Managing human resources: definition, role and activities of the HR department

From the smallest to the largest company, whatever the size of your business, managing human resources is an essential function for the success and development of your organisation. It is a driving force in the implementation and management of the overall strategy in order to maintain success and achieve its goals.

What does managing human resources consist of? What is its role and what fields of action characterise this department? This article explains in detail this fundamental function for the success of a company and reviews the main activities of an HR department.

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Managing human resources: definition

Human resources management (or HR management) is the set of systems put in place to organise, make good use of and develop human resources, i.e. the individuals working in a company.

Whereas personnel administration focuses on purely administrative aspects, HR management is more global. It deals with the management and administration of everything concerning the company's personnel, whatever their profession or status.

This personnel management also includes listening, support and counselling, which are essential for managing the company's employees.

What is the role of human resources management?

The main role of human resources management is to ensure the sustainability and growth of the company by employing employees to the best of their abilities. Its role is multifaceted, being at the same time strategic, social and administrative.

The activities of the human resources department can be divided into several key missions

• to strengthen the company's strategy through the implementation of a human resources policy;
• optimising the company's productivity on the basis of its human resources, working to promote their efficiency (including skills development, motivation, etc.); and
• managing and supporting change (including competence development, training, etc.);
• motivating employees through initiatives based on pay, training, career opportunities
• organising and administering staff on a day-to-day basis (including payroll management, administrative tasks and compliance with legal obligations).

The tendency is to foster an increasing place for well-being at work among the HRM missions: employees expect to find an increasing degree of satisfaction, meaning in their work, recognition and empowerment.

What are the activities of the HRM department?

Personnel administration

Personnel administration essentially covers administrative activities, such as

• leave and absence management
• time management,
• payroll management,
• management of the single personnel register, etc.

Between the management of employment contracts, medical examinations and social declarations, obligations related to the labour code or collective agreement, such as the application of the solidarity day, human resources management requires a sound knowledge of regulatory and legislative aspects and a constant update of the latest changes in the law to ensure HR compliance.

Remuneration policy, which affects both payroll and employee motivation, must be integrated into strategic plans. Developed in line with what the competition offers, it enables the company to remain attractive and retain its talent.

Recruitment and integration

Recruitment is one of the decisive human resources activities, contributing directly to the company's performance. It consists of identifying the company's needs and finding talent that can meet them. From defining a job description to selecting the right person, a well-structured recruitment process provides the necessary efficiency.

In addition to personnel acquisition, it is also about not losing talent, starting with finding the right motivational levers and organising their integration into the company.

Competence management

One of the key functions of HR management is also to manage careers and skills within the organisation. Forward-looking management of jobs and skills is an approach that aims to anticipate and forecast the company's staffing needs, taking into account changes in the environment and global strategy.

This anticipatory personnel management allows for informed human resources decisions and flexibility in an unstable environment.

Training management

HR training, or even coaching, is an essential aspect of human resources that benefits both the company and its employees:

• meets the need for skills for company performance,
• motivates its employees to improve their skills, to continue building their careers and to be valued.

This activity includes:

• the assessment of skills needs,
• the development of training plans,
• managing training activities,
• and the monitoring of indicators after implementation.

Cost management

The HR function also has a financial dimension: the role of HR managers is to find solutions to optimise the costs associated with personnel management.

This includes

• negotiating favourable rates (such as for health coverage),
• managing turnover and absenteeism,
• setting salaries in line with labour market practices, etc.

Social management

The management of social and interpersonal relations is another key HR activity, as a guarantor of good relations between employees, and between employees and their employer.

This will result in actions such as:

• conflict resolution,
• creating conditions for good communication between employees,
• organising company events (team building, etc.).

The evolution of corporate performance

Depending on the type of organisation and management style, human resources can help put in place tools to assess employee performance, both on an individual and collective basis.

Individual performance can be assessed through :

• the definition of objectives, KPIs
• and discussed regularly during individual interviews with each employee.

Quality of life at work

An integral part of human resources management, well-being at work encompasses all measures taken to improve working conditions and encourage employee productivity.

Taking care of human capital also means increasing the company's performance. This attention will focus on topics such as:

• motivation,
• stress management,
• risk prevention,
• employee benefits, etc.

What are the professional tasks of the HR department?

The HR function is generally centralised in the human resources department, which may include a variety of HR-related tasks:

• the human resources manager (or HR manager)
• the career and mobility manager
• the recruitment manager
• training officers,
• the person in charge of the administration and payroll system, etc.

