal with them. 

5. Support of Employee Development

Managing people is one of the toughest jobs that an employer may have. This is because each employee is unique and has their learning styles, skill set, and leadership capabilities. And each company and organization has its vision that each employee needs to support. 

One of the main goals of the Human Resources department is to provide support to the employees and develop their skills so that they can perform well at their assigned jobs.

Human resource professionals carefully layout and design the programs that will help the employees in achieving this goal. 

This includes promoting careers, encouraging training and education programs, interacting with unions, and serving as a liaison between employees and management.

6. Overseeing Training Programs

Employee training programs are the responsibility of the human resources department. Employees operating in the office and the field benefit from the programs by becoming more efficient. 

These programs improve employee morale, make jobs safer, and keep employees loyal. However, it is important to structure the training program so that the needs of employees are taken into account, as well as the objectives of the organization.

7. Provision of Career Growth Opportunities 

Human resource is a part of the administrative team in an organization. Its primary responsibility is to assist in the management of its employees, so they can properly render their services. 

They attempt to achieve this by hiring employees with good characteristics and firing those who are not contributing much to the organization.

HR also assists in developing the careers of current employees chosen to be promoted and given higher training.

8. Performance Appraisal 

Well, for starters, not all people are created equal. Besides, these days it might seem like a nightmare of the glass ceiling phenomenon or favoritism. HRs perform appraisals to ensure that the employees are fairly appreciated.

Performance appraisal is the process of recognizing an employee’s performance and advising him on work improvement areas. It’s an opportunity to review the overall organization or company’s operations and establish objectives needed to accomplish these operations. 

Performance appraisal helps an organization determine the impact of work carried out by employees in a given time. This helps the employer to improve the performance of the employee, who, in turn, works towards ensuring good performance.

9. Offering Continuing Education

Dedicated HR professionals have many responsibilities. One of your most important duties is to provide continuing education to the staff so they are always up-to-date on the latest workplace changes and employment laws. 

Human resources managers need to stay on top of the latest policies and find creative ways to keep their employees engaged and motivated. And when employees are successful, employers can count on more new businesses and deals as a result.

10. Handling of Payroll

Among other things, payroll is the company’s most expensive and time-consuming administrative function. It consists of processing the wages of employees according to their salary grade and length of service. 

Besides, paying employees involves a lot more than having the right amount of money in the payroll account. You must withhold taxes and deal with insurance, deductions, and garnishments.

The HR department simplifies these processes. Hence, business owners don’t have to worry, so they can focus on taking care of their employees. 

11. Record Keeping and Management 

Human resources oversee record keeping and management.

The department is a liaison between the company and its employees. It gives information on what to focus on, and what’s available for employees, as well as instructions on its application. 

They happen to work in a department where most of their job consists of paperwork and filing. They also work with the rest of the departments to make things right and set to go to the workplace.

12. Communicate company policies to employees and workers

The HR department is tasked with ensuring that the workplace is both safe and welcoming to workers.

While this usually means ensuring that there is enough coverage of workers and also following up on any accidents or illnesses, an important part of human resource management is communicating company policies to employees.

13. Dealing with employee retention, organization, and outsourcing 

Human resource is a vital part of the company which keeps an eye on all departments working in the company. It manages and deals with all key issues like employee retention, training, organization, etc. 

One cannot deny that HR is a vital part of any organization or office. You can understand its importance by looking at it as an extension of you. It deals with your employee’s day-to-day activities.

What are the Best Ways to Build an Organization’s Human Resources Team?

Are you looking to build the right team to support your business? Building a competent team is about selecting the right people for each seat and then establishing good working relationships between them.

HR work also encompasses several different tasks that are critical for the success of any organization. 

Here are some of the best ways to ensure that you build a human resources team that helps your business grow and thrive.

  • Hire the right people
  • Train and develop your human resources team
  • Create HR policies
  • Make sure that HR can stay up to date with the changes in the industry
  • Befriend your employees
  • Be open-minded to diversity
  • Support your team by removing obstacles to success
  • Lastly, listen attentively to what your employees have to say

With the tips above, you can ensure that your organization’s human resources team is on track and performing as needed. Also, as an employer, if there are other ways you think can help HR perform better, share them with your team. 

With the right strategies, any organization, regardless of size or industry, can develop its Human Resources team to serve as a crucial resource for its success.

What are the Requirements to Become a Human Resources Personnel?

Human resources professionals typically have a bachelor’s degree in human resources management or business administration. 

In addition, state laws and federal laws are both involved in this field. This is because businesses of all sizes and industries need to comply with guidelines that protect employees in the workplace. 

Some of these regulations include safety regulations, minimum wage requirements, and discrimination laws. 

What skills are necessary for this position?

Leadership skills

To be a human resources manager, you must possess leadership skills.

An effective human resources manager must also be able to build a team that works together to meet goals and solve problems.

Also, you’ll need to be able to coach your staff when they’re in a situation that requires expert knowledge.

Commutation skills

To become human resource personnel, you should show your desire for this job by having strong communication skills. You must know how to correctly relate with your co-workers and employers. 

Problem-solving skills

Human resources professionals must be problem-solvers. Besides, there are no easy solutions in the world of human resources.

You’ll often confront difficult issues and conflicts. But you’ll need to work through these problems until you find a solution that is fair for everyone involved.

Analytical skills

Human resources managers spend time anticipating and reacting to an organization’s future needs based on experience and anticipated growth prospects.

Thus, they require analytical skills. HR specialists also translate their data into information that decision-makers use to formulate projects, set goals and determine staff needs.

How Much Money do Human Resources Managers Make?

A human resources manager’s median annual salary is $121,000. The median wage, in simple words, indicates what a person at the middle level earns.

The median wage gives the average of two numbers: the lowest and highest payroll wages. At the bottom 10 percent, earnings were less than $71,000, and at the top, earnings are more than $208,000.

FAQs

Does every company need a dedicated HR person or team?

Every company needs human resource professionals to deal with the legal and policy issues of hiring, retaining, and managing employees. This especially holds for companies that have more than a handful of employees.

How do you get a job in human resources?

To get a job in human resources, start by contacting the human resources department at the company of your choice. If a position is open, you will fill out an application and undergo an interview.

Keep in mind that human resources professionals are responsible for a company’s employee relations, so communication skills and patience are important.

Final Thoughts 

HR departments at most companies are one of the places professional employees go to when it comes to matters needing expert advice and solutions.

A well-trained HR department can bring a lot of positive changes to the company, like highly qualified employees or a company’s profits increase.

When the HR department of an organization does its work well, the overall benefits are experienced by both the staff and the organization.

Nonetheless, employees and employers need to work together to achieve this kind of growth. One way to do this is through collaborative learning and adequate training.

Employers need to learn about what training is important for their employees. The article on important training for employees will teach employers specific training that all employees must undergo.

Thanks for reading.