HR is a term that is thrown around a lot in business. But, given the blank looks I’ve received over the years when telling people what I do, it’s becoming evident that a lot of people refer to HR but don’t really understand what HR is.
HR is an acronym for Human Resources. Human resources professionals are often degree qualified and have generally completed a business degree with a major in human resources. Human resource professionals do not require a degree to practice (like accountants and lawyers do) but it is a requirement of most human resources positions that a qualification has been obtained.
The way I describe human resources and what has always resonated best with me is that we “ensure the right people are in the right place at the right time to enable a company to meet its objectives and grow”.
In other words, you need to make sure you have suitably qualified people, doing what they are paid to do, available when you need them, to meet the expectations your client is paying you for.
This means that human resources encompasses a wide range of tasks. In some companies, the human resource professionals are generalists and do a bit of everything. In larger companies, they will have specialists for different areas.
Some of the tasks that human resources includes are:
- Recruitment - this is the task of finding new employees to fill roles in the business. This will include everything from writing a position description, to writing a job advertisement, interviewing potential candidates, making job offers, checking salary and other benefits and writing employment contracts.
- Remuneration and benefits - apart from checking that employees are paid legally, human resources professionals will also perform the tasks of ensuring the remuneration and benefits of current and future employees are set so as to attract and retain the right talent whilst being a level the business can afford.
- On-boarding - on boarding is a term to describe the series of tasks involved in starting a new employee at a company. This will include ensuring the new employee has provided all the necessary details for payroll, that they have been inducted appropriately (see “Induction”) and that there is a plan for training them to do the job they have been employed to do.
- Inductions - human resources professionals are often the ones that manage the induction process. The purpose of an induction is to give a new employee all the information they need to work effectively and safely in their new environment. This will include everything from showing them where they work and where the lunch room is to covering off company policies including occupational health and safety.
- Performance management - performance management is exactly as it sounds, it’s managing the performance of employees. Human resources professionals are often bought in to assist managers when employees aren’t performing. The employee may not be performing the tasks as assigned in their position description or they might not be behaving in a way that is legally or culturally appropriate. The aim of performance management is to work with the employee to ensure they are doing the job they are paid to do. This may lead to dismissing an employee where this cannot be achieved. Performance management can also include strategies to better the performance of those within the workplace even if they are not underperforming. This is done by working with teams and managers to improve their relationships and team dynamics.
- Employment policies - human resources are responsible for both writing and enforcing employment policies at many businesses. This can include everything from a code of conduct, a dress code to a bullying policy.
- Dismissals - although it is commonplace for an employee’s manager to be the one that dismisses them (fires them) if needs be, it is both commonplace and appropriate for a human resources professional to be present. The human resources staff member will ensure that laws are being followed and that the company doesn’t face future legal action from their decision to dismiss. Human resources will often also conduct exit interviews for employees leaving the business to understand why they left and what can be learnt for the future.
- Wellness - although wellness may seem a bit of a buzz word, there is increasing evidence to suggest that happy and stress free employees are more productive and take less days off work. It is for this reason that human resources professionals are increasingly focusing on this area. Wellness activities might include encouraging health and fitness, taking regular breaks and generally shifting the workplace culture to one where employees enjoy being at work.
- Safety (OHS & WHS) - although safety is not a traditional aspect of human resources, it is common to find it paired with human resources in many businesses and many human resources professionals are trained in managing safety within the workplace. This is an increasingly important role with more and more legal and government focus on this area.
- WorkCover Management- where human resources are responsible for health and safety within an organisation, you will also generally find them managing WorkCover. This will include everything from writing injury reports, managing return to work and negotiating on behalf of the employer should cases go to mediation or court.
- Payroll - although payroll is often paired with an accounting function you will often find this paired with, or closely related to the human resources department in many companies.
How do I know if my business is currently up to scratch in these areas?
A simple and a zero cost way is to review your HR current platform against our HR Audit Benchmarking Tool. This tool is designed to validate if your business is operating at a best practice standard. It identifies any areas for improvement and is a proven way of identifying and preventing HR related risks. The results from this process are used to identify gaps to set goals and make improvements.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss how ‘Your HR Team’ can support the growth and development of your business.