Human resource (HR) is an extensive yet specific management aspect that helps determine the quality and quantity of employees working in a company. Human resources are the group of individuals who comprise an organization’s workforce, who interact with their clients regularly either onsite or remotely. A narrower conception is a human resource, the particular expertise that the human individuals embody.
Like the recruitment process for skilled workers, it also includes hiring personnel to fill the vacancy, training new human resource professionals, and supervising their performance. Though different from each other, these processes share certain similarities and a common goal to recruit and hire competent people.
As employees’ need has grown over time, companies have established HR departments to handle these needs. They perform key roles in the recruiting, selection, training, and suiting the new hires. In addition to this, they are also responsible for supervising the hiring process itself. Their main function is to ensure that the company satisfies employment law’s legal requirements, such as paying social security and taxes, providing workers’ compensation, and ensuring their health and safety. These organizations also resolve conflicts between employees and employers, resolving any issues between them that could be of employee-employer conflict.
The competencies and skills of employees are crucial in ensuring that the company’s operations run smoothly. Human resource labor helps in identifying and retaining the best and the brightest in the workforce. The HR department, therefore, plays a vital role in the labor market for highly qualified professionals. They can recruit and train the best and the brightest candidates available. They ensure that these people are adequately equipped with all the necessary information and tools required in the workplace, especially during emergencies. They also take care of the organization’s compensation policies and procedures to ensure that the workers are adequately compensated for accidents or illnesses.
Having human resource labor on board is very beneficial to the organization. It ensures that the quality of the labor available is high and that the number of employees available is always enough to handle the organizational needs. Moreover, the HR department manages the compensation and benefits program for its employees. The HR department not only handles the recruitment, training, and supervising the new hires but also ensures that the new employees are appropriately compensated and given all the appropriate benefits. This department also enforces the employment policies and practices in the organization to ensure that the company abides by the various labor laws in place.
Another function of the HRM is to ensure that all the workers and the employers comply with the various laws in place for occupational health and safety, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA and the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Act, or FMVSA. Employees who are harmed on the job are qualified for individual workers’ compensation benefits. However, some states have made it mandatory for all employers to provide their employees with compensation insurance. For this purpose, the human resource department helps out by implementing policies that will ensure compliance with the legal provisions regarding workers’ compensation.
Other than these significant functions, there are still many other functions that human resources play in an organization. They are expected to monitor the quality of the production of employees, conduct personality assessments of employees, determine the staff’s needs, and adjust the workforce to meet the employer’s productivity requirements. Some of these roles still need to be filled, even though many companies have reduced their headcount in recent years.
However, the essential functions of human resources are those related to recruiting, training, and supervising the staff, monitoring safety compliance, processing claims, and providing benefits and remuneration to employees. Without these activities, the HRM would not handle the large volumes of work that needs to be processed in an organization.
