Welcome to the department of Human Resources and Skills Development
Human Resources (HR) serves as a partner to departments within the organization to provide advice, support, and recommendations to effectively utilize and manage the City's most valuable asset - its people! Our strategic role is to provide an avenue by which managers can attract and retain quality employees. This includes compensation and classification, benefits administration, employee wellness, recruiting and retention, training and development, and recommending short-term and long-term human resource management.
Human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector or an economy. "Human capital" is sometimes used synonymously with human resources, although human capital typically refers to a more narrow view; i.e., the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization. Likewise, other terms sometimes used include "manpower", "talent", "labor" or simply "people".
The division of a company that is focused on activities relating to employees. These activities normally include recruiting and hiring of new employees, orientation and training of current employees, employee benefits, and retention. Formerly called personnel.
Human Resources Explained
What is HR?
The kind of one liner explanation or definition of HR that you’re likely to encounter is something like this “Human Resources is an umbrella term for a collection of functions that assist an organisation deliver value through its employees, contractors and agency staff”. However the way I view and define Human Resources is as a lifecycle – I recall quite vividly presenting ‘what is HR’ as a lifecycle (actually of a butterfly) to a group of quite senior colleagues at the time, and receiving some confused looked. However, stay with me on this one, and just like that group of colleagues, I promise you’ll walk away with a functional and useful understanding of what Human Resources is about.
The approach I’ve taken in explaining what HR does, is to follow an employee through being attracted to a role/organisation, day one on the job, their day to day interactions with HR, and then finally leaving the organisation. In other articles I focus more on the HR side, however in this explanation I’ve looked at HR through the eyes of the employee.
Attracting new employees
As a potential employee, we start off by looking for an organisation that not only meets our financial needs, but also our intellectual and social needs, and aligns with our values. Organisations are aware of this, and indeed they want to find employees who share or align with their own organisational values etc. The role that HR has in this space is the delivery of something called an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). The EVP sets out what the organisation is happy to make available to you, it comprises both the remuneration (salary, wages) that you will receive, and the benefits, that you can access as an employee.
As a potential employee, we start off by looking for an organisation that not only meets our financial needs, but also our intellectual and social needs, and aligns with our values. Organisations are aware of this, and indeed they want to find employees who share or align with their own organisational values etc. The role that HR has in this space is the delivery of something called an Employee Value Proposition (EVP). The EVP sets out what the organisation is happy to make available to you, it comprises both the remuneration (salary, wages) that you will receive, and the benefits, that you can access as an employee.
In creating/supplementing the EVP, the HR function will come up with a list of benefits, which align with the wider values of the organisation. They then whittle those down to ones that are both affordable and would be seen as attractive to the largest proportion of the workforce the organisation wants to attract. Some examples of aspects of these EVP benefits that I’ve encountered include funds for training that each employee can apply for, maternity or paternity leave over and above the legislative minimum, availability of funding for conference attendance, discounts on the products of the employer, security guard escorts to your car or train station after hours.
The EVP is a very powerful tool that HR holds to attract employees. One organisation I worked with provided a security guard escorts to your car or train station after hours, I am never going to use this benefit – I typically work during daylight hours. However, I am interested in working for organisations which care about the safety of their employees. When this came up in conversation with this employer, it gave me insight into their culture, which resonated with my own values and wants from an employer.
So HR has a tool through the EVP to attract applicants, HR also has duties within the recruitment and selection space. The recruitment function will either sit within the HR team, or HR will manage the relationship between the organisation and the external recruitment firm it has engaged. Often it’s a combination of both, some easy to fill roles will be recruited by HR, while specialist or very senior roles will be handled by an external recruitment firm. When HR is doing the recruiting they will support the hiring manager in composing the job advertisement, and also assist in determining which channels they will use to advertise the role (local or national newspaper, job sites, social media, specialist journals etc). The applications received typically go through to the hiring manager to vet, sometimes HR will also assist on this aspect if they’re asked to. Once at the selection phase it really depends on the organisation the role that HR has to play. Sometimes HR will offer interview training for managers, sometimes someone from HR will sit in on the interview, other times it can be left completely with the hiring manager. Once the hiring decision is made, HR will typically have a part to play on the administration side, they’ll send out the contract, they’ll receive the signed contract back, and have the new employee setup in the payroll system. The issuing of security cards and/or IT access isn’t done within HR, however by HR entering the details of the new employee into the payroll system, it triggers these other aspects to happen.
Sometimes potential employees will ask for a higher salary. The role that HR plays in this is typically about providing guidance to the hiring manager. HR might provide a salary range that the manager can offer, or they might ask the manager to justify why they want to offer this candidate a higher amount. In these cases HR and the hiring manager will have a conversation about the best way forward, and one that takes internal equity and performance expectations into account.
