The Human Resources Department exists to guide and manage all services, policies, and programs within a company or organization. In other eras, the HR department was called the “personnel department,” and its initial function was to protect women in the business industry. Now, the reach of HR has expanded into several other departments and taken on a wide variety of important roles. These include recruitment and staffing, policy development, employee and community relations, and charitable giving. Because of this, the job description of HR executive is a long list of responsibilities, that vary depending on the company she works for. Educational programs teach these skills well naturally include, PhD programs in Human Resources and PhD programs in Leadership.
Duties and tasks of a Human Resource Manager
A human resource manager works to develop, implement, and administer programs, procedures, and guidelines throughout the human resource department. He may coordinate HR training programs and establish compensation pay to all staff members of the company. Preventing or remediating conflicts between staff and board members are also among the HR Manager’s duties. Career development programs are created by the HR Manager to assist employees in identifying interests, skills, and advancement opportunities in the organization. As a Human Resource Manager, one should know that creating a better work environment can lead to higher profit margins all around. Some other duties include scheduling and conducting job evaluations, preparing compensation budgets, overseeing a hiring or recruiting process, and maintaining past and present record keeping information. A Human Resource Manager may also provide counseling or resolve employee grievances to support the employees’ needs.
5 Key Steps in HR Recruiting
Determining the Need– A big part of the job of an HR team is hiring new personnel for the company. The first step in the recruiting process involves creating a comprehensive job specialization outline that describes the vacant position in the company or corporation. These will include responsibilities, skills, qualifications, education level, and pay rate. It may also give the start date of when the company assumes the position will be filled.
Strategic Development– Together, the Human Resources team should decide how to spread the word about the open position, where the best places to advertise are, who to entrust with spreading the word, and what type of recruitment budget they have to work with. Advertising an open position may be as simple as posting on an online job board, or may be as complex as purchasing targeted advertisement options.
Recruiting– After strategizing the best way to go about seeking candidates, a company or organization must implement these strategies. Posting on digital job boards, putting the word out by word of mouth, or including it in a newsletter or publication whose readership resembles that of the candidate HR is looking for. The recruitment process must be reflexive, meaning if the avenue they chose is not yielding the results they want, they must re-engage with step 2, and find new avenues of finding candidates. Many times, companies overlook internal sources, forgetting that if they have good workers who enjoy the work, those people may no other who will also.
Screening– Selecting the most promising applicants happens during the screening process of recruiting. Ideally, a company will receive many applications to choose from. The screening step narrows the pool of people down to a few, and finally down to only one.
Evaluation and Control– The last step in the process of recruitment is to ensure that the resources it cost to recruit the right person matched with the projected amount needed more about the cost it took the company to hire the right person for the job. This includes the salary of recruiters, time preparation accounts, administrative expenses, and outsourcing, and the cost to hire a temp while waiting to fill the position.
Skills
Some of the capabilities required of an HR manager are organizational theory, benefits administration, compensation and wage structuring, and communication processes. A Human Resource Manager will also support diversity and protect employee rights. Knowledge of labor laws and policy regulations against sexual harassment are necessary as an HR manager. Performance management, recruiting, and hiring techniques are essential skills for an HR manager as well.
Education
A Human Resource Manager qualifications include at least a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management or a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). Up to five years experience in the business field is also required. Some educational skills needed are interpersonal, decision-making, leadership, organizational, and speaking skills. Technological software knowledge is also helpful. Core classes of interest should be accounting, statistics, and information technology. Sometimes an internship is offered as part of the education curriculum of a Master’s program. The Master’s degree in Human Resources will provide more experience and opportunities to learn how to be a better HR specialist or manager once graduated. There is also an option to earn a human resource certification. However, it may require three to four years of experience before being certified.
Job outlook/Salary
The human resources industry has changed over the past couple of decades. Many companies provide exceptional training opportunities that build character and strengthen the morale of all employees. HR managers promote career development programs in hopes to retain existing employees and hire within the company. The advantage to this idea is to reduce employee loss and prevent the cost of hiring inexperienced applicants. Certain companies provide programs that automate payroll and streamline onboarding processes within the corporation. The average pay for an HR Manager is $110, 120, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2017)
National Professional Organizations
SHRM- Society for Human Resource Management. The world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management with over 275,000 members across 160 countries.
NHRA- National Human Resources Association. (Nonprofit) Opportunity for deeper connections and learning.
AHRD- Academy of Human Resource Development. Provides networking opportunities for HR professionals working in a variety of disciplines.
IHRIM- International Association for Human Resources Information management. It offers you a unique community that blends education, collaboration and professional certification.