Building the best HR department

 

What Does HR Actually Do? 11 Key Responsibilities

Posted By: Lucidchart Content Team

HR might be the most confusing department in your whole organization—everyone knows they’re important, but very few employees know why. 

So what does HR do? 

There’s a massive difference between a healthy human resources department that contributes to the growth of the organization and a distant HR that exists somewhere near the basement archives and only pops up once a year for the company holiday party. 

Here’s an in-depth description of what the HR department does (or what they should be doing) to meet the needs of employees. To make sure your company has an exceptional HR department, see that it’s meeting these suggestions.

What is an HR department?

In simplest terms, the HR (Human Resources) department is a group who is responsible for managing the employee life cycle (i.e., recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and firing employees) and administering employee benefits.

What does human resources do?

Ask any employee what an HR department is, and you’ll get an answer that primarily deals with the most uncomfortable aspects of work: HR violations, layoffs, and firing. But the truth is that human resources is there to support employees. It’s quite literally a resource for humans. 

Here are some of the tasks your HR department is busy completing every day.

1. Recruit candidates

HR needs to understand the organization’s needs and make sure those needs are met when recruiting for new positions. It’s not as simple as just throwing an ad up on Indeed: you’ll need to analyze the market, consult stakeholders, and manage budgets. 

Then, once the role is advertised, more research needs to be done to make sure that the right candidates are being attracted and presented. Recruiting is a massive—and costly—undertaking; the right candidate can revitalize an entire organization, but the wrong candidate can upend operations.

Plan a more effective recruitment process with these 6 essential steps.

Learn how

2. Hire the right employees

Human resources is in charge of arranging interviews, coordinating hiring efforts, and onboarding new employees. They’re also in charge of making sure all paperwork involved with hiring someone is filled out and making sure that everything from the first day to each subsequent day is navigated successfully.

3. Process payroll

Payroll is its own beast. Every payday must have taxes calculated and hours collected. Expenses need to be reimbursed and raises and bonuses need to be added in as well. If you think it’s a chore doing taxes just once a year, imagine what it must be like to be in HR and make sure they’re properly deducted every pay period. 

4. Conduct disciplinary actions

This responsibility may be why HR tends to get a bad rap. When navigated inappropriately, disciplinary actions can lead to the loss of a valuable employee and can even result in litigation or a poor reputation. But when handled appropriately, disciplinary action can result in the success of an employee.

For instance, if a company notices that a particular employee is routinely late and continues being late even after the employee has received several warnings, HR could step in and investigate the reason for the tardiness. It may be an opportunity to extend benefits such as counseling to the employee or offer additional resources to help the employee learn to be on time. Instead of taking on the cost of firing and then recruiting a replacement for that employee, it could be a learning opportunity that could enhance that employee’s career.

On the other hand, sometimes disciplinary action isn’t the best course to take and an employee should be let go. The best human resources departments know when an employee isn’t the right fit for a company and would be happier somewhere else. Often, it’s in the employee’s best interest to be let go, as difficult as it seems in the moment. It’s up to HR to develop a strong enough relationship with managers and employees alike to identify the cohesiveness and health of a team.

The disciplinary process can be tough.
Learn how to give consistent warnings and feedback to improve performance.

Read more

5. Update policies

Policies need to be updated (or at least examined) every year as the organization changes. It’s HR’s job to make official updates to policies and to suggest changes to policies when they no longer serve the company or the employees. Sometimes a policy should be updated as a reaction to an occurrence. HR should always be included in and consulted with regarding these decisions.

6. Maintain employee records

Maintaining HR records is mandated by law. These records help employers identify skill gaps to help with the hiring process and to analyze demographic data and comply with regulations. They also contain personal details and emergency contacts for each employee. 

7. Conduct benefit analysis

Staying competitive is of prime importance when trying to attract the best talent. A promising recruit may choose a different company with lesser pay if the benefits are more attractive. HR should routinely investigate similar companies to see if their benefits are compatible. For instance, your organization may consider including pet insurance in its list of benefits (because let’s be real: pets can have a major effect on the happiness of your employees).

How does HR support employees?

Besides the seven examples above, which are mostly operational responsibilities, HR provides less quantitative functions: It exists to help employees thrive. 

After all, employees are the single biggest asset to any organization. It follows, then, that protecting their well-being is of utmost importance. Here are four ways HR helps support the emotional and career needs of employees:

1. Providing career growth

Stagnation is bad for business, and it’s smart to keep your best employees with the company. HR can provide career paths to help guide each employee to a long future within the company. HR can then check in periodically to further guide employees on their career paths. 

