Human Resources Management

The Role of the Human Resource Function

With human resource rising as the primary asset of an organization human resources departments are being faced with new challenges to come up with strategic approaches that can add value to the organizations when sourcing for new employees . To address this issue the human resource have to formulated sourcing strategies that will add value to an organization in pursuit of identifying , recruiting , developing and retaining highly talented employees who can take the company to new heights and provide a competitive advantage to the company . However

br global workforce has become extra mobile and much more aware of its worth . Today , talented employees are hot items on the global Labour market , thus , employers are forced to work more hard to be able to retain , motivate and develop good employees . Human capital is the most important and expensive resource of an organization , many professional and market analysts do agree that up to 80 of the organization worth is contained in the organization work force . Research indicates that highly successful organizations understands this vital differentiator and do take the required measures to get the most out of their human resource assets . Strategic recruitment , hiring , retaining and training programs by the human resource management should focus on getting the best out of its workforce of the organization (Bohlander and Snell , 2007

Human resource functions have become so essential for the success of any organization or business in meeting their set objectives and goals There are various functions that are involved in human resource management which include the development and direct implementation of goals , policies , objectives and procedures for any organization . Most organizations have delegated the human resource department to device the policies , goals and objectives of the enterprise . The policies and objectives amended are then communicated to all staff and members of the organization for implementation . Human resource department also ensures these policies are implemented and measures are put in place to monitor the implementation of these policies . Reviews and amendments are also carried out by the human resource personnel periodically so that to ensure all organizational changes are also effected in the policies . The success of this goals and objectives is also measured by the human resource department . They ensure the timely implementation of the organization plans and regularly monitoring of the implementation Performance deficiency and training is identified through monitoring and supervision of all staff by the human resource personnel . The other role of the department is to ensure that the government policies and regulations set are met by the organization through their staff (Hoyer 2001

The main role of the human resource is to recruit and retain quality employees in the organization by conducting interviews , online recruitment programs and training . They advertise for vacant posts within the organization and perform interview for the recruitment of new employees to the organization . Competent employees are hired and they conduct training to recruit these new employees into their organizations activities or functions . Health test and procedures are also conducted by the human resource department to ensure enrollment of healthy workers and staff . They also administer their payroll and ensure that the employees are paid promptly . Work schedules and programs are also amended by the human resource department to ensure that the staff works for a certain amount of time and there is an even distribution of the duties within the organization . They also administer the performance of the staff to ensure that they accomplish their assigned tasks in the organization . The termination and discontinuation of employees contract s to the organization is carried out by the human resource personnel Disciplinary issues are also addressed and resolved by the department Employee 's complaints and grievances are also addressed by the human resource staff . Leadership and strategic direction for all aspects of the employment are provided by the human resource department through staffing , maintenance , compensation , policy review and interpretation of all policies . They also conduct research and perform analysis of personnel administration and the way the employees relate in the organization through groups

Human resource department acts as an ambassador to the organization by lasing with the external enterprises and personnel . They partner with external organizations or clients in their organizational functions . It performs public relations in terms of offering internship programs and good customer care services . Any organization tries to maintain its clients by having good relations and offering customer services for any queries that may arise from their clients . They also make arrangements for school tours to their organization where requests are made and ensure that they receive a warm welcome . It 's the figure of the organization to the public image in transactions it conducts with any external enterprise or the public . The human resource department also involves itself with projects that assist the public like donations and funding of various projects for the communities that are out there . They could come up with campaigns over certain issues or educate the public on certain issues that could be affecting the public at large . Some companies also organize so activities with other companies like sports or games through the human resource department to create that good public relation with their clients or business liaisons . Human resource department provide good advice and consultation to client on some strategic compensation , recruitment management , organization and job plan . They also provide personnel advice and assistance to those organizations that may seek technical or personnel help from their organization . The department conducts surveys and analysis of information relevant to external markets that has great effect on the organization (Overman , 1994

