The Importance of HR Management
Reviewed by Jacob Imm
Jun 04, 2021
Why Human Resource Management Is Important
Employees are the foundation of every successful business. This is why human resource (HR) management is so important.
The HR department performs a wide variety of duties and is responsible for helping employees feel safe, valued and properly supported. Exceptional human resource management ensures that the HR department runs smoothly and continues to evolve over time.
If this sounds interesting to you and you’re curious about a career inhuman resource management, read on to learn why it’s so valuable in the professional world.
What is Human Resource Management?
The simplest human resource description would be to say it’s the department of a company or organization that handles the relationship between employees and leadership.
Human resource management (HRM) is the sector of HR that oversees these departments.
HR covers a number of positions, responsibilities, and aspects of company efficiency and staff well-being—and each area of human resources requires strong leadership from an experienced manager.
Some of the most important responsibilities within the HRM department include:
Hiring and Training New Employees
An HR professional holding a management position is often in charge of recruiting, hiring, and training new employees. This means the HR team is responsible for finding candidates who meet the necessary qualifications for specified positions and fully vetting a company’s hires.
Human resource managers are also expected to embrace and promote diversity among staff, orient team members to their new work environment, and ensure healthy interactions between employees and organizational leadership.
But what does a human resource manager do exactly when it comes to hiring and training? Some of the most common tasks for this type of HR manager may include:
- Conducting interviews and reading resumes
- Performing background checks on applicants
- Overseeing or leading training procedures
- Implementing new training techniques
- Writing job descriptions, posting job listings, and recruiting potential candidates
- Making a good impression on behalf of the company (HR is usually the first department candidates will meet)
The bottom line –An HR professional is often the face of the company for potential new employees. Recruitment, hiring, and training policies are supervised and improved upon with the help of HR managers.
Keeping Employees Safe and Happy
A human resource department is also in charge of keeping employees safe, healthy, and satisfied. With proper HR management, workplace policies keep up with necessary protective measures and implementation and provide solutions to issues between team members, avoiding risk for the company and its employees.
Daily duties for an HR manager who specializes in employee relations may include:
- Creating workplace safety policies
- Ensuring the organization follows federal and state occupational laws
- Addressing employee concerns and complaints
- Preventing and dismantling harassment or discrimination in the workplace
- Managing employee relationships
- Facilitating communication between leadership and employees
The bottom line – HR managers are in charge of many duties, but employee well-being should always remain a top priority. As a human resource manager, you’ll spend a lot of time speaking to employees, listening to concerns, and managing workplace relationships. The main goal of a successful, strategic HRM should be to ensure the staff feels safe, respected, and heard at all times.
Managing Company Risk
The HR department works with organizational leadership to help manage risk and compliance. Human resource managers should be well-versed in business law, ethics, statistics, and problem-solving in order to help manage their company’s risk.
As an HR manager, you may be put in charge of the following risk management responsibilities:
- Analyzing statistical risk using company data
- Addressing and preventing potential lawsuits
- Supervising firing practices
- Properly training other managers
- Implementing diversity and Title IX training
- Protecting the organization's data and upholding privacy for sensitive information
- Vetting new hires and improving hiring procedures
The bottom line – Human resource management is intended to protect the company and its employees. As a risk management specialist, you’ll help manage your company’s risk in a manner that involves statistical analysis, knowledge of business law, and overall improvement of company policies and practices.
Paying Employees and Negotiating Benefits
Even employees who love their jobs wouldn’t do them if they weren't getting paid. One of HR’s primary roles is managing payment and benefits for an organization’s staff. Proper management of compensation, time off, and insurance is what keeps employee satisfaction high.
