An organization’s most integral part is its employees and yet sadly, human resources wasn’t considered critical to the functioning of businesses. Human Resource Management is essential to a business and is needed to take it to the next level of success. With the progress of technology and the globalization of industries, changes in organizational hierarchy became a must. Today, business leaders are more focused on hiring the right employees, keeping them engaged, and making them feel valued. This is where human resource management comes in, making it a critical part of proper business functioning and management.

But, a lot of business owners are clueless about human resource management and what it entails. To help you better understand human resource management, we have curated the detailed article below. Here, we will offer you an introduction to human resource management and discuss the different processes, challenges, and roles and responsibilities involved. So, what are you waiting for?

Jump right into it to learn more about human resource management and get started with building a responsible and efficient HR team. We guarantee that by the end of this article, you will have learned everything there is to know about the complete human resource management process.

An Introduction To Human Resource Management

The term human resources came into existence in the early 1900s but started to be widely used in the 1960s and was used to refer to the employees of an organization. Well, as of today, the term human resource management (sometimes interchangeably used to refer to HR/human resource) refers to the recruitment, organization, management, and deployment of a company’s employees.

Other than looking after the organization’s employee recruitment and management process, the human resource management team is also responsible for creating policies that govern employee rules and regulations. They are also supposed to outline procedures that help support business objectives and build strategic plans for better organizational growth in the long run. However, the most important responsibility of the human resource management team is to foster a culture of employee well-being and empower them to be as productive as possible.

Since employee management is a key responsibility of the human resource management team, they often refer to employees as business assets and term them as human capital. Similar to other business assets and capital available, the ultimate goal is to effectively manage and use the talent pool, reduce business risks, and boost the ultimate return on investment (ROI). Due to the increased usage of advanced technologies in business processes, human resource management teams utilize modern HR technologies and software solutions available.

These technology solutions help better manage business processes and allow the team to seamlessly perform their duties. But, what exactly is the role of human resource management and why are they essential to every organization? To help you better understand these concepts, we have broken them down into simple sub-sections and listed them below.

Why Is Human Resource Management Important?

Before we start exploring the roles of the human resource management team in detail, let us try to break down why the team is important to a company’s functioning.

The primary objective and aim of the numerous roles under the human resource management team is the proper management and upliftment of the workplace to help achieve the organization’s mission and reinforce the company culture. When the team fulfills their job roles and responsibilities adequately, company objectives can be easily achieved in the long run.

An important point to remember is that a company is only as good as its employees, which is why human resource management is a crucial part of any organization. Good human resource managers are also expected to stay updated on the job market scenario to help the organization offer competitive salaries and benefits. This will help ensure that the pay is fair and the company can hire talented people. They must also plan events that help the employees avoid burning out which also helps boost employee satisfaction.

How Does Human Resource Management Work?

The important roles and responsibilities of human resource management are carried out by HR professionals. Generally, an organization’s human resource responsibilities are carried out by a team of dedicated HR employees and managers. The layout of the complete HR department is dependent on the company’s organizational structure. Moreover, the HR team varies based on the organization’s size, structure, and nature.

For small companies, most of the human resource management responsibilities are performed by a few HR generalists. These employees are responsible for the proper functioning and fulfillment of the numerous HR roles and responsibilities. On the other hand, larger organizations have an HR department that includes several employees specialized in certain roles. Although these roles are different and specialized, their job functions often overlap with each other.

What Are The Objectives Of Human Resource Management?

Before we move on to discussing the roles a human resource management team must handle, let us have a look at their objectives. The objectives of the human resource management team can be broadly divided into the following categories:-

Societal Objectives

These include measures that are in place to help handle a company’s ethical and societal responsibilities. A business’s human resource management also helps handle legal issues like equal opportunities and equal pay for all genders.

Organizational Objectives

Organizational objectives entail all human resource roles and responsibilities associated with helping boost the organization’s overall efficiency. It also includes offering employee training modules, analyzing the number of employees required to run a business, and performing all functions that help boost employee retention rates.

Functional Objectives

These objectives include the addition of guidelines that detail an HR team’s function and roles for better functioning of the organization as a whole. It also includes tasks that help ensure that all company resources are properly allocated to projects and other employee activities.

