Six Main Functions of a Human Resource

Department
Recruitment
The success of recruiters and employment specialists generally is measured by the number
of positions they fill and the time it takes to fill those positions. Recruiters who work in-house
-- as opposed to companies that provide recruiting and staffing services -- play a key role in
developing the employer's workforce. They advertise job postings, source candidates, screen
applicants, conduct preliminary interviews and coordinate hiring efforts with managers
responsible for making the final selection of candidates.

Safety
Workplace safety is an important factor. Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of
1970, employers have an obligation to provide a safe working environment for employees.
One of the main functions of HR is to support workplace safety training and maintain
federally mandated logs for workplace injury and fatality reporting. In addition, HR safety
and risk specialists often work closely with HR benefits specialists to manage the company's
workers compensation issues.

Employee Relations
In a unionized work environment, the employee and labor relations functions of HR may be
combined and handled by one specialist or be entirely separate functions managed by two
HR specialists with specific expertise in each area. Employee relations is the HR discipline
concerned with strengthening the employer-employee relationship through measuring job
satisfaction, employee engagement and resolving workplace conflict. Labor relations
functions may include developing management response to union organizing campaigns,
negotiating collective bargaining agreements and rendering interpretations of labor union
contract issues.

Compensation and Benefits

Like employee and labor relations, the compensation and benefits functions of HR often can
be handled by one HR specialist with dual expertise. On the compensation side, the HR
functions include setting compensation structures and evaluating competitive pay practices.
A comp and benefits specialist also may negotiate group health coverage rates with insurers
and coordinate activities with the retirement savings fund administrator. Payroll can be a
component of the compensation and benefits section of HR; however, in many cases,
employers outsource such administrative functions as payroll.

Compliance
Compliance with labor and employment laws is a critical HR function. Noncompliance can
result in workplace complaints based on unfair employment practices, unsafe working
conditions and general dissatisfaction with working conditions that can affect productivity
and ultimately, profitability. HR staff must be aware of federal and state employment laws
such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor
Relations Act and many other rules and regulations.

Training and Development

Employers must provide employees with the tools necessary for their success which, in
many cases, means giving new employees extensive orientation training to help them
transition into a new organizational culture. Many HR departments also provide leadership
training and professional development. Leadership training may be required of newly hired
and promoted supervisors and managers on topics such as performance management and
how to handle employee relations matters at the department level. Professional
development opportunities are for employees looking for promotional opportunities or
employees who want to achieve personal goals such as finishing a college degree. Programs
such as tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement programs often are within the purview
of the HR training and development area.

LIST ALL APPROACHES OF HRM

1. Strategic Approach HR management must contribute in the strategic
success of the org, otherwise resources tend to be wasted
2. Human Resource Approach HR management must pay careful attention to
the needs of employees as priority to ensure the orgs prosper growth
3. Management Approach HR management must serve managers&
employees through its management expertise. The performance of each
worker is the result of supervisor/ manager & HR Dept
4. System Approach HR management takes place within a large system of an
org , therefore, its efforts be evaluated consonant to its contribution to the
orgs productivity
5. Proactive Approach HR management must increase its contribution to the
employees & the organization by anticipating challenges before they arise

PROACTIVE VS REACTIVE HRM

Proactive HRM Approach

1.

Problem are anticipated

2.

Corrective actions taken before a problem arises

3.

Effective & efficient solutions are more likely to be found

4.

A cost effective approach as the prevention takes place before a

problem that may never take place

5.

Improves / enhances the productivity & conserves the orgs

resources

6.

Imply superior financial performance of the org

Reactive HRM Approach

1.

Wait for feedback & then respond

2.

A costly approach as the cure takes place after problem

3.

Interrupts the flow of productivity & raise the use of orgs

resources

4.

Involves hiccups in the orgs financial performance

Similarities & Differences of Proactive & Reactive

HR
Proactive HR Basics
Proactive or preventative human resources is the strategic development of plans for
recruiting, selecting, managing and motivating people. Proactive recruiting means crafting
specific plans for recruiting employees who are the best fit for your organization. Proactive
HR management processes include development of effective compensation programs that
pay people fairly and competitively. They also include management approaches that are
known to motivate employees to deliver optimum performance on a regular basis.

Reactive HR Basics
Strategic planning to react to human resources crises are important. Small businesses need
to know what to do when employee troubles arise. However, reactive HR is often regarded
as putting out fires and living in HR chaos because managers wait until employee issues
come to a head before they try to handle them. By this time, symptoms may have become

overwhelming for the business and its employees. Reactive HR also means adding new
policies and procedures in response to problems that arise.

Similarities
The main similarity between proactive and reactive HR is that both are integral in strategic
HR, which has become prominent in the early 21st century. Companies need to proactively
develop procedures but have an efficient system to deal well when surprise issues occur.
Both approaches involve processes of dealing with employees and their concerns. In each
type, HR professionals and managers want to keep employees happy so that production is
high.

Differences
Timing is a key difference between proactive and reactive HR. Proactive HR plans are
typically implemented before issues come up. Proactive approaches include intentionally
hiring certain employees and paying what it takes to motivate employees. Reactive
approaches more often involve waiting until employees complain to fix pay or motivation
problems. In an April 2011 Foster Thomas article, Kristin Rueber explains that proactive HR
also may involve payroll and employee audits that catch issues before they fester. She
describes a particular situation in which a company paid a non active employee for about 12
years because it failed to review payroll files proactively.

SERVICE ROLE OF HR DEPT

1. Service Dept HR is a service dept that exists to assist org, its managers
workers
2. Authority HR managers and specialists being a member of service dept do
not have the authority to manage other dept
3. Staff Authority HR managers and specialists have staff authority to advise
not direct other managers
4. Line Authority This authority also called the operation managers has the
right to direct the operations of dept that distributes the org s products &
services
5. Seeking Advice To avoid the disruptive consequences managers, usually
consider the HR depts advice & follow
6. Functional Authority This authority makes the final decision in specified
situations & allows the other dept to make the decisions in cases of highly
technical or routine decisions such as reward & punishment cases etc.

7. Dual Responsibilities Both HR & line managers are responsible for

employees productivity & as well as quality of work

Human resources management activities

A Human Resources Manager has several functions in a company:

Determine needs of the staff.

Determine to use temporary staff or hire employees to fill these needs.

Recruit and train the best employees.

Supervise the work.

Harmonize relationship between company and workers.

Manage employee relations, unions and collective bargaining.

Prepare employee records and personal policies.

Ensure high performance.

Manage employee payroll, benefits and compensation.

Ensure equal opportunities.

Deal with discrimination.

Deal with performance issues.

Ensure that human resources practices conform to various regulations.

Push the employee's motivation.

Focus on individual who possess energy and capabilities to ensure the job done through
people to achieve results.

Managers need to develop their interpersonal skills to be effective. Organizations behavior

focuses on how to improve factors that make organizations more effective.

Focus on individual who possess energy and capabilities to ensure the job done through
people to achieve results.BSSGSNHS