All of you must have gone through the process of scanning job advertisements, applying for one, and securing the position you desired. You must have also interacted closely with the human resource management team that conducted the hiring process. These people have a very important and exciting job in a firm.
Human resource management has become a crucial responsibility in all modern businesses. When there is a vacancy in any business unit, the HR department initiates and completes the hiring process. These professionals ensure that the company employs ideal people who can fill the present vacancy and handle higher responsibilities in the future.
If you like to deal with people, then this is an incredibly interesting job for you. The work of HR personnel doesn’t end with just hiring people but continues till an employee leaves the firm. If you are interested in becoming a person responsible for the workers in a firm, this article can be an excellent guide.
What Do HR Managers Do?
Before taking your first step to becoming an HR personnel, it is worth understanding what these professionals do. Over the years, the job of HR managers has evolved and become crucial for the company’s growth and development.
The use of laborers to get work done for employers has been there since ancient days. Enslaved people were used for doing menial jobs like tilling land, cleaning garbage, etc., by masters. But as they were not powerful enough to claim their rightful privileges, there probably was no need for human resource management.
Companies realized that it was impossible to get work done without addressing their grievances. That is when they understood that businesses needed a dedicated team to manage workers’ issues. In the initial days, these officials were only involved in managing employee details such as leaves, and salaries, issuing employment offers, and completing relieving processes. But with time, human resource management has come to mean a lot more than just completing employee formalities.
Over the years, the laborers became more aware of their rights and started forming labor unions.
Today, HR managers and their teams are a vital force in any company. They power the growth of an establishment by planning and fulfilling staffing requirements. The team is tasked with hiring the right people to satisfy current needs and future requirements.
These professionals must ensure that every employee can contribute to the firm’s growth. They must also ensure that the staff members get the opportunity for personal development.
Key Responsibilities Of The Human Resource Management Team
While every firm has its peculiarities, the responsibilities of the workforce management teams remain almost the same. Certain specific industries may have additional responsibilities for these professionals. Below are the key responsibilities of the human resource personnel. The post-graduate certificate course in human resource management equips you to perform all the duties efficiently. Check out the course details now.
- Recruitment
Though the word sounds simple, it is a critical responsibility of the personnel manager. Hiring the right person helps the company achieve its objectives at a faster pace and lower cost. The process of recruitment starts with advertising the vacancy in various media. Today social media platforms are highly preferred as they reach the right people.
The human resource management personnel can also look inside and check whether there are any suitable staff members for the position and HR strategy will improve employee retention as they understand the growth prospects inside the firm.
Also Read: Objectives & Nature of Human Resource Management
- Induction
It is not enough to recruit people. They must be properly inducted into the firm to fit into its environment comfortably. The recruits are introduced to their team members. They have also described what their responsibilities are.
The human resource management team imparts knowledge about company policies. A smooth induction process saves a lot of time for the HR team. It is also an opportunity to inform new employees about the positive aspects of the establishment and what prospects await them.
- Training
Training is not only for new employees but also for existing staff members. Technology is developing very fast, and companies must adopt new ones if they wish to succeed. Employees may not possess the latest skills needed for the modern work environment. Business houses must provide training to upskill their workers so that future needs are satisfied from within.
It is one of the most important duties of human resource management heads to continuously assess the skill needs of their firms and arrange for timely training programs. This helps in company growth and employee retention.
- Assessment
Everyone wants to grow in their job. All employees desire to go up to the next level in their professions, and for this, it is necessary to assess their skills. The HR department must conduct timely assessments and promote deserving employees to higher positions. Such appraisals must be fair and transparent so that workers are sure their good work will be rewarded.
Regular assessments also help human resource management know which employees can take up higher responsibilities. These performance analyses enable the firm to formulate effective training programs.
- Salaries And Benefits
Nobody works for free. Every employee must be compensated adequately for their work. Not paying enough can result in employees leaving the firm. The cost of employing new people is much more than retaining an existing person. This means that human resource management personnel must ensure that employees get adequate salaries and benefits to stay in their jobs and contribute to the company’s progress.
Manpower managers must make sure that the establishment pays on par with what the market offers. They must also avoid paying more and causing losses to the firm.
- Worker Retention
With new firms from within the country and outside starting operations regularly, it is not easy to get the right people. Moreover, hiring new people is not just expensive but also consumes a lot of time. Human resource management professionals must ensure that employees stay on and work towards the development of the company.
