HR: Functions

Hiring
Promotions
Reassignments
Position classification and grading
Salary determination
Performance appraisal review and processing
Awards review and processing
Personnel data entry and records maintenance
Consultation and advisory services to management and employees

Conduct problems

Performance problems
Policy development
Technical policy interpretation
Work Permitting Immigration Visa Program
Benefits

Health care insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Retirement

Voluntary accidental death and dismemberment insurance

Leave Transfer Program

Tuition Assistance Plan

Training opportunities

Combined Federal Campaign

Employee assistance referral
Workers' compensation

Role and importance of human resources

Human Resources (HR) is concerned with the issues of managing people in the organisation.

The Human Resources department is responsible for many people related issues in an
organisation.
Under the HR departments remit are the following roles:

The process of recruiting suitable candidates for the organisation

Identifying and meeting the training needs of existing staff
Ensuring employee welfare and employee relations are positive
Ensure the working environment is safe for employees
Raising awareness of current workplace legislation
The Human Resources Department also covers five key roles.

Executive role in this role the HR department are viewed as the specialists in the
areas that encompass Human Resources or people management.
Audit role in this capacity the HR department will check other departments and
the organisation as a whole to ensure all HR policies such as Health & Safety, Training, Staff
Appraisal etc are being carried out in accordance with the companys HR policy.
Facilitator role in this role, the HR department help or facilitate other
departments to achieve the goals or standards as laid out in the HR policies of the
organisation. This will involve training being delivered for issues that arise in the areas
relating to people management.
Consultancy role the HR department will advise managers on how to tackle
specific managing people issues professionally.
Service role in this capacity the HR department is an information provider to raise
awareness and inform departments and functional areas on changes in policy.

Q:
What is the role of the human
resources department?
A:
QUICK ANSWER

The human resources department of a company is responsible for hiring employees,

maintaining employee well-being and dismissing employees when necessary. The
human resources department handles many tasks related directly to employment
issues, such as payroll, insurance, benefits and taxes, and it is responsible for staying
up-to-date on legal issues affecting employment.

FULL ANSWER

The primary responsibility of the human resources department is to keep the associated
company staffed appropriately at all times. This includes employee recruitment,
selection and retention. Human resources managers strive to recruit quality employees,
select the best for the available positions and then develop policies that retain great
workers. Retention policies include providing adequate compensation, training
programs and competitive benefits packages. When an employee leaves, the human
resources department conducts exit interviews to assess the employee's reasons for
leaving in order to create better retention policies.
The human resources department also keeps track of changes in state and federal
employment laws and applies them appropriately. These include tax regulations, health
insurance requirements, overtime laws, unemployment restrictions, family and medical
leave policies and safety regulations. Human resources employees develop and update
employee handbooks and official policy lists as necessary to comply with changes in the
law. The department works for the best interest of both the employees and the
company, striving to create a safe workplace and handling employee disputes as
required.

What is the purpose of a human

resources department?
A:
QUICK ANSWER

The human resources department is the part of a company that deals with employee
relations. The HR department hires and fires employees as it deems necessary. It also
provides employees with services.

FULL ANSWER

The primary purpose of an HR department is to keep a business supplied with a

competent and satisfied workforce. The HR department advertises for employees,
interviews employees and makes employment recommendations. When an employee is
hired, the HR department completes the required paperwork and makes sure that legal
requirements for employment are met. Most HR departments also develop employee
handbooks and are involved in employee training programs.
Another function of the HR department is handling payroll or transferring payroll data if
payroll is outsourced. The department also oversees employee benefits. Department
personnel answer employee questions and provide information about any available
employee assistance programs. HR departments handle complaints from employees
and provide counseling and mediation when necessary. The HR department takes leave
requests and handles them in an appropriate manner. This includes staying abreast of
all legal changes that affect the company's employees.
When an employee voluntarily leaves the company, the HR department completes an
exit interview. This includes any separation paperwork. The HR department also informs
employees of layoffs and involuntary termination of employment.