Day one for the new employee
Most of us will recall the orientation that as new employees we went through, the orientation is created and run by your Human Resources team. They will take their cues from senior management (the Board and CEO), and will assemble a presentation or plan which is designed to get new employees up to speed as quickly as possible. Often times the orientation will place more focus on the culture and expectations of your employer, and much less on the technical side of your employment. For example it might include a section on the history of the organisation, an executive may deliver a 15 minute presentation on the organisation or their section in the organisation, or it may include a visit to one of the coal face areas of the business (a plant, retail store, depot, or call centre etc).
Most of us will recall the orientation that as new employees we went through, the orientation is created and run by your Human Resources team. They will take their cues from senior management (the Board and CEO), and will assemble a presentation or plan which is designed to get new employees up to speed as quickly as possible. Often times the orientation will place more focus on the culture and expectations of your employer, and much less on the technical side of your employment. For example it might include a section on the history of the organisation, an executive may deliver a 15 minute presentation on the organisation or their section in the organisation, or it may include a visit to one of the coal face areas of the business (a plant, retail store, depot, or call centre etc).
The day to day life of an employee
The vast majority of employees have very little if any face to face interaction with HR, potentially only seeing an HR Practitioner during a presentation or other such group event. What employees will do however is interact with the policies and procedures that HR have ownership over. If you’re ever applied for any type of leave, or some training, filled out a timesheet, quit a job, filled out an engagement survey, received a pay increase, or been fired, then you’re interacted with an policy or procedure that HR owns and maintains. Where HR Practitioners do spend a lot of face to face time with employees and their managers is around managing poor performance and change management. In the case of a poor performing employee, HR will discuss the issues with the manager and come up with a plan, they’ll often be in the meetings with the poor performing employee, and will monitor the progress of the employee until they either perform well or are exited from the organisation. The other area where HR Practitioners spend quite a bit of face to face time is around change, this might be restructuring an area, outsourcing a function, redundancy situations. Change is often upsetting, so the role of HR is to address questions and ensure that as little disruption as possible is experienced by the business and the employees.
The vast majority of employees have very little if any face to face interaction with HR, potentially only seeing an HR Practitioner during a presentation or other such group event. What employees will do however is interact with the policies and procedures that HR have ownership over. If you’re ever applied for any type of leave, or some training, filled out a timesheet, quit a job, filled out an engagement survey, received a pay increase, or been fired, then you’re interacted with an policy or procedure that HR owns and maintains. Where HR Practitioners do spend a lot of face to face time with employees and their managers is around managing poor performance and change management. In the case of a poor performing employee, HR will discuss the issues with the manager and come up with a plan, they’ll often be in the meetings with the poor performing employee, and will monitor the progress of the employee until they either perform well or are exited from the organisation. The other area where HR Practitioners spend quite a bit of face to face time is around change, this might be restructuring an area, outsourcing a function, redundancy situations. Change is often upsetting, so the role of HR is to address questions and ensure that as little disruption as possible is experienced by the business and the employees.
Leaving the organisation
In most cases when an employee leaves the organisation, the only interaction they will have with HR is answer an exit survey. On the very rare occasion, HR might be engaged by the manager of the exiting employee to come up with a counter offer to retain the employee. I’ve been on the sidelines of a couple of counter offer situations through my roles in remuneration. They are rare in part because most of us are fairly easy to replace, and secondly they don’t often work. They can certainly retain the employee for a small period of time, but from my observations and discussions with colleagues, that same employee will usually leave within a few months.
In most cases when an employee leaves the organisation, the only interaction they will have with HR is answer an exit survey. On the very rare occasion, HR might be engaged by the manager of the exiting employee to come up with a counter offer to retain the employee. I’ve been on the sidelines of a couple of counter offer situations through my roles in remuneration. They are rare in part because most of us are fairly easy to replace, and secondly they don’t often work. They can certainly retain the employee for a small period of time, but from my observations and discussions with colleagues, that same employee will usually leave within a few months.
I’ve briefly touched on many topics in the above explanation of what HR does, and I hope you’ve found it useful and its provided some insight into what HR Practitioners do. If you’re interested in understanding aspects of HR in greater detail, please do have a look around the site.
All the very best
Brendan
118 thoughts on “What is HR?”
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If you enjoy helping others and working with a variety of people then take a look at what it takes to become a human resources officer
As a human resources (HR) officer you will develop, advise on and implement policies relating to the effective use of staff in an organisation.
In the role your aim is to ensure that the organisation that you work for employs the right balance of staff in terms of skill and experience, and that training and development opportunities are available to colleagues to enhance their performance and achieve the company's business aims.
HR officers are involved in a range of activities whatever the size or type of business. These cover areas such as:
Responsibilities
To be successful in this role you must have a clear understanding of your employer's business objectives and be able to devise and implement policies which select, develop and retain the right staff to meet these objectives.
You will not only deal with staff welfare and administration-centred activities, but also strategy and planning.
HR departments are expected to add value to the organisation they support. The exact nature of the work varies according to the organisation, but is likely to include:
Salary
Salaries within HR vary considerably between employers. They can be influenced to some extent by location but also by industry sector, level of responsibility, seniority and particular function.
