Role of HR Beyond Hiring and Firing

Human Resources is an integral part of business management and organizational development. Recruitment, executing compensation policy and implementing exit formalities are considered to be some of the conventional roles of HR. In fact, HR personnel have been primarily associated with hiring and firing only. However, owing to changing economic and management scenarios, these traditional roles of HR have undergone a metamorphosis. Modern day HR personnel are more involved in the 'strategic' part of business management.

Scope of HR Beyond Hiring and Firing

The primary objective of HRM is to create an employee-centric work environment. As HRM is a connecting link between management and workforce, its focus should be on improving the employee-employer relationship and create a conducive environment for employees to work. To achieve this, an HR professional must shed his traditional image and adopt newer ways to devise and transform his conventional profile of hiring and firing. Given below are some of the job responsibilities of HR beyond hiring and firing.

Employee Development and Training

An HR professional must constantly look out for newer ways to enhance the personal and professional growth of employees. Implementing training programs is a good way of achieving this. The training topic can be specific, pertaining to an organization's intrinsic strategies or it can be generic such as communication, business ethics etc.   

Devising Compensation Plans

Although HRM has traditionally being associated with only the 'execution' of compensation policies, modern day HR personnel are expected to get involved in 'formulation' of compensation plans as well. An HR must be able to devise a fair compensation and benefits plan that is competency based.

Implementing Performance Evaluation Methodologies

An HR must upgrade his knowledge regarding the latest performance evaluation tools and techniques. It is important to establish a common ground for evaluating the performance of employees to develop a sense of trust. HR and OD consulting firms are extremely efficient in this area. 

Ensuring Employee Welfare  

This is the gist of all HR roles and responsibilities. An HR must never ignore the 'human' part of Human Resources Management. An HR should supervise all the policies related to employee health and safety at workplace. An HR should also ensure compliance with all the mandatory employee welfare policies, such as ensuring there is a committee to address issues such as sexual harassment, racial discrimination etc. 

Thus, the roles and responsibilities of HR have become even more critical from the point of view of an organization as well as employees.