Behind the production of every product or service there is human mind, effort and man hours
(working hours). no product or service can be produced without help of human being. Human
being is the fundamental resource for making or constructing anything. Today many experts
claim that machines and technology are replacing human resource and minimising their role
or effort. But even machines and technology have been build by the human aid and besides
companies have been continuously in search for talented, skilled and qualified professionals
to further develop latest machines and technology, which again have to be controlled or used
by humans to bring out products.
Meaning:
Human Resource Management is the process of recruitment, selection of employee, providing
proper orientation and induction, providing proper training and the developing skills, assessment of
employee (performance of appraisal), providing proper compensation and benefits, motivating,
maintaining proper relations with labour and with trade unions, maintaining employees safety, welfare
and health by complying with labour laws of concern state or country.
Why name human resource management?
Human: refer to the skilled workforce in the organisation.
Resource: refer to limited availability or scarce.
Management: refer to maximise or proper utilisation and make best use of limited and a scarce
resource.
Altogether, human resource management is the process of proper and maximise utilisation of
available limited skilled workforce. The core purpose of the human resource management is to make
efficient use of existing human resource in the organisation. The Best example at present situation is,
construction industry has been facing serious shortage of skilled workforce. It is expected to triple in
the next decade from the present 30 per cent, will negatively impact the overall productivity of the
sector, warn industry experts.
Every organisations' desire is to have skilled and competent people to make their organisation more
effective than their competitors. humans are very important assets for the organisation rather than
land and buildings, without employees ( humans ) no activity in the organisation can be done.
Machines are meant to to produce more goods with good quality but they should get operated by the
human only.
"you must treat your employees with respect and dignity because in the most automated factory in the
world, you need the power of human mind. That is what brings in innovation. If you want high quality
minds to work for you, then you must protect the respect and dignity. "
---Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus,
Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our
fundamental resource. - John F. Kennedy.

Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management Functions

The role of human resource management is to plan, develop, and administer
policies and programmes designed to make expeditious use of an organisations
human resources. It is that part of management which is concerned with the people
at work and with their relationship within an enterprise.
Its objectives are:
1. Effective utilisation of human resources;
2. Desirable working relationships among all members of the organisation; and
3. Maximum individual development.
The major functional areas in human resource management are:
1. Planning,
2. Staffing,
3. Employee development, and
4. Employee maintenance.
These four areas and their related functions share the common objective of an
adequate number of competent employees with the skills, abilities, knowledge, and
experience needed for further organisational goals. Although each human resource
function can be assigned to one of the four areas of personnel responsibility, some
functions serve a variety of purposes. For example, performance
appraisal measures serve to stimulate and guide employee development as well as
salary administration purposes. The compensation function facilitates retention of
employees and also serves to attract potential employees to the organisation. A
brief description of usual human resource functions are given below:
Human Resource Planning: In the human resource planning function, the number
and type of employees needed to accomplish organisational
goals are determined. Research is an important part of this function because
planning requires the collection and analysis of information in order to forecast
human resources supplies and to predict future human resources needs. The basic
human resource planning strategy is staffing and employee development.
Job Analysis: Job analysis is the process of describing the nature of a job and