2. Offering continuing education

Sometimes the career growth mentioned above requires additional training. Your organization may provide educational assistance, and HR can help determine which classes and training programs would be best for an employee on his or her designated career path. HR can also work with managers to ensure that the employee’s work schedule is flexible enough to allow the employee to attend classes.

3. Training and supporting managers

Managers aren’t born. They’re created. HR can help provide management guidance to managers, making sure that department and teams are as healthy and functional as possible. This may include periodically sending managers to formal trainings and retreats.

4. Supporting health and wellness

It’s important to remember that employees are people. They’ll need help weathering mental illness, health issues, debt, pregnancies, adoption, and myriad other life occurrences. HR can help support employees through any of these and other circumstances.

When to contact human resources

An HR department that never interacts with employees isn’t doing its job. While you’re developing an onboarding procedure, educate new employees on when to reach out to HR and what resources HR has to offer. The HR department should regularly schedule one-on-one interviews with employees to check in on their career progression, comfort in their roles, and any other issues the employee may be having. 

Considering these responsibilities, employees should feel comfortable reaching out to their HR departments in these, and similar, situations:

• When you (or a co-worker) experience harassment or discrimination from your colleagues, including your manager
• When you have questions about benefits, including company-provided health insurance, or rights guaranteed by law
• When your personal circumstances change (e.g. having a child, needing to reduce your hours, needing accommodation for a disability)
• When you have questions about advancing at the company, including opportunities to shadow other employees or participate in additional training
• When you need an objective third-party to work through a work-related issue

Building the best HR department 

The human resources department heavily contributes to a company’s culture: If HR is toxic, employees will be discouraged and less likely to consult HR for help, either with career-related issues or personal ones. 

However, if HR genuinely cares about the well-being of employees, the culture will be one of openness and growth. Oh, and want to make your employees even happier? Offer pet insurance and 6-month maternity leave.

What are the core HR functions?

The core human resources functions cover all people-related worker activities, from the time employees are recruited and hired to the time they retire or leave the company. Here are the 10 core functions of HR:

1. Find and hire great employees.

Whether you do the hiring yourself or outsource recruiting to an executive staffing firm, HR's primary responsibility is to find the right people to sustain and grow your company. The tools of the trade include job boards and recruitment software that keep track of applicants, candidates you've interviewed, and people who have passed your screening criteria and background checks. [In need of recruiting software for your business? See our recommendations for the best recruiting software from our sister site Business News Daily.]

HR employees known as recruiters or talent managers identify your hiring needs, create the job descriptions, post the jobs and manage the candidates to ensure you hire the best talent for the job. You can also use staffing firms and executive search firms to help you find and recruit talent for your business.

2. Ensure fairness and compliance.

HR staffers are trained to comprehend and interpret federal, state and local labor laws. They serve as business advisors, providing details about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and anti-discrimination laws so that you can avoid expensive mistakes and fines.

Your HR team creates and maintains your employee handbook, ensures you have the correct labor law posters hung, updates your policies when laws change, provides onboarding to new hires to ensure they're aware of workplace requirements, and investigates claims of harassment, discrimination or company violations within your business.

3. Drive productivity and results.

Employees know when they're being discriminated against or treated unfairly, and that affects their productivity and loyalty and, in turn, your bottom line.

Conversely, employees know when they work for a company that treats people well. That's why HR leaders focus on helping workers understand the business's objectives and how employees' performance contributes to those goals. In that sense, HR serves as an advisor and coach to the business, determining what will help people do their best work.

4. Keep employees healthy and safe.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to keep employees safe and healthy at work. The rules vary according to the kind of firm. In an office, for instance, safety may include having personal protective equipment available for visitors, emergency exits labeled and a fire escape map posted. In a commercial kitchen, it may mean ensuring that employees are trained on how to use equipment safely and that underage workers aren't put in harm's way.

Once a company reaches 50 or more full-time staff, it's HR's role to ensure those employees have the employee health insurance benefits required by the ACA. They'll negotiate with benefits providers to help your business get the best health insurance rates. HR benefits experts understand the different types of resources, such as health savings accounts and employee assistance programs, that can work to keep your employees healthy, thereby lowering absenteeism.

5. Optimize the organizational structure.

HR supports your business in structuring the organization to improve efficiency and reduce noise and conflict. At a smaller firm, that may mean creating an organizational chart to show who reports to whom, as well as making a contact sheet so employees know whom to call for questions on things such as ordering office supplies or getting a copy of their paystub.

