Human Resources (HR) Management is a significant aspect of any organization in a myriad of business areas, from strategic planning to compliance and company image.
Putting together an efficient HR department can give your organization the ability to meet business needs by managing your company’s most valuable resources: its people.
That being said, HR management can be helpful for much more than simply processing payroll or handling enrollment when the time comes. Besides handling the employee-centered activities of an organization, HR plays an essential role in developing a company’s strategy too.
The Strategic Role of HR Management
The main functions of HR are recruitment, employee relations, compensation planning, and labor law compliance. However, there are a lot more reasons for the existence of an HR department in your organization. Here’s a look at a few of these:
Training and Development
HR training and development is an essential step in forging a strong employer-employee connection. It helps asses an organization’s current workforce and determines the type of skills training and development employees require.
This area of HR also supports the company’s fair employment practices and can better prepare aspiring leaders for management roles. In addition, using HR as a training and development strategy can reduce turnover and improve employee retention.
Budget Control
This area represents a major responsibility of the HR department, which decreases excess spending by creating methods for cutting back on workforce management costs. As an example, this includes the negotiation of better rates for benefits when it comes to healthcare coverage. The HR also studies the labor market, employment trends, and analyses salaries to ensure that competitive and realistic wages are being paid and they are all up to the industry standards.
Improving Corporate Image
Not all companies receive recognition for the way they treat employees. Those that do, are the companies for whom people want to work. Human resources can help you balance recruiting your most qualified applicants, selecting the most suitable candidates, and retaining the most talented workers.
Building Loyalty and Commitment
One thing that only HR professionals can do is to suggest strategies for increasing employee commitment to your organization. This is done by matching every employee with the right position according to their knowledge and qualifications.
Staying Current and Competitive
HR management addresses not only the changing needs of an employer but also the shifting competitive job market. This means, for example, that tweaking employee benefits packages increases employee retention through flexible working arrangements, an addition of rest days, or retirement plan enhancements.
Employee Conflict Resolution
Considering the diversity of personalities, work styles, backgrounds, and levels of experience among your employees, workplace conflict is inevitable. However, a trained specialist in HR management can handle employee relations matters by identifying and resolving conflicts and restoring positive working relationships.
Developing Skills for the Future
Managers and HR professionals work together to develop the skills of company employees. HR assigns employees to different roles in the organization, helping then adapt successfully to the environment. In a flexible organization, based on business priorities and employee preferences, workers can be shifted around to different business functions.
Employee Satisfaction
HR is usually charged with determining the level of employee satisfaction. The personnel does that through developed focus groups, carefully designed employee surveys, and a clever interview strategy. This way, the department can determine what underlies employee dissatisfaction and find ways to fix it.