Personal Objectives

Personal objectives of a human resource management team include resource allocation and management that helps support an employee’s personal goals. These include educational and career development opportunities that help boost employee satisfaction.

The objectives of a human resource management team within the unit of every organization include:-

• Helping an organization achieve its business goals and boost employee productivity
• Efficient use of employee skills and abilities for quick project completion
• Ensure employees have proper training to properly fulfill their job responsibilities
• Create policies that help build and maintain positive employee experience for greater satisfaction and better quality of life
• Build policies that motivate employees to ensure they keep contributing their best to company projects
• Effective communication about relevant company policies, procedures, rules, and regulations for greater employee satisfaction
• Maintain relevant policies that help ensure that the workplace is compliant with all ethical, legal, and social standards set in place
• Effective management of business change based on external factors to ensure they do not have any negative impact on the organization’s employees

What Is The Role Of Human Resource Management Employees?

Although the role of human resource management differs from one industry to another and is based on the company size, the primary objectives are the same. The key function is to recruit talent and improve collaboration among team members and different business teams. Some other key roles that human resource management teams must tackle include:-

Job Analysis

Before HR teams can go about hiring employees to fulfill business requirements, they must analyze the job role to understand the skills and experience necessary to ensure that the employee performs the job well. This will help make recruitment easier and allow the human resource management team to determine the compensation and benefits for the role. It will also allow them to create training programs that will help the company onboard employees who are a perfect fit for the role.

Workforce Operations

Another important function of the human resource management team is the proper curation of health and safety policies to safeguard employees. The team must also create guidelines and policies that detail how employee grievances must be addressed, working with labor unions, and much more. This will help ensure that regulatory policies are in place to better support regulatory compliance and avoid any workplace mishaps.

Performance Analysis

It is highly important to analyze and evaluate an employee’s performance to foster employee growth. Moreover, it also helps ensure that employees have access to actionable insights that help them better perform their jobs and improve their performance. Reports generated from these analyses will also help act as a guideline when discussing employee raises, promotions, benefits, and dismissals.

Incentive Programs

Several companies have incentive and reward programs in place that focus on motivating employees to achieve better results. Moreover, these are a great way to recognize employee efforts and reward them for aiding the company’s overall growth and success. The human resource management team is responsible for outlining these incentive programs that are meant to foster better employee performance and a culture of appreciation.

Professional Development

Starting from the orientation of employees to advanced educational and upskilling programs, everything is curated by the human resource management team. They must also keep an eye on employee training modules and programs to ensure that these programs help boost employee productivity and reduce turnover and the need for employee supervision.

What Are The Responsibilities Of Human Resource Management?

Human resource management professionals have the responsibility of creating policies and programs that help improve workplace efficiency and better employee relationships. This includes a broad range of jobs, out of which the most crucial ones are:-

Staffing

Staffing responsibilities include a number of steps and are not as simple as they seem. For example, hiring managers must determine the hiring budget, the number of employees they must hire, and how they can find them. Then, they must determine the employee qualifications necessary for the proper fulfillment of the job. After that, they can shortlist a few candidates and interview them to ensure they make a proper employee selection.

Development Of Workplace Policies

Since human resource management staff are supposed to keep an eye on the market conditions and strategize accordingly, they must also alert the management when the creation of new policies or editing of existing ones is essential. Generally, HR managers are to consult other executives and managers before writing supporting documents and relevant policies. These can range anywhere from disciplinary actions to dress code and vacation policies that are in place for better employee satisfaction.

Pay And Benefit Schemes

With increasing competition in every industry, businesses must ensure that they offer compensation and pay schemes that are in line with the set standards. After all, it is important to create an environment of fair pay and a system that carefully considers the different factors at play. These can include the number of years of experience, skill sets, education level, and much more.

Talent Retention

Compensation is not the only thing that plays a critical role in employee satisfaction and company growth. The human resource management team must be proactive in handling employee needs, addressing grievances, and solving queries. Focusing on the organization’s employee culture is important to grow a collaborative environment.

Employee Training

To help employees develop new skills for better project success and higher productivity, an organization’s human resource management team must develop intensive training programs. These also include team-building activities, social initiatives, policies on work ethics, and detailed instructions about on-the-job skills and responsibilities.

