Human resources purpose and role
In simple terms, an organization's human resource management strategy should maximize return on investment in the organization's human capital and minimize financial risk.
Human resource managers seek to achieve this by aligning the supply of skilled and qualified individuals and the capabilities of the current workforce, with the organization's ongoing and future business plans and requirements to maximize return on investment and secure future survival and success.
In ensuring such objectives are achieved, the human resource function is to implement an organization's human resource requirements effectively, taking into account federal, state and local labor laws and regulations; ethical business practices; and net cost, in a manner that maximizes, as far as possible, employee motivation, commitment and productivity.
Key functions
Human Resources may set strategies and develop policies, standards, systems, and processes that implement these strategies in a whole range of areas. The following are typical of a wide range of organizations:
- Maintaining awareness of and compliance with local, state and federal labor laws (Department of Labor federal labor law information)
- Recruitment, selection, and on boarding (resourcing)
- Employee recordkeeping and confidentiality
- Organizational design and development
- Business transformation and change management
- Performance, conduct and behavior management
- Industrial and employee relations
- Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data management
- Compensation and employee benefit management
- Training and development (learning management)
- Employee motivation and morale-building (employee retention and loyalty)
Implementation of such policies, processes or standards may be directly managed by the HR function itself, or the function may indirectly supervise the implementation of such activities by managers, other business functions or via third-party external partner organizations. Applicable legal issues, such as the potential for disparate treatment and disparate impact, are also extremely important to HR managers.
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