Unit 4 - Managing Your Business
Learning Target 3: I can explain and describe staffing / HR decisons
Human Resource Management or often referred to as HR is the process of finding, developing and keeping the right people to form a qualified work force. HR is often times the most criticized department in organizations and viewed by employees as rule makers and vacation time trackers.
While this perception may persist in organizations it couldn't be farther from the truth. HR performs some the of the most difficult management tasks and possibly the most important. Jim Collins the author of the bestselling business book Good to Great made the claim that a business must make sure the right people are on the bus and wrong people are off the bus then and only then can you decide the direction of the bus and not the other way around. Take a look at how Wells Fargo used this concept in practice.
Getting the right people on the bus and wrong people off the bus is the role of HR. HR has to attract qualified employees by recruiting and selection. Next they have to develop qualified employees by offering training and performance appraisals. Finally, HR needs to keep qualified employees by offering competitive compensation and benefits. HR is also responsible to getting the wrong people off the bus or employee separation.
To say human resource management is a huge job is an understatement. As a business grows so does that role of human resources. Human resources preforms roles ranging from staffing to determining compensation and benefits to training and developing employees to complying with different laws and regulations such as safety and health laws as well as employment laws. Finally, human resource management makes sure there is a good working relationship between employees and their supervisors.
If we look at staffing, it is important to note that it is much more than just interviewing and hiring vacant positions. It starts with creating a job description that explains the responsibilities to determining the job specification where they list the skills needed. Once that is determined, the human resource department goes out and recruit applicants for the job or open position(s). They then conduct interviews and select the best candidate. Next they start the process of onboarding where they have them sign the appropriate paper work and send them to employee orientation. Orientation will vary from business to business but at the end of the day its goal is to make sure the employee understands their role and how to do their role. Another aspect of staffing involves when an employee leaves the company. When this happens, the human resources department conducts an exit interview to gain insight for why the employee is leaving and if they need to make any changes so more employees don’t follow the departing employee.
Watch this video to dig a little deeper into HR.
Make The Connection: Ask your parents about the HR department at their work. Ask them to tell you about their perception of HR as well as how do they attract qualified employees, develop qualified employees and keep qualified employees