HR might be the most confusing department in your whole organization—everyone knows they’re important, but very few employees know why.
So what does HR do?
There’s a massive difference between a healthy human
resources department that contributes to the growth of the organization and a
distant HR that exists somewhere near the basement archives and only pops up
once a year for the company holiday party.
Here’s an in-depth description of what the HR department
does (or what they should be doing) to meet the needs of employees.
What is an HR department?
In simplest terms, the HR (Human Resources) department is a
group who is responsible for managing the employee
life cycle (i.e., recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and firing
employees) and administering employee benefits.
What does human resources do?
Ask any employee what an HR department is, and you’ll get an
answer that primarily deals with the most uncomfortable aspects of work: HR
violations, layoffs, and firing. But the truth is that human resources is there
to support employees. It’s quite literally a resource for humans.
Here are some of the tasks your HR department is busy
completing every day.
1. Recruit candidates
HR needs to understand the organization’s needs and make
sure those needs are met when recruiting for new positions. It’s not as simple
as just throwing an ad up on Indeed: you’ll need to analyze the market, consult
stakeholders, and manage budgets.
Then, once the role is advertised, more research needs to be
done to make sure that the right candidates are being attracted and presented.
Recruiting is a massive—and costly—undertaking; the right candidate can
revitalize an entire organization, but the wrong candidate can upend
operations.
2. Hire the right employees
Human resources is in charge of arranging interviews,
coordinating hiring efforts, and onboarding new employees. They’re also in
charge of making sure all paperwork involved with hiring someone is filled out
and making sure that everything from the first day to each subsequent day is
navigated successfully.
3. Process payroll
Payroll is its own beast. Every payday must have taxes
calculated and hours collected. Expenses need to be reimbursed and raises and
bonuses need to be added in as well. If you think it’s a chore doing taxes just
once a year, imagine what it must be like to be in HR and make sure they’re
properly deducted every pay period.
4. Conduct disciplinary actions
This responsibility may be why HR tends to get a bad rap.
When navigated inappropriately, disciplinary actions can lead to the loss of a
valuable employee and can even result in litigation or a poor reputation. But
when handled appropriately, disciplinary action can result in the success of an
employee.
For instance, if a company notices that a particular
employee is routinely late and continues being late even after the employee has
received several warnings, HR could step in and investigate the reason for the
tardiness. It may be an opportunity to extend benefits such as counseling to
the employee or offer additional resources to help the employee learn to be on
time. Instead of taking on the cost of firing and then recruiting a replacement
for that employee, it could be a learning opportunity that could enhance that
employee’s career.
On the other hand, sometimes disciplinary action isn’t the best course to take and an employee should be let go. The best human resources departments know when an employee isn’t the right fit for a company and would be happier somewhere else. It’s up to HR to develop a strong enough relationship with managers and employees alike to identify the cohesiveness and health of a team.
5. Update policies
Policies need to be updated (or at least examined) every
year as the organization changes. It’s HR’s job to make official updates to
policies and to suggest changes to policies when they no longer serve the
company or the employees. Sometimes a policy should be updated as a reaction to
an occurrence. HR should always be included in and consulted with regarding
these decisions.
6. Maintain employee records
Maintaining HR records is mandated by law. These records
help employers identify skill gaps to help with the hiring process and to
analyze demographic data and comply with regulations. They also contain
personal details and emergency contacts for each employee.
7. Conduct benefit analysis
Staying competitive is of prime importance when trying to
attract the best talent. A promising recruit may choose a different company
with lesser pay if the benefits are more attractive. HR should routinely
investigate similar companies to see if their benefits are competitve.
How does HR support employees?
Besides the seven examples above, which are mostly
operational responsibilities, HR provides less quantitative functions: It
exists to help employees thrive.
After all, employees are the single biggest asset to any
organization. It follows, then, that protecting their well-being is of utmost
importance. Here are four ways HR helps support the emotional and career needs
of employees:
1. Providing career growth
Stagnation is bad for business, and it’s smart to keep your
best employees with the company. HR can provide career paths to help guide each
employee to a long future within the company. HR can then check in periodically
to further guide employees on their career paths.
2. Offering continuing education
Sometimes the career growth mentioned above requires
additional training. Your organization may provide educational assistance, and
HR can help determine which classes and training programs would be best for an
employee on his or her designated career path. HR can also work with managers
to ensure that the employee’s work schedule is flexible enough to allow the
employee to attend classes.
3. Training and supporting managers
Managers aren’t born. They’re created. HR can help provide
management guidance to managers, making sure that department and teams are as
healthy and functional as possible. This may include periodically sending
managers to formal trainings and retreats.
4. Supporting health and wellness
It’s important to remember that employees are people.
They’ll need help weathering mental illness, health issues, debt, pregnancies,
adoption, and myriad other life occurrences. HR can help support employees
through any of these and other circumstances.
When to contact human resources
An HR department that never interacts with employees isn’t
doing its job. While you’re developing an onboarding procedure, educate new
employees on when to reach out to HR and what resources HR has to offer. The HR
department should regularly schedule one-on-one interviews with employees to
check in on their career progression, comfort in their roles, and any other
issues the employee may be having.
Considering these responsibilities, employees should feel
comfortable reaching out to their HR departments in these, and similar,
situations:
- When
you (or a co-worker) experience harassment or discrimination from your
colleagues, including your manager
- When
you have questions about benefits, including company-provided health
insurance or rights guaranteed by law
- When
your personal circumstances change (e.g. having a child, needing to reduce
your hours, needing accommodation for a disability)
- When
you have questions about advancing at the company, including opportunities
to shadow other employees or participate in additional training
- When
you need an objective third-party to work through a work-related issue
Building the best HR department
The human resources department heavily contributes to a company’s culture. If HR genuinely cares about the well-being of employees, the culture will be one of openness and growth.