specifying the human requirements, such as skills, and experience needed to

perform it. The end product of the job analysis process is the job description. A job
description spells out work duties and activities of employees. Job descriptions are a
vital source of information to employees, managers, and personnel people because
job content has a great influence on personnel programmes and practices.
Staffing: Staffing emphasises the recruitment and selection of the human
resources for an organisation. Human resources planning and recruiting precede the
actual selection of people for positions in an organisation. Recruiting is the
personnel function that attracts qualified applicants to fill job vacancies. In the
selection function, the most qualified applicants are selected for hiring from among
those attracted to the organisation by the recruiting function. On selection, human
resource functionaries are involved in developing and administering methods that
enable managers to decide which applicants to select and which to reject for the
given jobs.
Orientation: Orientation is the first step toward helping a new employee adjust
himself to the new job and the employer. It is a method to acquaint new employees
with particular aspects of their new job, including pay and benefit programmes,
working hours, and company rules and expectations.
Training and Development: The training and development function gives
employees the skills and knowledge to perform their jobs effectively. In addition to
providing training for new or inexperienced employees, organisations often provide
training programmes for experienced employees whose jobs are undergoing
change. Large organisations often have development programmes which prepare
employees for higher level responsibilities within the organisation. Training and
development programmes provide useful means of assuring that employees are
capable of performing their jobs at acceptable levels.
Performance Appraisal: Performance appraisal function monitors employee
performance to ensure that it is at acceptable levels. Human resource professionals
are usually responsible for developing and administering performance appraisal
systems, although the actual appraisal of employee performance is the
responsibility of supervisors and managers. Besides providing a basis for pay,
promotion, and disciplinary action, performance appraisal information is essential
for employee development since knowledge of results (feedback) is necessary to
motivate and guide performance improvements.
Career Planning: Career planning has developed partly as a result of the desire of
many employees to grow in their jobs and to advance in their career. Career
planning activities include assessing an individual employees potential for growth
and advancement in the organisation.

Compensation: Human resource personnel provide a rational method for

determining how much employees should be paid for performing certain jobs. Pay is
obviously related to the maintenance of human resources. Since compensation is a
major cost to many organisations, it is a major consideration in human resource
planning. Compensation affects staffing in that people are generally attracted to
organisations offering a higher level of pay in exchange for the work performed. It is
related to employee development in that it provides an important incentive
in motivating employees to higher levels of job performance and to higher paying
jobs in the organisation.
Benefits: Benefits are another form of compensation to employees other than
direct pay for work performed. As such, the human resource function of
administering employee benefits shares many characteristics of the compensation
function. Benefits include both the legally required items and those offered at
employers discretion. The cost of benefits has risen to such a point that they have
become a major consideration in human resources planning. However, benefits are
primarily related to the maintenance area, since they provide for many basic
employee needs.
Labour Relations: The term labour relations refers to interaction with employees
who are represented by a trade union. Unions are organisation of employees who
join together to obtain more voice in decisions affecting wages, benefits, working
conditions, and other aspects of employment. With regard to labour relations, the
personnel responsibility primarily involves negotiating with the unions regarding
wages, service conditions, and resolving disputes and grievances.
Record-keeping: The oldest and most basic personnel function is employee
record-keeping. This function involves recording, maintaining, and retrieving
employee related information for a variety of purposes. Records which must be
maintained include application forms, health and medical records, employment
history (jobs held,promotions, transfers, lay-offs), seniority lists, earnings and hours
of work, absences, turnover, tardiness, and other employee data. Complete and upto-date employee records are essential for most personnel functions. More than
ever employees today have a great interest in their personnel records. They want to
know what is in them, why certain statements have been made, and why records
may or may not have been updated.
Personnel records provide the following:

1.

A store of up-to-date and accurate information about the companys

employees.

2.

A guide to the action to be taken regarding an employee, particularly by

comparing him with other employees.

3.

A guide when recruiting a new employee, e.g. by showing the rates of pay
received by comparable employees.

4.

A historical record of previous action taken regarding employees.

5.

The raw material for statistics which check and guide personnel policies.

6.

The means to comply with certain statutory requirements.

Personnel Research: All personnel people engage in some form of research

activities. In a good research approach, the object is to get facts and information
about personnel specifics in order to develop and maintain a programme that
works. It is impossible to run a personnel programme without some pre-planning
and post-reviewing. For that matter, any survey is, in a sense, research. There is a
wide scope for research in the areas of recruitment, employee turnover,
terminations, training, and so on. Through a well-designed attitude survey,
employee opinions can be gathered on wages, promotions, welfare services,
working conditions, job security, leadership, industrial relations, and the like. Inspite
of its importance, however, in most companies, research is the most neglected area
because personnel people are too busy putting out fires. Research is not done to put
out fires but to prevent them.
Research is not the sole responsibility of any one particular group or department in
an organisation. The initial responsibility is that of the human resource department,
which however should be assisted by line supervisors and executives at all levels of
management. The assistance that can be rendered by trade unions and other
organisations should not be ignored, but should be properly made use of.
Apart from the above, the HR function involves managing change, technology,
innovation, and diversity. It is no longer confined to the culture or ethos of any
single organisation; its keynote is a cross-fertilisation of ideas from different
organisations. Periodic social audits of HR functions are considered essential.
HR professionals have an all-encompassing role. They are required to have a
thorough knowledge of the organisation and its intricacies and complexities. The
ultimate goal of every HR person should be to develop a linkage between the
employee and the organisation because the employees commitment to the
organisation is crucial. The first and foremost role of HR functionary is to impart
continuous education to employees about the changes and challenges facing the
country in general, and their organisation in particular. The employees should know
about their balance sheet, sales progress, diversification plans, restructuring plans,
sharp price movements, turnover and all such details. The HR professionals should
impart education to all employees through small booklets, video films, and lectures.