As a firm grows, it often needs to restructure jobs and create supervisor responsibilities. HR experts in organizational design can help determine what kinds of leaders and team structures are needed. They can assist in determining the best span of control (how many workers report to each manager) and clarify how much decision-making authority rests at each level of the organization.

6. Coach, train and develop staff.

HR professionals focus on people, so they are well versed in psychology, communications, body language and leadership. They're often called on to provide training and coaching. At a smaller business, that probably includes welcoming new hires on their first day and getting them set up in their workspace.

At a bigger firm, the HR team may teach employees about software, business practices and company culture. Larger corporations hire teams of people to manage employee development, provide one-on-one coaching, train managers on leadership skills, and help employees embrace new products, software upgrades, policy changes and more.

7. Promote best practices.

A core role of HR is to be the voice of what workers need as humans (fairness, connectedness, and communication) and what they need as workers (tools, processes and software). For example, HR managers help remote teams find and use tools that keep them productive on the job, such as Zoom and Slack.

It's often an HR staffer who updates the desk manual, maintains standard operating procedures and ensures that forms used by the business – such as job application forms, direct deposit forms, requests for time off and employee personnel folder documents – are up-to-date.

HR teams also bring tools (such as personality assessments) that can improve team communication, presentation decks to promote company values, and internal employee communication platforms to keep workers aligned with business goals.

8. Engage and motivate employees.

An HR team also understands employee motivation and can coach managers on a variety of activities, such as how to interview without bias, motivate low-performing employees and reduce interpersonal conflicts on the team. They're sometimes the event planners, too.

It's HR's job to stay up-to-date on more than just labor law. The human resources team embraces and drives best practices such as ensuring diversity and inclusion, managing remote work teams and providing effective peer feedback. HR experts understand how crucial it is to listen as part of engaging employees and helping them work through on-the-job issues.

9. Innovate and manage change.

At a small business, the business owner is usually the driver of change and innovation. However, once you hire more than a handful of employees, you'll need someone with excellent communication, people skills, project management and change management expertise to get your team to buy into your new business idea, product offerings, software solution or executive team.

The HR person or department can help you identify the impacts of these changes on people and build a plan to mitigate the risks inherent in rapid growth or other business changes, like a merger or acquisition. HR helps you strategize the best approach and bring tools from multiple disciplines (training, compensation, organizational design) to ensure your changes stick.

10. Minimize annoying paperwork.

This core HR function is listed last because it's the bane of HR. States require you to report new hires. The federal government requires year-end paperwork, OSHA requires reports, and employees need paystubs and benefits forms. And that's not all; job applications, garnishments, and requests for family medical leave are a paperwork nightmare. It's HR's job to minimize the paperwork by streamlining the business processes required when you have workers (contract or employees) on staff.

HR experts can help you choose the best systems and processes to manage all of the administration, forms, filings and mandatory paperwork required of employers. At a smaller business, they may be the keepers of the forms, timelines and reports. At a larger firm, HR experts may help you find and implement technology solutions, ranging from a simple project management board to track new-hire onboarding to a full-blown human resource management system that manages electronic document storage, benefits enrollment and payroll self-service for your team.

Should you do HR yourself?

The decision to handle HR yourself, hire someone on your team to manage HR or outsource your people operations to an external HR expert depends on the business's size, industry, budget and structure. Here are some examples of how different business types might handle HR:

• Mom-and-pop businesses. A retail or service company managed and staffed by family members may not require a full-time HR manager. The business owner or spouse can often hire new employees on Indeed or similar job boards and pay them using online payroll software.

• Tech A small firm wanting to attract and retain highly educated or technical staff may prefer to partner with an external HR consulting firm for specific HR activities, such as recruiting and leadership coaching, as well as to ensure that compensation and benefits are competitive.

• Manufacturing company. A midsize company in a regulated environment may need HR support for more than hiring; for example, they may need help with OSHA compliance and workers' compensation. Or, they may need an HR resource to set up and manage HR policies, processes and software for scheduling, timekeeping and overtime calculations.
  
  
• Growing businesses. Any company with over 15 employees needs HR support to ensure federal labor law compliance. Firms with over 50 employees must offer health insurance as well, and this requirement often necessitates outside benefits expertise to set up and manage enrollment.
  
  
• Larger or multistate firms. Any company that has 50 or more employees or hires workers across multiple states likely needs the support of a full-time HR manager or external HR service provider to navigate the myriad labor laws affecting larger, multistate employers, as many requirements vary by locale.

What Does an HR Manager Do? 7 Functions of the Human Resources Department

Human resources departments are often considered an essential part of many organizations. They are present in numerous industries, and take on many different functions in their day-to-day responsibilities.