Maintenance of all records and s for the staff and workers in an organization is handled by the human resource personnel . The personnel maintain all the employees ' personal s and medical s in compliance with laws and regulations of the company and government . All s containing the personal details of each employee or member of that organization is stored by the human resource department . The s for term of contract and the job for each employee are also stored by the human resource . Medical s and legal law s entitled to the personnel and the business are also stored by the department for all legal matters . It also holds s of all its clienteles and customers who they may transact any issues or business with . Most of the vital information to the organization is available in this department for all employees and the organization as well (Thomson and Rampton 2003

Communication is another main function of the human resource department in any organization . The flow of information in the organization is enhanced and initiated by the human resource department in the various levels of management . Within the organization all duties and functions are disseminated through the human resource personnel . Meeting are mostly organized by the human resource department incase they involve the entire organization . Any issue that is of concern to the organizations attention is addressed through the human resource department to other department to try and solve these issues . All issues that require consultation with the staff are raised through the human resource department . The information required by different departments is linked or relayed through this department . External information from other organizations or enterprise is relayed to other departments because the human resource department acts as a public figure to the organization . They usually uphold that good relation of the company with the other companies or organizations through good communication skills Issues that affect the entire organization are addressed through memorandums and meetings all called by the human resource department They also look into the welfare of the employees by addressing complains raised in terms of management , pay issues and the workers welfare in general . The workers may call a strike due to poor working condition poor pay , mismanagement or poor working conditions and thus it 's the duty of the human resource department to address their issues . Human resource department will try to address the issues and then convey the way forward on behalf of the organizations management . They communicate the way forward on behalf of the management and organization in catering for the staff welfare (Rubino , 1994

The department of Human resource provides administrative support to all the departments within an organization . They ensure that qualified staff are recruited and employed in all the relevant departments formed in the organization . The department uses all relevant knowledge , skills and methods to ensure that they acquire relevant skilled people to work in the various departments that work as one in meeting the main objectives of the business . Internal or external training for all employees is provided by this department to all relevant employees from the different departments so as to enhance them to work as a group irrespective of their different professions they have . Human resource department also monitors the functions of all departments to ensure that they are all working to achieve the common goals of the organization and all policies and guidelines are followed to letter . The department also allows for formation of both formal and informal groups that are formed to be able to address all issues . It administers the conduct of these groups or councils formed by the staff and handle all matters raised to them . They administer the conduct and behaviors of all employees in their workplace and ensure that all employees work under a conducive and safe environment (Bohlander and Snell , 2007 ) The department of human resource also ensures that all policies and rules of the organization are followed by all employees to meet all business goals . Continued assistance to employees medical and pension benefit are also taken care of by the human resource department . Incase the employees meet their retirement age they ensure it 's administered and that all benefits from retirement benefits are given to the retired employee . Some organization may also have the golden handshake program that the retired staff enjoy hence it 's the work of the department of human resource to ensure it offers it to the relevant persons .All this schemes are offered by the department of human resource as a vote of thanks for those retiring for their services to the company for the time they served there

The human resource staffs are also actively involved in strategic management and decision making of the organization . Strategic plans goals and objectives of the organization are implemented by the human resource department who are involved in the decision making process of the company . By acting as agents of the company in the market and performing surveys in the market , the human resource staffs are able to determine what is best for the company by making strategic decisions on what measures to take . They are able to streamline their activities and improve on customer services to create those good public relations Human resource department also recruit competent staff that are capable of bringing new ideas and skills to the company (Debra and Perry , 1997

In Contemporary world , human resource management practices have extended its functions to include management of power balance that exists between the employer and the employee in an organization . This entails managing relationships with other systems of industrial relations such as workers and trade unions organizations employers i .e . their managers , trade and professional organizations , employer representatives etc government agencies , legislation boards and international bodies . All these diverse relations are now being handled in some organization 's human resource management departments . There exist a lot of conflicts between the employer and the employees within an organization that results from poor human managerial activities that are exhibited by responsible managers . There have been latest attempts by the Human Resource Department to manage this power balance within the organizations in to promote the achievement of goals (Bohlander and Snell , 2007

