What Exactly Does a Human Resources person do?
Believe it or not a human resources professional can make or break a business. Sound intriguing? Keep reading and you’ll see how a career in human resources can have a huge impact on a business.
The main component of any business is there human resources department. Human resources staff are responsible for going out and finding the best possible workers, doing the background checks on potential employees, putting applicants through the interview process and hiring employees. The goal is to hire the best employees giving that business an edge over the competition.
Going through the entire hiring process is not cheap and it is a long process. HR professionals are also tasked with keeping the current employees that are good at their jobs.
What are some tasks you will do in human resources?
The human resource department is a fast-paced environment. There are many daily tasks that must be completed as an HR professional, for example:
- Weed through applications to determine which ones are qualified, for any given position
- Run orientation for new employees, including training
- Maintain both employee and employment records
- Provide opportunities for career development
- Conduct background checks
- Deal with issues among employees and/or employers and facilitate procedures for discipline
- Exit interviews
Human Resources is also responsible for compensation, meaning cutting the checks and making sure employees are getting paid properly. Along with compensation comes benefits that human resources negotiates with outside companies to get the best possible benefits for their employees. This can be a difficult task because it means keeping the best interest of the company in mind along with making sure employees are being treated fairly.
How to determine what type of company you should work for as an HR professional
There are big companies and small companies to choose from, when deciding what type of company to work for. The bigger companies are going to have several HR professionals, because there is a lot more to take care of as there are more employees. That usually means that within the HR department there are specialized positions. For example, there might be one person solely in charge of running interviews and hiring employees. Then there might be a second person in charge of handling employee benefits. If you prefer to work in one type of area than a larger company might be good for you.
In a smaller company there will only be one or two employees in the HR department. Those couple of employees will be responsible for several areas within that department. For example one person might be in charge of interviewing, hiring and training. While another person might be in charge of cutting the paychecks, handling the benefits and anything else that comes up. If you like juggling several pieces of a puzzle than a smaller company might be for you.
Along with deciding whether to work for a larger or smaller company you must also decide about diversity. Every company has its own type of diverse population within its employees. It’s important that you investigate and research companies they are interested in to see if you will fit in with that company’s diversity. It is important as part of the HR team to make sure that as you hire you keep diversity in mind. It’s just makes good business sense to have a diverse workforce.
Still interested? Here is a list of skills you will need…
To be a good human resources professional you will need excellent interpersonal skills, a strong service ethic and an eye for detail. You may also need to be familiar with retirement benefits 401(k)s, depending on the type of position you end up with.
Other skill sets you will need include being a problem solver, having empathy, being extremely organized, a critical thinker, the desire to work with the team, be able to pay special attention to details, have clerical skills and the ability to juggle several different tasks at once.
If after reading this article this type of work sounds interesting you may want to consider becoming a Human Resources Professional.
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