HR departments act as a liaison between employers and employees to help ensure both are well equipped to do their jobs safely and effectively. While some organizations have their own in-house HR department, others may use an outside firm. In either capacity, HR managers help maintain the structural and organizational integrity of the workplace. While HR may sometimes be regarded as the disciplinary arm of a company, in reality, HR holds many supportive responsibilities like the ones we’ll discuss on this page. From making sure employees are paid and receive benefits to overseeing employee development, HR departments and managers aim to create workplaces where both employers and employees can thrive External link . On this page, you’ll find the main functions of an HR department, and what each entails:

• Recruitment and Hiring
• Training and Development
• Employer-Employee Relations
• Maintain Company Culture
• Manage Employee Benefits
• Create a Safe Work Environment
• Handle Disciplinary Actions

Recruitment and Hiring

For many organizations, attracting and retaining the best talent in the industry is a priority. HR managers play an important role in this, helping to build the future of the company by overseeing the recruitment and hiring process. To begin, HR may work with a department manager or supervisor to learn about an open position, including its requirements and ideal candidate qualities. The HR department may then set forth a recruiting strategy. This might include creating internal and external job postings, screening incoming applicants’ resumes and other application materials, and conducting initial interviews. HR may also be responsible for professional reference checks and background checks to verify that candidates are eligible to work for the company.

Training and Development

Hiring qualified employees is just one aspect of an HR department’s job. In order to retain talent and remain competitive, HR managers may also be responsible for launching employee development initiatives. This could entail additional on-the-job training, professional development programs, or educational opportunities that allow employees to grow and develop in their current roles—or prepare them for career advancement within the organization. HR departments know that investing in training and development benefits both employers and employees External link . For employers, it may mean higher employee productivity, and lower turnover rates. For employees, seeing the company invest in their development may help them feel more valued, increase job satisfaction, and incentivize them to stay with the company.

Employer-Employee Relations

Another aspect of the workplace that HR departments manage is employer-employee relationships. With this function, HR departments strive to help employers and employees see each other as mutual contributors to the company, fostering a positive dynamic between the two. HR managers may also help craft and determine company policies that ensure fairness and equity in the workplace.

When an employee has a workplace grievance—whether regarding compensation, benefits, workloads, work hours, or anything else—HR may step in to act as a liaison between the employee and employer, helping to settle any disagreements. Overall, when HR departments succeed in creating positive employee relations, employers may trust their employees and value their input more, and on the flip side, employees may respect and appreciate their employers more.

Maintain Company Culture

Elements of company culture may include sound hiring practices, ongoing development, and strong employee relations. However, it’s not necessarily something you can achieve and move on from. HR departments engage in ongoing work to ensure that their company culture remains solid overtime.

In the employee onboarding process, HR managers may share the company’s values, norms, and vision with employees—familiarizing them with the overall ethos of the organization. Team outings, community building, and any reward systems or recognition programs are additional ways HR departments might keep employee motivation and morale high. Maintaining company culture also means being equipped to identify any shortcomings within the organization and having the ability to address them effectively.

Manage Employee Benefits

On the administrative side, HR departments oversee both mandated and voluntary company benefits. While employers are required to provide some benefits like Social Security, unemployment, and worker’s compensation, other benefits like paid time off, disability income, and gym reimbursements, are provided on a voluntary basis—and serve as additional incentive for potential and current employees to work at the company.

Of course, employee benefit programs vary by organization. Some may offer employer matching programs (in which employers match an employee’s contribution to their retirement fund), while others may offer enticing comprehensive health insurance plans. Regardless of the specific benefits an employer may offer, managing all of these components is a complex job. It requires HR managers to be well-versed in their understanding of company benefit programs External link  and have the ability to clearly explain and answer any questions employees may have regarding their policies.

Create a Safe Work Environment

In addition to managing benefits, HR is responsible for protecting employees’ safety at work—both physical and emotional. In the physical sense, HR must ensure the workplace is free of danger External link , typically through worksite analysis and hazard prevention and control. HR may also establish safety programs through risk management training and provide information on procedures and protocol for any potential emergency scenarios.

Workplace safety also entails ensuring that the organization acts in accordance with federal and state employment rules and regulations. HR departments have a responsibility to maintain work environments that promote respect and dignity for all employees. They must also ensure that employees are protected from behaviors like harassment, discrimination, intimidation, and exploitation. They may provide training sessions for employees, managers, and supervisors to learn to identify harmful practices and know how to report them when needed.