Retaining workers require manpower managers to constantly assess employee requirements and address their grievances. Employees must feel free to voice their concerns and get solutions easily. Timely rewards and providing a healthy working environment are crucial to manpower retention.
- Policy Formulation
Every company must have a clear HR policy that benefits both the firm and its employees. It is the responsibility of the human resource management team to formulate such a policy and ensure that it is shared with the employees. They must also make sure that every worker understands the policies and why they must follow them strictly.
The company must make these regulations keeping in mind the present working and market conditions. Manpower managers must make policies in line with the firm’s culture and industry. They must update the policies when the need arises.
- Conflict Resolution
One of the critical duties of the HR department is to ensure a peaceful working environment without which the workers cannot perform well. When people from different educational, cultural, and family backgrounds work in the same place, there are bound to be conflicts. Arguments can occur among employees themselves or with the management. The HR team is tasked with resolving such issues and keeping work going on smoothly. Any kind of indiscipline must be treated with strict punishments, and workers made to understand that they must maintain peace in the workplace.
Skills Needed To Become A HR Professional
All of you must possess a set of skills that help you perform your duties well. But not all jobs demand the same set of capabilities. Being an HR professional needs you to develop various qualities to become successful in the job. Check out our post-graduate certificate course in human resource management to see how the program empowers you to become a good HR professional. Here are the top must-have qualities for a human resource management team member.
- Interpersonal Skills
Interaction with employees is the prime responsibility of every HR personnel. These are the people who prospective employees meet first. So, they must make a good impression on the candidates. They must be easily approachable to staff members because that is the first step to resolving issues within the company. Good human resource management professionals show genuine interest in employees’ matters and build rapport with them.
- Communication Skills
HR professionals must be good communicators as they must interact with people from different educational and cultural backgrounds. They must be able to communicate the messages from the management and the employees to one another. Human resource management is responsible for conveying the policies of the companies correctly to new employees. Their communication with job seekers is crucial in getting the right people for the firm.
Also Read: Key Fundamentals of Human Resource Management
- Emotional Intelligence
More things are unsaid in a company than those spoken outwardly. A good HR professional who possesses emotional intelligence can understand the feelings of workers without hearing from them. As a person who is responsible for the welfare of employees, the human resource management expert must be able to know what underlying emotions make them behave in a particular fashion. Understanding such emotions and responding sympathetically helps earn the trust of staff members.
- Man Management Expertise
Knowledge about HR responsibilities and duties is considered highly valuable by most employers. They prefer someone with experience in the department. This helps the company use its capabilities as soon as they are employed. But not everyone comes with experience. This is where a course in human resource management helps you understand the job of a manpower manager and stakeholder engagement and start your job with an edge over others.
- Technical Skills
Being tech-savvy is highly essential today. Numerous software programs help HR professionals do their duties more efficiently. Employers expect those joining the HR department to be able to use new technology to get things done quickly. Data analytics is helping human resource management greatly by enabling better decision-making. Payroll and attendance software helps make accurate salary calculations. HRIS makes performance analysis and rewards decisions easy.
Preparing To Become A HR Professional
So, how do you make yourself ready to embark on an HR career? A qualification in the field may not be essential for an entry-level job in the department. But if a person wants to progress quickly in this competitive job market, a qualification in human resource management is essential. You can check out our post-graduate certificate course in the subject. Such online courses are highly suitable for those already working either in the department or aspiring to get a job there. You can kickstart your career armed with the knowledge gained from such a program.
The next thing is to analyze yourself and see what skills you already possess and what more is needed. While the above list of skills is not exhaustive by any means, one must at least gain such capabilities for performing the work efficiently. Networking helps you get an HR job quickly. Finding friends and college mates who are already working in human resource management jobs and connecting with them is good to know existing vacancies in the field. Those already working can convey to their employers their interest in joining the manpower department.
Challenges Faced By HR Managers
We have seen what skills HR managers must possess to perform their duties successfully. But knowing this in itself is not enough. One must also know the various challenges that the human resource management team faces in their job. As they deal with people from various backgrounds with their own professional and personal issues, the people management staff face various issues while executing their job.
Engaging The Workforce
One of the serious problems that human resource management teams face is keeping the workforce engaged. Those companies that had tried many methods to achieve this succeeded to a certain extent. But the pandemic has undone what they have achieved so far. The challenge went from engaging staff members to getting them to work from different locations. Currently, companies are in the process of getting workers back to the office and returning to the earlier scenario. However, employee engagement remains a crucial issue that needs to be solved.