Regulatory Compliance

There are major laws that dictate workplace behavior and an organization’s functioning. This includes employee discrimination policies, health care regulations, and much more. Moreover, these laws are constantly updated with time, which is why the human resource management team must stay on top of them and ensure that the organization doesn’t violate any of these.

What Skills Must Your Human Resource Management Team Possess?

The main function of the human resource team is to focus on employee satisfaction and better fulfill employee needs for the proper functioning of the organization. To help them better perform their job, some skills that can add value to HR candidates include:-

• Management of employee relations
• Job candidate relationships
• Sourcing and recruiting
• Conflict management
• Employee onboarding
• Experience with human resource information system
• Customer service
• Project management

What Are The Different Career Opportunities In Human Resource Management?

Now that we know the different human resource management processes that an organization’s human resource management team must perform, let us look at the different career opportunities available.

There are several career opportunities in human resource management which means that there are multiple entry points in the field. However, most human resource management positions are available only to graduates. They need to have a bachelor’s degree in human resources or a related field to find a role that best suits them. Some career opportunities in human resource management that you can explore include:-

Payroll Specialist

As the name suggests, a payroll specialist gathers employee information and ensures it is accurate. Then, they verify the hours worked and offer employees the appropriate compensation. Some other tasks that are managed by payroll specialists include – approval of expenses, management of budgets, and payroll processing. Sometimes, organizations look for employees with a degree in accounting or relevant experience to ensure they better perform their job.

Training And Development Manager

Also known as a training coordinator, a training and development manager oversees all training processes that are in place to ensure that new hires can better fulfill their job responsibilities. They must also develop upskilling policies that help ensure that employees are updated on the different industry standards and technologies in use. Typically, training and development managers hold a bachelor’s degree, have relevant experience in HR, and possess certifications proving their skillset.

Human Resources Manager

The responsibility of a human resources manager can be quite hectic as they are expected to oversee the working of the organization’s complete HR department. Some common business processes that they need to keep an eye on include hiring new talent, implementation of different business policies, management of the staff payroll, and other specialized HR processes.

Benefits Manager

Although the roles and responsibilities of a payroll specialist and benefits manager seem the same, there is a difference. Benefits managers are responsible for overseeing the payroll department and other functions related to the compensation and benefits schemes in place. The benefits manager also needs to be in constant coordination with other departments to ensure proper discussion of financial matters and employee performance.

What Are The Different Challenges Of Human Resource Management That Organizations Must Face?

Now that we are clear about all the roles, responsibilities, and functions of an organization’s human resource management team, let us have a look at the different challenges of human resource management that every organization must tackle. These include:-

Change In Management

Although change in every industry sphere is inevitable, it can be really difficult for an organization’s human resource management team to track all of these. However, they must keep an eye out for any management changes to ensure the organization keeps functioning to the best of its ability.

Staff Training And Development Programs

It is essential for every organization to ensure their employees are upskilled to ensure they cater to the ever-changing business needs and demands. Moreover, this also means that the company will be technologically ahead which undoubtedly helps boost company growth and success.

Talent Retention

One of the key roles and responsibilities of human resource management is retaining employees. Due to the huge market competition, employees are constantly looking for better opportunities which can cause further employee retention challenges. This is why the human resource management team must constantly strive to improve the organization’s work environment and retain the existing workforce.

Ensure Diversity And Inclusion

To facilitate a better work culture, the human resource management team must continuously try to ensure that the workplace is diverse and inclusive. But, it is easier said than done because ensuring better diversity and inclusion means handling challenges like communication and language barriers and other gaps due to cultural differences.

Why Choose Qandle For Your Human Resource Management Needs?

Qandle’s human resource management solutions not only help automate these time-consuming processes but also aid your HR team in better fulfilling their job roles and responsibilities. You can easily get in touch with us to get access to a tailor-made software solution that helps with your business’s human resource management tasks. This will help ensure better business productivity leading to higher chances of success.

So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch with Qandle’s expert team with years of experience and get solutions that help you better tackle your organization’s human resource management needs. We hope the above article helped you understand the numerous roles your team needs to manage to ensure proper business functioning and growth.