What does HR do? If you listen to office-based sitcoms or the complaints of many a lawsuit, nothing. However, this much-maligned office does critically important work for your business.
Do you remain unconvinced? We’ve got a more detailed list of their duties below!
Finding New Staff
The HR manager of a company can conduct recruiting processes themselves. However, they more often work with a third party company to find new staff members. They’re also critical in conducting interviews for potential new hires.
They’ll conduct background checks and contact references to ensure all new hires are up to par. They’ll also double-check with the company’s needs to ensure each hire fills their required skill gaps.
Welcoming the New Team
Did you think HR’s duties ended upon hire? Not a chance! These professionals often coordinate with other departments to create onboarding and orientation paperwork.
Making your new employees feel welcome and well-trained is the job of any seasoned HR professional.
Handling Pay and Benefits
The HR department also encompasses payroll and other employee money-related offices. Unsure what a paycheck stub is for? Your local friendly HR professional could answer that question for you.
If an HR department also houses the payroll department, they’ll keep records of employee hours, wages, and tax data. They’ll also verify which employees have benefits, and what their benefits packages are, whether that’s through an in-house provider or a third party.
Wrangling Human Relations
Did you forget that HR stands for “human relations” or “human resources”? Don’t worry. Everyone else did, too.
If your employees have issues with one another, HR takes care of that. Whether the issues are due to interpersonal interactions, sexual harassment, discrimination, or other causes, they’ll try to handle it before lawyers get involved.
HR departments will often hold training on sensitivity in the workplace and other delicate matters in an attempt to stop such issues before they begin.
Doling Out Discipline
If you have a problem employee and don’t want to deal with them yourself, having an HR person on staff is a godsend. HR departments frequently, as part of their job duties, mete out discipline to employees who don’t comply with company regulations.
This can be something as simple as an official warning for tardiness or absenteeism, or something as complicated as punishment for discriminatory language and behavior. The limits of HR’s disciplinary power reside only with upper management.
So, What Does HR Do?
As explained above, a little bit of everything! From finding and welcoming new staff to handling payroll to acting as a mediator between staff members or staff and management, this department does it all.
The better question, all told, is, “What doesn’t HR do? instead of “what does HR do?” And why don’t they get the respect they deserve?”
Sadly, the second question may never have an appropriate answer.
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