Human Resource Management,

As a job seeker when you approach an organization the final interview that you have is with a Human Resource Manager and when you leave an organization you have an exit interview with the HR Manager. During the time period of your employment, you interact with the Human Resource department on almost daily basis. Human Resource Management has become one of the most important divisions of any organization nowadays. One cannot even imagine a proper organization or company functioning well without an effective Human Resource Management department.

Managing and handling the employees at any company is a major challenge that needs to be handled properly by people who are well trained in this area. A decade ago not many people were familiar with the concept of Human Resource Management and for quite some time the HR Managers were designated to administrative posts with little or no insight into what the job and the department actually entailed. Mostly they did what an administrator is supposed to do, only with the glorified title of being an HR Manager.

However, the last few years witnessed a change in the trend as more and more companies began recognizing the importance of Human Resource Management in any organization. At the same time, universities upgraded their curriculum to instill proper education and training to the students who opted to study Human Resource Management. The combined effect of these developments can be seen in the highly developed Human Resource Management departments in many organizations.

Key Responsibilities Of HR Managers

HR Mangers have a lot of responsibilities as it basically falls onto their shoulders to make sure that the company functions smoothly and effectively. If the HR Manager of an organization fails to perform his duties effectively, the entire working system of the company is affected badly. Some of the key responsibilities of an organization include:

Employee Recruitment

Recruitment of employees is one of the most important tasks of an HR Manager. Interviewing a prospective candidate and making sure that hiring him will be in the best interest of the company is the duty of a HR Manager. Moreover negotiating the salary and other job related clauses with the candidate is something that the company owners rely on the HR Managers for.

Employee Relations

Dealing with the everyday problems of the employees and the issues that arise within the organization on daily basis is also an important duty of the HR Managers. One of the most challenging tasks of the HR Managers is to make sure that the employees are happy and content with their jobs and do not lose their motivation.

Training And Development

Constantly training and developing the skills and capabilities of the staff members is also an important part of the HR Manager’s job. They have to organize seminars and workshops so that the employees get a chance to hone their skills and perform their duties in a better way.

Maintaining Conduct

Maintaining office discipline is fundamental to the success of any given organization and the HR Managers are responsible to make sure that the employees are conforming to the office discipline. HR Managers often have to deal with employees who are habitually late, take too many days off, spend too much time socializing with other employees and fail to meet the deadlines.

Making New Policies

The HR Management department is tasked with constantly reviewing the existing company policies, making appropriate changes in them and coming up with new strategies and policies that cater to the growing demands of any company. These policies help in maintaining the smooth functioning of an organization and ensure that the interests of both the company and the employees are safe guarded.

Implementing New And Old Policies

It also falls under the duties of the HR Management department to make sure that all the old and new policies of an organization are implemented in letter and spirit and all the employees adhere to the rules set under these policies strictly.

Appraisals And Rewards

One of the most important and difficult tasks the HR Management department is charged with is rewarding the employees and deciding appraisals. Rewarding the employees properly for their hard work and effort is essential in maintain employee satisfaction and keeping them motivated. A Human Resource Manager has to make sure that the appraisals that are handed out to the employees are fair and correspond with the level of input and output of each employee. If a Manager gives unfair or biased appraisals, the employees will become discontent and the quality of work will deteriorate quickly.

Conducting Exit Interviews

When an employee leaves an organization, the HR Manager has to conduct the exit interview as well. The exit interview provides valuable insight for the HR department as it makes them more aware to the needs and the problems that the employee faced at the organization. A typical exit interview consists of some of the following questions:

• Why are you resigning from our organization?
• How was your experience of working with us?
• What are a few problems that you faced working at this organization?
• What would you improve to make our organization a better workplace?
• What does the new job offer entail that our organization did not offer?

These questions help the HR Managers in evaluating the performance of their organization in the eyes of the employees and enable them to make improvements where possible.

Final Words

Although the role of HRM in Pakistan has evolved quite a lot during the last few years, it is still not completely evolved. It faces constant challenges, but continues to grow nonetheless. Once fully evolved it will become one of the most fundamental departments in an organization; fully contributing towards its growth and prosperity.