Income figures are intended as a guide only.
Working hours
You'll generally work a standard 9am to 5pm day but hours could sometimes include shift or weekend work. There may also be a requirement to work extra hours to meet deadlines.
Part-time and job-share positions may be available.
What to expect
Qualifications
Although this area of work is open to all graduates and those with a HND, the following subjects may be particularly relevant:
There are various entry routes into HR but competition is generally fierce for all routes. Applying to a HR graduate training scheme is one possibility. Early application is strongly advised for such schemes. You could also try sending speculative applications for graduate roles.
Some graduates move into HR after having experienced placements in several areas of an organisation, as part of a general management training programme. Starting in an administrative role in a HR department provides useful experience and it is possible to get promoted into HR management if suitable positions arise.
A pre-entry postgraduate qualification in HR/personnel management, while not essential, might be useful. Many postgraduate courses require a degree for entry but some may consider other qualifications such as a HND, perhaps with relevant experience. Search for postgraduate courses in human resource management.
Although it is possible to enter HR work without being professionally qualified, for middle and higher management posts employers will prefer an accredited qualification from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
It's almost always expected that you have a CIPD qualification when applying for high-level roles. You should check with individual employers regarding sponsorship for studying towards a CIPD qualification. There are various study methods available, including full-time, part-time and distance learning, plus a range of educational institutions deliver CIPD courses.
Skills
You will need to have:
In some larger organisations you could also be working with overseas staff, so cultural awareness and having some understanding of work issues in other countries may be important.
Work experience
Relevant experience gained during a course placement, previous employment or vacation work greatly improves your chances. You may also develop appropriate skills at university by taking on positions of responsibility, whether in a voluntary or paid capacity, or through student groups and organisations.
Talking to staff already working in HR will help you make well-informed applications, as will reading appropriate publications and websites such as:
Employers
HR officers work in organisations that employ staff. These include:
The way the work's structured within these organisations varies widely. Some employers have just one or two people covering the full range of HR activities. Larger employers may structure their HR departments according to different specialist roles, or the functions can be split among several general HR officers on a departmental or perhaps location basis.
Some very large organisations have a group of HR specialists at a head office who provide support to general HR officers working out of various departments or locations.
There are also opportunities to work in specialist consultancies, which range in size from one-person companies to small firms and partnerships. An outplacement service, when a firm engages a specialist consultancy to help staff deal with redundancy, is one example of this type of work. Many well-known firms of management consultants are also developing HR practices, offering services in areas such as compensation and benefits.
Look for job vacancies at:
Recruitment agencies and online job sites commonly handle vacancies.
Larger organisations often advertise graduate training schemes on their own websites.
Networking and speculative applications can uncover opportunities that have not been advertised. For named HR/personnel contacts in medium to large-sized organisations see HR Nation.
New graduates entering the profession need to be flexible in terms of geographical location and the type of work that they want as competition for vacancies is usually intense.
Get more tips on how to find a job, create a successful CV and cover letter, and prepare for interviews.
Professional development
If you wish to progress within the profession it may be necessary, while at the beginning of your career, to study for qualifications accredited by the CIPD. Some employers might sponsor you to study towards qualifying for CIPD membership and allow study leave but this depends on the individual employer. The exact qualification for which you study depends on your role and educational background.
The CIPD offers HR qualifications at foundation, intermediate and advanced level. These qualifications include a range of optional units allowing learners to specialise in areas relevant to their career development needs. For further information, see CIPD Qualifications.
The training available to achieve membership of the CIPD is delivered through accredited universities and colleges throughout the UK and may be completed through a variety of study methods, depending on your location.
Short courses, seminars, workshops and conferences are also offered at various locations on an ongoing basis, focusing on specific subjects of professional relevance such as:
In addition, some organisations will allow you to attend internal or external training courses relevant to your role, for example to:
Career prospects
Recent graduates are likely to begin their career in human resources by working in a general HR role. Many enjoy the breadth of this work and choose to remain in this environment or move into a more senior position with responsibility for a number of HR officers.
For those wishing to pursue more specialist careers within HR, a range of roles are available including:
These specialist roles are more likely to be found in the headquarters of organisations operating in major cities, so geographical flexibility may be required for career development.
Longer term, HR managers may move into more senior roles within an organisation and be promoted to a HR director role, possibly as far as board level. Promotion depends on ability and career prospects are enhanced by completing the highest level of CIPD qualifications.
The CIPD offers various levels of membership including chartered membership, which entitles you to use the letters MCIPD after your name. To be eligible for chartered status you must have a relevant CIPD qualification at advanced level and be able to demonstrate professional experience and impact in the workplace, usually over a period of 12 to 18 months. See the qualifications and membership sections of the CIPD website for further information.
Self-employment and freelance work as a consultant to HR departments is sometimes possible for experienced HR staff.
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