Not all companies recognize the importance of human resources. It seems that having an organ that organizes the workforce in addition to other roles is not worth having around.
Thankfully, this mindset is not as present as it was at the end of the 20th century. Businesses are benefiting from HR and are pouring more resources to make sure that this piece of an organization functions properly.
Human resources improve organizational performance, but what about its key roles? If you want to get a better understanding of HR, explore the remainder of this article.
Role #1 – Attracting New Candidates
Businesses need fresh blood to keep the company going forward. And the best of the best are aiming to attract only prospective candidates.
A company needs to promote itself and appear attractive in the eyes of potential recruits, especially if it is in a competitive industry. Otherwise, the candidates will look elsewhere.
Human resources put work to attract eligible candidates for an interview and eventually hire them. Selecting is another crucial HR role because hiring people blindly is not a good practice.
Role #2 – Onboarding and OrientationÂ
Ahoy explains the difference between employee onboarding vs orientation, emphasizing orientation as a small part of onboarding.
Orientation usually takes 1 to 2 days when a new hire becomes familiar with the company. On the other hand, onboarding is a long process that requires strategy. HR managers and team supervisors are the ones who prepare the onboarding plan.
Role #3 – Hiring From Within
A talent pipeline is a process in which employees receive training and become a part of succession planning.
Companies prefer internal hiring for several reasons. First of all, you do not lose talent. If anything, giving them a better job improves employee retention.
Promotions also reduce the workload for HR because they do not have to look for a fresh candidate, particularly when the position is important, and it would take a long time for a new person to adjust to their work arrangements.
On the other hand, if hiring from within is impossible because there are no right candidates, HR will have to hire external talent.
Role #4 – Compensation
Fair compensation is a staple in the contemporary work world. After all, those who have made money for a company need to be recognized for their efforts, and money is the means to compensate employees.
HR is responsible for making sure that everyone gets their salary on time and is happy. Otherwise, it does not take too long before people start leaving the company.
Role #5 – Employee Benefit Management
Of course, the pay is not the be-all-end-all motivator to keep the worker morale and productivity up. If you want to retain your best talent, you will need to offer more than a salary increase. At some point, making more money just does not cut it anymore.
If improved salary has minimal effect, what would be the right approach then? Well, benefits like additional holidays, paternity or maternity leave, a childcare budget, gym memberships, and tickets to various events are some of the best examples.
Different people have different preferences. Instead of guessing, ask employees what perks would make them happy. Some will ask for more time off work; others will inquire about potential opportunities to learn and improve their skill set.
Human resources accommodate these needs and provide value to employees who return the favor in the form of extra motivation, productivity, and retention.
Role #6 – Promotions
Besides hiring from within, there should be a clear promotion policy. And you guessed it; HR is responsible for promotions.
Seniority and merit tend to determine who gets a promotion. Human resources keep track of information that helps make the right promotion decision. Sticking entirely to current performance is not the best approach because things may change in the future. Thus, it is necessary to consider how the potential candidate for promotion would fare in the future and how he looked in the past.
Role #7 – Information Sharing
HR is the information hub. When someone needs information, they go to human resources. At the same time, your HR department could send simple newsletters to everyone in the company and keep them up to date with safety procedures, mergers, acquisitions, and other relevant events.
Role #8 – Survey Management
The annual engagement survey has become a traditional thing in most companies. HR puts an effort to gather information and find out the status quo of the company. It is necessary to understand how employees feel and what change they would like to see or expect to see in the future.
Role #9 – Change Management
Change management is the last role on the list. The contemporary corporate world is competitive and in a constant state of flux. And someone has to manage these changes so that the business does not fall behind.
Organizational culture is one of the noteworthy interests in change management. A modern work culture where everyone accepts each other and enables the right leaders can be the difference-maker between running a successful company and one that is bound to fail sooner rather than later.