As a human resource manager, you’ll be in charge of distributing, communicating, and improving compensation and benefits packages. Responsibilities within this department may include:
- Negotiating insurance packages with vendors
- Communicating benefits to new hires
- Keeping track of payroll
- Organizing employee paperwork (for payment and taxes)
- Creating 401k and pension plans
- Managing vacation time, paid time off, and sick days
- Sorting out raises and bonuses for staff
This is perhaps one of the most vital parts of HR management, since many candidates choose their place of employment based on salary and benefits. As a manager, you’ll have the opportunity to develop these packages and improve employee benefits as the company grows.
The bottom line – Human resource managers are often put in charge of employee compensation and benefits. Proper leadership within the HR department will involve negotiating insurance plans, making sure payments go out on time, and improving and developing employee benefits packages.
Why Human Resource Management is a Growing Industry
HR management is not what it used to be. Technology, workplace policies, and a changing market are some of the biggest factors influencing the growth and evolution of human resources. Some examples of these new and improved practices include:
- Modern ways of recruiting – HR uses tools such as online job boards and social media to make recruiting faster, more efficient, and better at reaching diverse candidates. Human resource managers will need to learn how these programs and websites work in order to be successful recruiters in today’s environment.
- Inclusive practices – Many companies, with the help of their HR departments, have placed a stronger emphasis on the value of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace which helps to create a safer and more inclusive work environment for employees, along with better hiring, training and reporting practices.
- New forms of training – Training has become more reliant on technology, which makes staying up-to-date vital for HR management. Advancements in this field include digital training modules and streamlined communication through online messaging. Many employees can even be trained from the comfort of their homes with remote work becoming increasingly popular.
- Growing industries – The digital business realm keeps growing, and companies are quickly gaining traction and expanding their staff. These developments are leading to larger human resource departments for industries that used to be small. As time goes on, you may begin to see high demand for HRM positions that have never existed before.
- Social media – Online presence and digital marketing are becoming increasingly important to companies’ reputation and image. Some HR departments are branching out into social media management, thus creating an entirely new sector of the field.
The bottom line – As the professional world changes, it’s crucial that human resource managers stay current and keep up. Technological advancements and streamlinedstaffing practices will play a crucial role in the HR field as time goes on.
The Importance of HR Management
Now that you’re familiar with the details of HR management, let’s get back to the big question: Why is human resource management important?
HR is a key aspect of any organization—from improving employee well-being to risk management. Without proper management, this complex field of work would lack structure and struggle to evolve over time. Having a strong HR department backed by solid leadership is one of the best ways for a company to ensure employee satisfaction, productivity, and future growth.
A satisfied staff is the foundation of a thriving company, and HR management is the cement that holds it together. It’s why every company needs an experienced,empathetic manager to lead their human resources department.
Start Your HR Management Career
HR management is crucial to any company, and the skills needed to reach this position are equally valuable. The first steps to any successful career in human resource management Are finding the right school and earning the right degree.
What degree is needed to be a human resource manager? In most cases, companies will be looking for at least a bachelor’s degree. For higher level positions, a master’s may be required. So if you’re going into this field, look for a school like North Central College, where students gain a full understanding of HRM, including the business and leadership skills needed to run an HR department. Through North Central’s in-depth human resource management program taught by dedicated, experienced faculty, you’ll earn the degree you need and graduate fully prepared to begin working in the field.
Start your journey to a career in human resource management today by learning more about the human resource program at North Central College.
Jacob Imm is a communications specialist in the North Central College Office of Marketing and Communications. He has 10 years of collegiate communications experience and has worked with hundreds of college students. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University.
Sources:
Brenner, L. (2016, July 14). Role of Human Resource Managers. Woman - The Nest. https://woman.thenest.com/role-human-resource-managers-1940.html
Watkins, H. (2020, April 7). The Complete Guide to HR Risk Management Every Manager Needs. Solvo Global. https://solvoglobal.com/hr-risk-management/
Five Ways the Field of Human Resources is Changing - Best Value Schools. (2021, March 24). BestValueSchools. https://www.bestvalueschools.com/lists/five-ways-the-field-of-human-resources-is-changing/