Engaging the workforce can be achieved by having increased transparency and communication. Human resource managers must engage in intentional communication to show employees their role in the firm’s growth and development. The workers must understand that they are an important part of the organization’s movement toward achieving its mission and vision. Feeling that they are crucial to the firm makes them feel more invested in the job. They also feel accomplished and engaged in their work.
Attracting The Best People To The Firm
Employees are one of the most important entities in an organization; without their active participation, no company can hope to achieve its goals. For this, the company must have highly talented and skilled employees. The human resource management team must put full effort into luring the best people from the market. Compensation and benefits do play an important role in getting skilled workers. But for most people, experience and a sense of purpose are more important. Most candidates are more interested in being able to use all their skills in the job.
Employer branding is crucial to attracting good people to the organization. If the company still needs to do it, then it is high time they undertake the job. It is not possible to create a company culture that suits everyone. But having a brand that speaks of the firm’s values and unique elements is possible. Companies cannot create branding that satisfies everyone. But then companies want people who will fit into their culture, and branding that speaks of the culture can attract such candidates. Human resources management must create an employer branding that also talks about inclusion.
Managing Relationships
Relationships between employees and the management and among themselves must be cordial and cooperative. It is very important for the smooth functioning of the firm. A company’s work depends greatly on how employees interact with each other. In an environment where people from different backgrounds work closely with each other, there are always difficulties in maintaining good relationships. But the human resources management department must make sure that there is a smooth interaction between workers as it is critical for achieving the company’s objectives. Good relationships build trust and help people work together effectively.
It is not easy to build relationships in work conditions that are still remote or hybrid. But the HR managers and their teams must strive to ensure this. Having effective communication is the key to building good relationships. The human resource management department must also make sure that everyone is aware of each other’s responsibilities and roles. The HR team must make employees understand that working together is better for them than for the company. Good relationships also result in workers helping each other and ensuring that the team achieves its objectives.
Training And Development
New technologies are arriving at speeds that we are unable to keep up with. Companies need to ensure that their employees are equipped with skills capable of using new technologies and making work more efficient and effective. It is the responsibility of the human resource management department to ensure that the right training is given to employees to make them more efficient at work. Technical skills have a very short life, and because of this, investing time and money in separate training in these skills is not beneficial. Such training should happen as part of the workflow.
Transferable skills are more useful because they are always useful for the person. Employees can carry these valuable skills forward to their future job responsibilities. Such soft skills also help to build adjacent skills on them. Leadership development is very important for all organizations, and without soft skills, it is impossible to groom a leader. Employees in all positions need communication, empathy, and awareness in all positions. Another reason why training is important is that it gives the employees the feeling that the company is interested in their growth and development.
Also Read: What Is Human Resource Management System?
Employee Retention
Recruiting new employees is very expensive, and it is not easy getting good candidates. It has become necessary for companies to try and retain employees as much as possible. It is one of the biggest challenges faced by the human resource management department. There are many ways in which competitors can lure employees away. The company must do everything possible to keep the workers happy and loyal. The first action that HR professionals must take is to find out why people leave the company. Exit interviews and HR analytics can help find out why workers leave the firm.
It is not just money that keeps people continuing in a firm. There are various other factors like job satisfaction, good working conditions, and prospects for career growth. If employees leave at the earlier stages of their tenure with the company, it could mean they don’t feel prepared to do all their duties. HR managers must mitigate this feeling by being clear about the job responsibilities during the hiring or onboarding process. The human resource management team must also make sure employees don’t leave at later stages by providing growth opportunities to them.
Maintaining Diversity In The Workplace
It is not easy maintaining diversity in the workplace. Many companies struggle to reach their DEI goals. Unless the company integrates this into its business goals, it will be very difficult. Having an inclusive working environment is essential to attract good talents. Most people today look at companies and their employee makeovers to see how inclusive the firm is. It gives them a feeling that everyone will feel a sense of belonging in the firm and can fully use their skills for career development and company growth.
There is another reason why human resource management departments should try to have as much diversity as possible. Even customers favor companies that include people from all categories in their workforce. There is better acceptance of all types of people, even in government agencies, which forces companies to be more inclusive. Having a diverse employee strength is also advantageous for the company because it will bring in more creativity from people of different backgrounds. HR managers need to look at this as a serious matter and take action immediately.
