For any organization, its most valuable resource is employees. Human resources department takes care of employees and manages them so that the company can run smoothly and efficiently. Amongst all the responsibilities that the HR department shoulders, the most important ones are hiring employees, their training, implementing legal issues regarding employees and nurturing healthy relationships.

If you think that you have great people skills and possess empathy, then HR career is certainly for you. In case you are considering HR certification online, you should know about the following functions to make an informed choice:

Recruitment

One of the most important duties that HR performs is the recruitment of new employees. The drive might start from searching for the scope of new positions within the organization to advertising, searching, interviewing and recruiting the right candidates who fulfil the criteria well and fit within the organization’s budget frame. In order to make the environment open for the new entrants, they develop employee handbooks to introduce company policies and conduct assessments to screen them for the level of training required. In fact, the success of HR persons is often determined by a number of recruitments completed and time taken for the process.

According to the India Skills Report 2018, the outlook for hiring is positive this year. It is expected that hiring will grow by 10-15% in 2018. Even globally, 61% of HR recruiters expect the hiring to increase this year. Given that more businesses are launching and expanding their reach, recruitment is going to be a very important function and can give a boost to your HR career.

Training and Developing Employees

Not just stopping at hiring, the HR department also takes care of training programs. They can conduct training for new as well as existing employees. Training new employees help them with smoother transitions into the new work culture.  As an HR professional, you can coordinate with other department managers to understand where training is needed. You would also be building training plans with external trainers who are mostly professionals in their own sectors. You can even work on professional development supporting employees who want to pursue higher education or certifications, for example, leadership certification for promoted managers.

Engagement and Retention

It is very common for employees to put up their resignation because they have found a job which offers them better prospects and salary. Losing an employee means that you have to start the recruitment process all over. It is not only a loss of productivity for the organization but also has huge cost implications. As an HR professional, you would design activities that will keep the employees engaged and motivated so that you can retain them.

Benefits for Employees

The onus of employee welfare sits completely with HR. Thus, you have to work on employee benefits like medical insurance, disability care and compensation, maternity and paternity benefits, work from home options and long-term leaves. HR also functions to inform employees about the benefits that they can or cannot avail.

Administration and Payroll

Right from handling payrolls to timely payments and compensations, the HR department fulfils responsibilities regarding various financial matters related to employees. There are various kinds of compensations that the employees need to be aware of. Various companies provide pension benefits, while many others have options for loans, disability benefits etc. The HR department also works out competitive pay and compensation structures to make their companies employee-friendly.

Enacting in Accordance with Labour Laws

Keeping employee welfare in mind, the HR personnel also takes charge of understanding and enforcing labour laws to promote fair and equal work opportunities to the company’s employees. Some of the aspects include working hour guidelines, safety, workstation and office infrastructure standards, wages and other benefits and handling sensitive issues like harassment, discrimination and malpractices. Efficient labour law enactment can improve an organizations reputation and productivity to a great extent. This is a very important HR function because it helps the organization to meet the stipulated labour laws set by the country in which the business is running operations.

Interpersonal Relations with Employees

In order to develop a cordial working environment, the human resources department takes care to build strong relationships with their employees. Various kinds of activities are conducted and employee participation is encouraged. The HR works as a channel between the management and employees. Thus, one of its main functions is to promote effective communication and transparency between the two. As a part of their duties, HR managers settle disputes within the company or with labour unions and vendors.

Depending on the individual company’s policy, the HR department controls some or all of these functions while other administrative tasks like payrolls may be outsourced too. It is quite satisfying as well as a challenging job, but HR positions are excellently paid in the industry. If you are interested in an HR job, you can consider HR certification online and learn about its functions in depth. You can complete it while doing your current job and go for higher career moves with a new certification.