The strategic function of the human resources department

Human resources managers occupy a key position in the company, working in collaboration with the management pole. With their global but concrete vision of the resources that make up the organisation, they are true strategic allies for the company.

In fact, their role takes the form of various missions, trying to coordinate the elements of the company's global strategy with the skills of the organisation's individuals.

How do you manage human resources?

Being able to manage all the different poles of a company and dealing with personnel administration is not an easy task. All HR processes have different characteristics and require a certain level of expertise from the person in charge. For this reason, it is advisable to adopt targeted strategies to better manage the company's personnel.

Here are some methods that can be useful for improving human resources management:

• digitisation of HR tasks and processes: many tasks can be digitised, such as employee attendance monitoring to documentation management.
• improving employer branding: the recognition and reputation of your company plays a key role in retaining talent and recruiting new talent.
• focus on employee well-being: it is important to focus on the training, development and satisfaction of your company's employees. It is the employees who make your company perform.
• Continuous updates: it is crucial to stay up-to-date on innovations and new trends in human resources.

Mistakes to avoid when organising and managing human resources

HR improvement strategies go hand in hand with strategies to avoid HR mistakes. It is not easy to manage a company's personnel and one can often make errors of judgement or negligence that can affect the company's performance.

Here, then, are the mistakes not to make for optimal human resources management.

Being inaccurate in job descriptions

When your company needs to hire someone for a new position, the job description is essential to recruit the right person for the role. It is very often the case that recruiters and HR managers underestimate this stage of the selection process by misdescribing the job position they are proposing.

An accurate description increases the chances of attracting the right people for the position. During the job description, the following information should always be present

• the skills,
• the type of education and experience required,
• the list of main tasks that will be performed
• and expectations regarding the role.

Drawing up a checklist to verify that all information is included can prove to be a winning strategy.

Choosing the wrong person for the position

This type of mistake occurs mainly in small and medium-sized companies, where there is no real structured human resources department, but it can also happen in larger companies.

Overconfidence in one's own network of contacts, insufficient budgets for hiring new candidates and a certain superficiality during the recruiting process are factors that can lead to the wrong candidate being chosen.

Using shortcuts when choosing candidates does not prove beneficial in the long run. Having the wrong person in your team can be costly. In fact, your company will be forced to replace him/her and start the recruitment process again, adding extra expenses to the HR budget.

Do not invest in onboarding and training sessions

The training and integration of your company's employees is an important part of the training process for newly recruited employees. Onboarding and training meetings are essential to understand the functioning of the company and the different teams so that their skills can be used for the overall functioning of the organisation.

Training to improve employees' skills is also essential for the growth of talent within your company. It would be counterproductive not to encourage employees to improve themselves and improve business results.

Leaving out security and privacy of sensitive data in the HR organisation

Privacy and sensitive employee data must always be protected, which is why it is a priority for the HR department. In many companies, however, problematic situations may occur with regard to incorrect sharing of information flows. One has to have very strict privacy and security policies, especially when it comes to the sharing of prospectuses and personal information. The chosen practices should be global and applied company-wide so that all staff respect them and are aware of the measures to be applied in case of need.

Ignoring performance problems of one's own employees

If some employees have performance problems, they should not be underestimated or even worse ignored. You must act immediately and proceed with a performance management process to follow up with the employee in question and understand what weaknesses need to be improved. Furthermore, it is advisable that problems are solved immediately instead of waiting and making the situation worse.

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HR management: how can it help your HR management and organisation?

As we have seen, resource management requires a high degree of organisation, as the missions entrusted to the human resources department are multiple. For this reason, the use of technology can come to the aid of the HR Manager, especially if an operating system is chosen that is in line with your company's human resources needs.

Without IT support, it becomes impossible to manage all the tasks required by the role such as managing deadlines and regulations, or the amount of details to remember and the demands and needs of the company's workers. An HR management software will simplify the HR Manager's job and make this department more productive.

An HR software is an all-in-one platform that helps the HR Manager, recruiters, HR specialists and the management pole to intelligently manage a company's employees and all activities that are related to human resources. This category of software can make the work of the HR department easier:

• Lower administration costs and simplified management

• Automated attendance recording

• Faster and more monitorable selection processes

• Better management of holidays, leave and absences

• Complete overview of employee documentation and data

• Simplified performance management and training

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