Embrace Change
Change is inevitable anywhere and it is all the more relevant now for companies because of the pandemic. The way workers in a company work and interact has changed drastically during the pandemic. When companies return to normal working conditions, they find that employees have become used to flexible working conditions. This is putting pressure on the human resource management teams to maintain the hybrid working system. In a tight labor market, companies must make sure that employees are kept happy and satisfied.
There are other changes that the human resource management department must learn to cope with. Technology is growing at a fast pace, and this means that employees must be upskilled to be able to handle new tools. HR managers must quickly look at the training needs and make sure that these are undertaken quickly to ensure worker capability of handling new technology. The HR department themselves must change their working style and adopt new methods to improve their efficiency. These professionals must be prepared for any sudden change so that they are not caught off-guard.
Employee Health And Well-Being
Employees are viewing health benefits more seriously than ever before. This is possibly due to the pandemic and how it has affected the lives of everyone everywhere in the world. Companies have also started looking at this issue seriously. Many companies have started offering customized health plans to their employees based on their health and other factors. Many companies offer multiple plans from which the employees can choose the most suitable one for them. Many firms have started extending health benefits to include mental health care also.
But merely changing the health plans is not enough. Human resource management teams must look at how they can change the working conditions to ensure better physical and mental health for their workers. Flexible hours and more paid time off are ways of keeping employees happy and healthy. Organizations must also start looking at how they can balance the workload so that staff members don’t feel too much work pressure. HR managers must discuss this with employees and assure them that their well-being is of prime concern for the firm too.
We have seen some of the challenges that HR managers face as part of their duties. Apart from these, these professionals must also be constantly on the lookout for new trends emerging in workforce management across the globe and prepare themselves for them.
Emerging Trends In Human Resource Management
Managing Workforce Ecosystem
The human resource management department had to traditionally only deal with permanent employees. But recently, there has been a huge increase in contract workers and gig workers. Apart from this, the company has also to look at those working for the supply chain partners. All these people make an impact on the company’s service delivery. The number of people earning through gig platforms is increasing greatly, and the HR department is missing an opportunity to make an impact by not managing these workers. The new trend is for the human resource department to manage those beyond permanent employees.
Redefining Work Strategies
Remote and hybrid working conditions have forced companies to adopt digital technology faster than they would have thought before the pandemic. Workers have welcomed the change, and it is observed that almost half the applications received are for remote jobs. Companies that resist this change are going to lose out in their bid to hire good people. This means that the new trend will be for the strategic human resource management teams to set clear guidelines about where and how employees will work. They will push top executives to think differently on this matter.
Also Read: What is an HR Business Partner: The Ultimate Guide
Emerging Importance Of CHRO
After the pandemic and the changing work atmosphere, more company boards are looking at the CHRO to lead and respond on various matters. This has increased the importance of the human resource management department and the CHRO is expected to be part of the decision-making in matters regarding company policies, business continuity, and employee safety and productivity. The CHRO is also tasked with leading the company toward achieving environmental, social, and corporate governance objectives. In most companies, the CHRO is asked to understand employee sentiments and advise the CEO about what to speak about on social issues.
Inclusion Across The Employee Life Cycle
DEI initiatives are getting more visibility today than earlier. More companies are formulating policies regarding inclusiveness. But this is mostly restricted to new recruitment. A new trend that is emerging is that organizations are thinking about having diversity across the complete life cycle of employees. This means that diversity will be the main consideration when it comes to promotions, training, and other HR practices. Human resources management teams are looking at ways to get employees to be bold about disclosing their disabilities to the HR department without fear.
One can learn everything about the new trends at the Post Graduate Certificate Course in Human Resource Management offered by reputed institutions. You can know more details about the course on our website.
Summing Up
HR is a profession that is assuming more and more importance and scope by the day. In many companies, the manpower managers share space with the top brasses. More firms realize the importance of hiring the right people and retaining them. With increasing attrition rates in certain industries, human resource management has become crucial for the establishment’s growth and development.
While the number of vacancies in HR departments is rising, only those who are qualified and capable can find jobs in companies with good growth prospects. Joining our post-graduate certificate course in human resource management is one way to equip yourself with the right skills and become highly sought-after by premium employers.
More Information:
Difference Between Personnel Management And Human Resource Management
Areas of Emphasis: Human Resource Management
