Human resource personnel provide the occupational framework on which corporate executives base their long-term strategic vision. In the corporate setting, HR employees assist top leaders in various functions, including training and development, work evaluation and employee promotion. Personnel resource management opens lines of communications among top leadership, department heads and employees.
Occupational Health
Occupational health is the product of workplace safety, employee security and public health initiatives. HR personnel work in tandem with various corporate departments to ensure that employees work in a safe and secure environment. Consequently, HR managers leave no stone unturned when analyzing safety needs and establishing medical compliance procedures.
Training and Development
HR managers combine effective communication skills and social perceptiveness to determine the needs of all employees, including personnel upward in the hierarchy. Being socially perceptive means being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. HR department heads work with internal and external training providers to satisfy employees' intellectual and professional curiosity. Training and development activities help improve personnel's productivity, which in turns increases a company's bottom line.
Hiring and Termination
In the modern-day business environment, HR personnel are the go-to people when it comes to hiring and termination decisions. They use effective communication skills to welcome new employees and tactfully help segment chiefs make termination decisions. Severing ties with employees is often a difficult task, especially when it relates to corporate downsizing activities resulting from a bad economy. During hiring, HR personnel familiarize new employees with a company's culture, occupational benefits and compliance requirements. At employment termination, the HR department generally ensures that employee departures do not cause operating losses that may result from lawsuits.
Performance Appraisal
HR personnel closely monitor performance appraisal procedures to ensure employees receive a fair, focused evaluation of their work. This thorough scrutiny is cardinal because performance reviews set the stage for long-term corporate operating success, setting productive employees apart from workers with developmental needs. HR managers assist department heads and segment chiefs in evaluation processes, drawing up adequate procedures and facilitating meetings between supervisors and subordinates.
Regulatory Compliance
HR department heads focus on regulatory compliance policies because nonconformity generally causes companies to incur losses. Government agencies may levy hefty fines or nonmonetary penalties (temporary suspensions, for example) if a company does not run law-abiding operations. The most important regulations that HR managers keep a close eye on include U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines, Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and Department of Health and Human Services directives.
Employee and Labor Relations
HR personnel work in partnership with employee groups, such as unions, to ensure on-the-job non-work-related activities do not cause operating disruptions. Specifically, HR managers discuss with union leaders policies and procedures union members must follow.
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