Core Functions of HR

Human resources (HR) professionals conduct a wide variety of tasks within an organizational structure. A brief rundown on the core functions of human resource departments will be useful in framing the more common activities a human resource professional will conduct. The core functions can be summarized as follows:

Staffing

This includes the activities of hiring new full-time or part-time employees, hiring contractors, and terminating employee contracts.

Staffing activities include:

·         Identifying and fulfilling talent needs (through recruitment, primarily)

·         Utilizing various recruitment technologies to acquire a high volume and diverse pool of candidates (and to filter them based on experience)

·         Protecting the company from lawsuits by satisfying legal requirements and maintaining ethical hiring practices

·         Writing employee contracts and negotiating salary and benefits

·         Terminating employee contracts when necessary

Training and Professional Development

On-boarding new employees and providing professional development opportunities is a key investment for organizations, and HR is charged with seeing that those efforts and resources are well spent and utilized.

Development activities include:

·         Training and preparing new employees for their roles

·         Providing training opportunities (internal training, educational programs, conferences, etc.) to keep employees up to date in their respective fields

·         Preparing management prospects and providing feedback to employees and managers

Compensation

Salary and benefits are also within the scope of human resource management. This includes identifying appropriate compensation based on role, performance, and legal requirements.

Compensation activities include:

·         Setting compensation levels to be competitive and appropriate within the market, using benchmarks such as industry standards for a given job function

·         Negotiating group health insurance rates, retirement plans, and other benefits with third-party providers

·         Discussing raises and other compensation increases and/or decreases with employees in the organization

·         Ensuring compliance with legal and cultural expectations when it comes to employee compensation

Safety and Health

HR managers are also responsible for understanding and implementing the best safety and health practices in their industry and addressing any relevant employee concerns.

Safety and health activities include the following:

·         Ensuring compliance with legal requirements based on job function for safety measures (i.e., hard hats in construction, available counseling for law enforcement, appropriate safety equipment for chemists, etc.). Many of these requirements are specified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

·         Implementing new safety measures when laws change in a given industry

·         Discussing safety and compliance with relevant government departments

·         Discussing safety and compliance with unions

Employee and Labor Relations

Defending employee rights, coordinating with unions, and mediating disagreements between the organization and its human resources are also core HR functions.

Employee and labor relations activities include:

·         Mediating disagreements between employees and employers

·         Mediating disagreements between employees and other employees

·         Investigating claims of harassment and other workplace abuses

·         Discussing employee rights with unions, management, and stakeholders

·         Acting as the voice of the organization and/or the voice of the employees during any broader organizational issues pertaining to employee welfare