The Importance of Human Resources

With more than one-in-three American workers today being Millennials, companies are asking human resources to start putting their focus on meeting the expectations of this new generation of workers. Some are even renaming human resources to “talent-management” to better fit this new role. While it’s important to make room and accommodate for this generation entering the workplace, overlooking and undervaluing the basics of human resources can become very expensive. Here are the three key focuses human resources department must have in order to be successful.

Recruitment and Training

One of the main responsibilities of HR is hiring and training people. If the department can’t properly perform this basic task it can become very expensive for the company. According to Entrepreneur, the cost of employee turnover ranges from about 16% for an hourly, unskilled worker to as much as 213% for a skilled, highly trained employee.

To help avoid high turnover in the first 6 months of employment, ensure that your HR department has a structured onboarding process for new hires that takes them through their first 90 days with company orientations and periodic check-ins. This will help keep communication open and will allow you to tackle any potential issues early on.

Employee Satisfaction

The job is not over once the right people are hired and trained. In order to decrease employee turnover, human resources must create a positive and accepting work environment that keeps them there. This can mean making the physical workplace enjoyable, but most times it means providing services that make the workers feel appreciated and important. Taking actions towards their interests and health is a start. Maybe start up an office basketball league or host an onsite health fair. Either way, you want the programs you implement to keep employees engaged and to increase the value of employment at your organization.  

Company Image

With all of the above accomplished by a good human resources department, the company or business will start to build up a good public image. Having a good public image and a reputable reputation will attract qualified and talented workers. Ultimately this eases the efforts the HR department has to make looking for them and cuts down on the cost to look for them too.  Having positive employees and work environment can also translate into positive profits.

 

Overall, having a good human resources department equals to positive effects on the company or business, and vice versa. If employee turnover seems high and profits are slipping, look closely at the human resources department and what their main focus is on. If it’s not on hiring the correct people, providing a positive work environment, and promoting a good company image then it may be time to reevaluate.