The primary responsibilities of a human resource manager are:

1. To develop a thorough knowledge of corporate culture, plans and policies.
2. To act as an internal change agent and consultant.
3. To initiate change and act as an expert and facilitator.
4. To actively involve himself in companys strategy formulation.
5. To keep communication lines open between the HRD function and individuals and groups both
within and outside the organisation.
6. To identify and evolve HRD strategies in consonance with overall business strategy.
7. To facilitate the development of various organisational teams and their working relationship with
other teams and individuals.
8. To try and relate people and work so that the organisation objectives are achieved effectively and
efficiently.
9. To diagnose problems and to determine appropriate solution particularly in the human resources
areas.
10. To provide co-ordination and support services for the delivery of HRD programmes and services.
11. To evaluate the impact of an HRD intervention or to conduct research so as to identify, develop or
test how HRD in general has improved individual or organisational performance.

Human Resource Department Responsibilities

by James Bolger, studioD

The Human Resources department can be overlooked at new or expanding businesses. In fact, an
effective HR team can be among a growing firms most important assets. It can help protect a
company from liability, maintain a satisfied workforce and bring the brightest talent to a company. By
its nature, the HR department will take on a variety of responsibilities that can boost a companys
ability to grow.

Recruiting and Hiring

More than filling an open position, the recruiters job is also to help the organization define its
positions. A recruiter can help determine if a role should be full- or part-time, as well as evaluating if
positions can be outsourced or handled by contractors. In hiring a new employee, a recruiter can
research similar positions at other companies, helping determine the qualifications and
compensation for the role. Finally, the recruiter plays a key role as a gatekeeper, assessing whether
job candidates will be good fits for the company culture and justify the companys investment in
hiring and training.

Benefits and Compensation

In start-ups and very small firms but also sometimes in larger companies, HR responsibilities often
center around processing payroll and managing employee benefits. As a company grows, these
tasks can take on a strategic focus. HR staff can begin to focus on developing systems and choosing
vendors who help contain costs and increase the flexibility of the company. HR can also play a key
role in analyzing a companys pay scale, track industry trends for compensation and benefits offered
to employees, and ensure compliance with payroll and benefit regulations.

Compliance and Protection

Discrimination, harassment, unfair practices--these terms have become all too familiar in todays
workplace. Human Resources can help protect a growing company by developing and enforcing
standards that govern how employees interact on the job. These guidelines, supported by companywide training on appropriate workplace behavior, can help protect the company from legal liability
and help create a more pleasant and productive workplace.

Employee Development
In a fast-paced business environment, people are more important than job descriptions.
Organizations may find an employees role changing from week to week, if not day to day. The HR
department can take on the challenge of providing employees with the new information and skills
they will need to thrive as the company changes. The department can also help employees set and
achieve individual career development goals, leading to increased job satisfaction as workers see
opportunities for personal success.

Internal Communication
The Human Resources department can play a key role in communicating an organizations goals
and expectations to workers. HR staff may produce a company newsletter or magazine, filled with

events, opportunities, news and useful information that helps employees accept and understand
what the organization needs from its workforce. In addition, HR staff members are able to keep an
ear to the ground, keeping tabs on the company rumor mill and helping management respond to
misconceptions among employees.