What are the reasons that all employees need to know about and understand HRM?

Ten reasons why the human resources department is important

A human resources department is an essential part of any company, as it plays an active role in almost every area of the business. HR practitioners who have well-rounded expertise provide a number of services to employees. The areas in which HR maintains control can enhance an employees’ experience throughout the workforce while strengthening business operations.

The main focus of the department is to keep the company strong, successful, functional, and free of costly litigation from lawsuits through sound policies and actions for handling personnel matters.

Below are ten reasons why the human resources department is important in any company:

Recruitment

Employee recruitment, including interviewing and selecting new hires, is a responsibility of the human resources department. This also includes monitoring personnel resources to determine when recruitment is necessary to benefit the company.

Establishing relationships with employees

The HR department is responsible for maintaining relationships with employees in an unionised work environment. It also focuses on strengthening the relationships among employees. As a result, the HR department is in a position to resolve all sorts of conflicts that arise within the organisation.

Budget control

HR is able to clarify the sources of personnel expense, to interpret numeric data and to optimize operations where required. HR has the resources to facilitate administration and by better administration HR enables smaller sick leave expenses and more effective know-how utilization.

Training and Development

Human resources conducts needs assessments for the organization's current workforce to determine the type of skills training and employee development necessary for improving skills and qualifications. Companies in the beginning or growth phases can benefit from identifying training needs for existing staff. It's much less expensive than the cost to hire additional staff or more qualified candidates. In addition, it's a strategy that also can reduce turnover and improve employee retention.

Struggle Resolution

Working environment struggle is inescapable, given the assorted variety of identities, work styles, foundations and levels of understanding among representatives. A HR supervisor or a staff individual extraordinarily prepared to deal with representative relations matters can recognise and resolve struggle between two representatives or an administrator and worker and reestablish positive working connections.

Legal Compliance

Legal compliance refers to the various labour laws, which is the responsibility of the human resource department. This comprises of informing (or reminding!) all employees about the union and state laws on information like break time, lunches, overtime, minimum wage and even all sorts of discrimination.

The human resource department keeps the company in tune with any changes to the business and government legislative and ruling if necessary.

Ensuring the safety of employees

It is extremely important for all the organisations to pay special attention towards workplace safety. The HR department takes necessary measures in order to create a safe working environment for the employees. It is also responsible for reporting injuries that take place within the organisation to higher management.

Performance improvement

HR enhances employees’ work time usage. HR is capable of measuring work performance and facilitating at places where work performance is for some reason just ineffective. Simultaneously, HR clarifies the reason, solves the problem and never leaves the inefficiency a mystery.

Corporate Image

Businesses want to be known as the "employer of choice". Employers of choice are the companies that receive recognition for the way they treat employees; they are the companies for whom people want to work. Becoming an employer of choice means human resources balances recruiting the most qualified applicants, selecting the most suitable candidates and retaining the most talented employees.

Undaunted Principles

Human Resource guarantees the workforce grasps the organisation’s theory and business standards. From the point of view of a private company, making a strong workplace is basic. The principal opportunity HR needs to achieve this is through astute enlisting choices that distinguish attractive expert qualities, and introduction and on-boarding programs.

Looking for HR courses? Why not read about our HR management courses and contact us to find out more about the human resources courses available at London TFE.

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Your people are your greatest resource. Treating your employees fairly and providing them with opportunities to grow will help you achieve your ideas and hit your business goals. This is something that HR is well-placed to help with.

What exactly is human resources?

Human resources (HR) is the umbrella term used to describe the management and development of employees in an organisation. Ultimately, it’s all about increasing employee performance.

Traditionally, HR focused on hiring, firing and the old-school annual pay review. But more recently HR has been positively reframed and now covers a much wider remit.

Basic functions of HR include:

• Recruitment
• Onboarding
• Managing payroll 
• Employee benefits
• Holiday management
• Training and development
• Employment law compliance
• Safety compliance

More than this, HR plays a significant role in developing positive business culture and improving employee engagement and productivity. The HR function also takes the lead on employee wellness and personal development.

Why is human resources (HR) so important?

It can be easy to overlook HR in an SME. Many entrepreneurs get their businesses off to a flying start, but grapple with people management as the business starts to flourish.

Managing staff takes time and it requires specific skills. HR is an area of expertise many business owners lack.