Downsizing is also performed by this department to eliminate the incompetent staff and maintain the goals and objectives of the company Human resource forms a strong collaborative relationship with the top management in management of the organization . They are involved in all crucial decision making of the company because they monitor the performance of the organization hence they know what 's best for the company in terms of making decisions . The department evaluates the impact of the activities and decisions on the organization (Condrey 1998 ) The department of human resource is also involved in strategic decision making through promotion and relegation of staff in the organization . According to their performance and conduct in the organization that is constantly monitored , the staff can be promoted or relegated in their duties in the organization . Those employees that perform extremely well are promoted to a higher level of management in the organization while those employees that do not show any improvement in their duties can be demoted or do not get any promotion

The human resource department is also involved in increasing the pay or wages of those staff that perform well in their duties or those who have been promoted in organization ranks . They are also involved in the pay of all the workers and staff in the organization . All payroll s of the workers are stored in the human resource department including the retirement benefits of all those who have retired from the company . This department also develops the payroll system for the company and processes all the salaries and wages of the employees . Lastly the major human resource functions include devolved decision making frameworks clear planning , objectives and appraisal systems , training , development of the required skills and competencies . Human Resource services policy and procedure drive the outline of the organization and approaches have been developed to track the progress in this plan (Bob and Arthur , 1997

The other role is that of employee performance , monitoring , and evaluation . The most important aspect of human resource management practice is employee evaluation . The performance of any organization is determined directly by the performance of the employees . It is possible to monitor the evaluation if the employees of any organization via the use of human resource evaluation systems . These systems are done continuously with a view to retaining useful employees . Sometimes employees feel that the management of their respective organizations uses harsh methods of monitoring and evaluating their performance . For example some workers might complain that their supervisors are too much on them such that they cannot even get time to go for lunch during their working time . Such things always cause conflicts between the employer and employees and thus the latter will always be unmotivated to perform their duties (Bohlander and Snell , 2007

Human resource management policies , strategies and practices are fundamental tools for any organization . The most important asset for any organization is its human resource and therefore all issues affecting the workforce will be affecting the organizational performance directly It has been found that issues of planning , recruitment , selection retention , motivation , evaluation and industrial relations for employees are of grave concerns and are usually addressed through effective human resource management practices . In various business organizations , we find that , many employees are neglected and are most often demoralized not motivated in performing their duties in the particular organization therefore as a manager , one need to find a way in which its employees are enabled to get a frequent and significant recognition from their employer . If such conflicts are not avoided then performance will be low

However , unwelcome changes in form of transfers , plant dysfunction and unprofessional interpretation of polices to employees are other issues that have been noticed in most Human Resource Department for most organizations leading to power imbalances between the employer and employee and thus poor performance , slower growth and less development opportunities . The human resource department thus plays a major part in the growth of the organization through its functions and activities . It plays a critical role in the success of any organization (Armstrong 2006

Reference

Armstrong . M (2006 : Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice 10th Edition , London , Kogan Page

Bob , B Arthur , K (1997 : Reorienting Human Resource Measurement to Drive Business

Bohlander , G Snell , S (2007 : -Managing human resources : New York Thomson Learning

Condrey , S (1998 : Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government San Francisco

Debra , J Perry , J (1997 :- Strategic Human Resource Management Public Personnel Management New York : Longman publishers

Hoyer , S (2001 : HRM concepts , Practices and Strategies- 4th European Edition . Houghton Mifflin , Boston Jossey Bass Publishers

Overman , S (1994 :- Re-engineering Human Resource : Human Resource Magazine Performance : New York publishers

Rubino , A (1994 : Repositioning the Human Resource Function at Hoffman LaRoche : Human Resource Planning Magazine

Thomson , C . and Rampton , L (2003 : Human Resource Management . New York Melbourne press

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