Regardless of whether a particular business is of a large and national nature, or rather a smaller start-up company operating within a confined area of a particular state, the foundations of any core business model incorporate a human resources department in some capacity or another.
A typical feature of the human resources department, more colloquially referred to as ‘HR,’ is that every member of the team recognizes its supreme importance, but rarely does everyone within a company actually understand what HR does.
So, with this in mind, continue reading to learn all about the primary functions of a human resources department and why indeed they are so important within any company.
1. HR is in Charge of Payroll
Naturally, the number one reason why dedicated and loyal employees stay with a particular company for many years is because they are paid, monthly or weekly, for their hard work and dedication.
The human resources department of a business is solely responsible for all matters relating to payroll and calculating associated taxes, holiday pay, statutory sick pay, and other charges and deductions. Additionally, when it comes to calculating bonuses and raises, both these responsibilities fall on the proverbial shoulders of the human resources team.
2. HR is Responsible for Recruitment
Another essential role of a human resources employee pertains to the ‘hiring and firing’ within a company.
From arranging, planning and releasing job descriptions, screening potential candidates for every job role, and setting up the interviews to coordinating the hiring procedures, producing the relevant policies for the new employee to sign, and being responsible for the entirety of the onboarding process, all matters of recruitment occur within the HR department.
3. HR Conducts All Disciplinary Actions
Obviously, the workforce of any company is of critical importance for a variety of reasons, and many professional companies choose to outsource their human resources department to a reputable and renowned HR company, much like this HR consultant in Derby, who will ensure that each HR duty is completed efficiently.
Out of all the exceedingly important roles carried out by the employees of a human resources department, one of the top responsibilities – which many HR members seem to dislike – is being responsible for arranging and often partaking in disciplinary actions and procedures.
However, when outsourcing to a third-party HR consultancy, such disciplinary matters are taken out of the hands of the company’s employees and are instead conducted entirely by outsiders who have no professional, or indeed personal, connection with the employees involved.
4. HR is Responsible for Benefit Analysis
Regarding all issues and topics relating to recruitment, the human resources team of a business must always remain vigilant in terms of scanning for and sourcing the best local talent. They have to be constantly on the lookout for potential professionals to join the business.
This is why a huge part of the role of a human resources employee is to ensure that the various benefit packages and reward packages their own company provides to its employees is competitive enough that a potential recruit will choose them over one of their competitors.
As such, human resources professionals regularly research and subsequently analyze the market and discover the benefit packages of rival companies before making changes and adapting their own to match. This is an incredibly important HR function, as without it, a fresh-faced and skilled potential employee may well choose to work for a competitor because they offer a better benefits package, even if another company is offering less money – after all, employee benefits as just as important as their salary.
5. HR Maintains Legal Employee Records
Human resources is not just a department solely tasked with looking after workforce members from a moral standpoint; HR employees are legally responsible for regularly maintaining every employee’s record and updating each one as soon as a change occurs.
All personal information and data concerning every single employee, from the housekeeping team to the CEO, are contained within the human resources department. Therefore, HR employees are usually required to sign a contract agreeing not to disclose any such information, as doing so would go against privacy laws.
6. HR is the Communication Hub for Employees
Finally, but perhaps most crucially of all, the role of a human resources department should be open and even encouraging to individual employees who want to discuss any issues or problems they are having in their professional working life.
From enduring workplace bullying or harassment or needing a third-party employee to work through one work-related matter to information on payslips, health insurance, or employee rights, human resources professionals are on hand to discuss all such matters with each member of the team.