Handle Disciplinary Actions

Disciplinary procedures and terminations are delicate and sometimes complicated matters. HR managers must know how to handle them fairly and consistently to keep situations running smoothly External link —and prevent any additional conflict or escalation. This may involve having a clear disciplinary process, whether that includes starting with a written warning and increasing in severity with suspensions or demotions—or following another proven system. Regardless of the specifics, HR managers must have a set system in place to hold employees accountable.

Additionally, HR may consult with legal counsel to ensure the company acts in accordance with the law, avoiding any mishandled situations and subsequent lawsuits. At the end of the day, HR departments have a responsibility to enforce an organization’s policies and the requirements of the law, while still maintaining the dignity and humanity of its employees.

Human Resources (HR). Every company has an HR team, department, or designated individual, but what does it actually do?

When people think of HR, they probably think of huge businesses with massive teams of individuals who are tasked with keeping a watchful eye over employees, ready to strike in case somebody makes a mistake or steps out of line. This is far from the case, however.

Also, many people don’t think about HR in the context of smaller businesses. After all, why would a small business with only a few employees need a dedicated HR team or designated HR professional?

While the role and functions of HR may differ between organizations, it always plays an important part in their day-to-day operations. Although each HR team is different from the next, one thing is for sure—its job isn’t to make the office “lame”, despite what Michael Scott may have said in The Office.

Key Human Resources (HR) Functions

According to John Storey, the writer of Human Resources Management, A Critical Text, HR is a distinctive approach to employee management. It seeks to achieve a competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural, and personnel techniques.

Let’s break that down into five of the most important HR functions and how they help to keep an organization moving forward.

1. Human Resource & Workforce Planning

The number one HR task is all about knowing and preparing for the future needs of the organization. They need to be able to confidently answer questions like:

• What kind of people will the organization need in the future?
• What talent will the organization benefit most from?
• What is staff turnover like and how many people are likely to be needed?

Knowing this helps HR staff shape recruitment, talent acquisition and selection, performance management, learning and development, and all other critical HR functions. Human resources teams use a variety of tools—an example of one being org chart software—to help them visualize human capital and anticipate changes.

2. Employee Recruitment & Onboarding

When talent gaps are noticed and/or staff begin to leave the organization, it is down to HR teams to attract new people to work for the organization and select the very best candidates.

Attracting the right people involves an element of ‘branding’. An organization needs to look like an attractive place to work, particularly if the organization operates within an industry with an inherently bad reputation. With a strong employer brand and the right sourcing strategies, HR teams attract the most suitable candidates for the job. It is then a case of sifting and sorting through these candidates to settle on one who will take on the job.

It doesn’t stop there, though. It is often down to HR teams to onboard new employees, introduce them to the organization, and ensure they know who’s who. Again, this is something that org chart tools work wonders for!

3. Performance Monitoring & Management

Monitoring and managing performance are essential in ensuring that an organization’s employees stay productive, engaged, and on target. Good performance management isn’t just about closely watching employees, though. It is just as much about good leadership, clear goal setting, and being receptive to feedback and criticism.

HR teams conduct performance management through various ways and means, the most popular of which is the periodic performance review where employees are reviewed by their line managers.

4. Learning & Development

HR teams enable employees to develop the skills and competencies that they not only need for their job roles but their futures, too. This is an essential responsibility and is somewhat related to the first HR function we listed. By facilitating learning and development, HR bridges the gap between today and tomorrow’s workforce.

To visualize skills gaps and potential candidates for further development, HR teams need to be able to easily develop and access a top-down view of the organization. This can be achieved through the use of org charts that map out a firm’s human capital and what each individual employee’s skills are and where further training could be delivered.

5. Rewarding Employees

Rewarding employees for their hard work and dedication is something that can never be missed. If HR teams fail to recognize and show appreciation to employee achievements, this can have devastating effects.

Rewards often include the obvious—salary increases and bonuses—but can also be extended to be far more than financial. For example, career opportunities, growth opportunities, feedback, autonomy, simple recognition, and extra time off or holiday, etcetera, are all rewards that employees will value.

More specifically, HR can help deliver organizational excellence in the following four ways:

• First, HR should become a partner with senior and line managers in strategy execution, helping to move planning from the conference room to the marketplace.

• Second, it should become an expert in the way work is organized and executed, delivering administrative efficiency to ensure that costs are reduced while quality is maintained.

• Third, it should become a champion for employees, vigorously representing their concerns to senior management and at the same time working to increase employee contribution; that is, employees’ commitment to the organization and their ability to deliver results.

• And finally, HR should become an agent of continuous transformation, shaping processes and a culture that together improve an organization’s capacity for change.