Regardless of skills, the value of HR in business isn’t always immediately apparent. With just a few employees, business leaders feel like they have their finger on the pulse when it comes to the people they hire and manage.

But as a business grows, leaders often find there just isn’t time to deal with day-to-day people management and recruitment and the focus on people can easily get lost. This is a costly mistake and can affect employee satisfaction, culture and long-term success.

Consider the consequences of poor HR. When employees don’t feel supported, aren’t being given opportunities, work long hours, and so on, their motivation to perform is impacted.

Underdeliver on effective HR and you’ll see a knock-on effect on your bottom line. People, culture and business success go hand-in-hand.

Reputation as an employer is influential in attracting talent. It also impacts on customers.

Take Uber as an example; plagued by a string of HR catastrophes from sexual harassment cases to ignoring employee complaints, the resulting bad publicity has undoubtedly deterred many from working there or from using their ride-sharing services. Bad HR has destroyed Uber’s employer brand.

The importance of HR in a pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has forced us to re-evaluate the way we do business. As part of this, the HR function is taking centre stage. Companies are being increasingly measured by the decisions they’ve taken and the way they treated their staff.

What’s more, the impact of ongoing economic uncertainty, remote working and an all-too-real impact on employees’ mental health are forcing businesses across the UK to place human resources at the heart of their operation.

From supporting managers with remote management skills through to sensitively communicating the consequences of a downturn in business, HR is crucial to the effective management of a business during a pandemic or other significant event.

Human resources in business - what are the main functions?

Recruitment and onboarding

Finding the right people to work in your business can be difficult. The recruitment process can take months and getting it wrong can be costly. Finding a good fit when it comes to recruiting talent is one of the most important aspects of HR. Hire too many people, too few or recruit an inappropriate candidate and your business will suffer.

The importance of onboarding is perhaps the most underestimated part of the recruitment process.

Not to be confused with orientation, onboarding refers to the whole experience of hiring, welcoming, orienting and engaging a new recruit and helping them adapt to your organisation’s culture.

Good onboarding maximises employee engagement and increases retention. In contrast, poor onboarding can have a hugely negative impact and leave talented new employees disengaged from the word go.

Want extra guidance? Download our Induction Process Guide here.

Performance management and training

Performance management, training and development are a big part of HR. Almost all employees have skills gaps. Performance management helps address those issues.

An effective performance management system enables managers to offer support to employees who need it and identify future superstars.

It’s widely recognised that employee development contributes towards better employee engagement, increased productivity, reduced employee turnover and a more positive culture.

Comprehensive training and personal development help strengthen any weak links in the company (including managers). Investing in your employees strengthens your organisation and gives your business a competitive edge.

Building and maintaining company culture

Positive business culture is no longer a nice-to-have. It drives employee engagement, job satisfaction and staff retention, and it defines business success. HR plays a key role in developing, reinforcing and changing the culture of an organisation.

Pay, performance management, training and development, recruitment and onboarding and reinforcing the values of the business are all essential elements of business culture covered by HR.

Getting culture right isn’t easy.

It requires a multi-pronged approach and needs consistent nurturing (read more about workplace culture in The Culture Economy Report). Essentially, HR plays a significant role in setting the right tone when it comes to company culture.

Business communications

Businesses require effective communication to operate well. And so often, the way communication occurs in a business is defined by HR.

Good communication mitigates misunderstandings, increases employee engagement, forms the basis for better client relationships, encourages innovation and creativity and helps build a positive culture.

Legal and regulatory compliance

HR professionals have a full understanding of employment law and the regulatory requirements of a business associated with staff. This enormous area shouldn’t be underestimated; an unfair dismissal claim can be an expensive mistake.

In summary

Employing a dedicated HR professional isn’t a luxury for SMEs, it’s essential. It’s common for entrepreneurs to start out their business wearing the HR hat but looking after HR and the complexities of employment law isn’t effective time management, and it’s costly for the business when something goes wrong.

Outsourcing your HR needs or hiring a part-time HR manager, lets business leaders concentrate on growing their business. Having someone to look after employee-related matters, from absence management through to parental leave policies and beyond, will keep your business compliant and your employees more engaged.

Looking for HR support? Visit our directory of accredited partners to find a qualified HR consultant.

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