What do you think of when you think of HR?
Whether we have an HR department or not, all of us have heard of this group. So when you hear the term “HR,” what do you think of?
22 Responses to “What do you think of when you think of HR?”
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When I hear the term HR, I think of paperwork. I used to work in HR and processed all of the paperwork for new hires, terminations, leaves of absences, and everything else involving employees. I also met with employees on various issues and felt I served as a liason between staff and managment. Essentially, in my experience and in my view the HR is a service department, there to serve the employees.
Hi Amanda: I agree, HR is a service department. Great HR departments make you feel like they are always there to help. They are always a good source of knowledge as well for staff and manager.
When i think of HR I think of it as being the back bone of a company. HR is where most people go to when the have questions or need help or advice with in the job force. To me HR is important because they keep record of all employees files and help ensure that the company is hiring the people.
Elizabeth, I couldn’t agree with you more as to your statement that HR is important because they should be finding the right people who will be able to promote their philosophy of doing business. I absolutely think that this is one of the key items that HR should be focusing on.
Hi Erika! Yes, this should be the focus of more HR departments. I think a lot of company’s did not focus on hiring people that fit their culture and philosophy in the past and are now trying to refocus their culture and that can be really difficult to do. It is something my company is in the middle of doing and we are struggling to change employees attitudes towards the culture so late in the game.
I really agree with you that HR’s role as a resource for hiring is definitely important. It’s important for an HR manager to have a marketing mind-set in order to be able to recruit as best as possible and to be able to help the other managers in providing the best possible employees from the market available. The managers have to stay up to date on employee/applicant records to determine who would be a best fit candidate, but also have to stay up to date on the hiring market available to them to fill positions.
When I think of HR I think of rules and regulations. I work closely with HR on what you can and can’t do as a Manager. I also work closely with HR on what you can and can’t do during the hiring process. I see HR as an assistant to all the Managers/Directors/VP’s in the organization to make sure the organization is staying compliant and treating all employees fairly.
I agree. Naturally HR is not a revenue-producing entity of the entire firm, and so they are support. I like your example as being an assistant. It’s hard for me to see how HR managers are able to be an integral planner in the strategic planning process, but instead are just the assistant to the mangers to implement particular strategies. It doesn’t seem to me that many HR managers/directors make decisions for the company but instead work to implement and manage the decisions of the other executives.
Btw- I am so pissed everyone else got blue or green as a respondent color. They really surprised me with this pink doo-hickey.
Sorry Mason….it looks like the color stays with you for the next blog! I would trade you if they let me!
Prior to my new job, I never really had a good grasp of what HR really did or was really even about. I believe that Union Bank has an excellent HR department. The hiring process, orientation, training off-site and encompassing their standards through simulating real life situations in my opinion was brilliant! This may be why I believe that through the help of HR is a business able to be that much more efficient in delivering their expectations of the “ways” they expect employees to deliver customer service, duties and morale. This then results in a great introduction and instilling of their culture to be made known to the new and existing employees.
In addition, I was able to find what some of the main duties of the Chief of Human Resource Officer had listed on the actual Union Bank Website. Ms.Annemieke van der Werff is responsible for all aspects of Human Resources, including Talent Management and Development, Compensation, Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Diversity & Inclusion, HR Systems and Planning and Employee Relations.
HR is the start of the employeement process. Something I didn’t consider earlier was how they instilled the culture in their new hires. I think this is a great way to welcome a new employee.
I have never been a part of an organization in which I had any interaction with a human resources department. Right now at my current company, we handle most of our HR duties in-house, except for payroll and temporary position hiring. Whenever I think of HR, I tend to think of personal counselors. In the back of my head I just tend to think that HR managers are just the people that workers come to complain to when they have frustrations regarding their current work situation. It also just seems to be a position in which a lot of compliance and paperwork is involved (sorry, but doesn’t sound much fun), because the truly fun parts of job enrichment and succession planning usually seem to be left to the actual managers. HR personnel can fill these positions, but usually only by final decision of other managers.
I would have to agree, in the end it is the Managers/ Supervisors making the final decision of the ways that they want their unit to run. This is why, in my scenario, they tend to be the ones going through the most training functions/ conference calls. They also are the ones getting the most bonuses and incentives for meeting the expectant rates on several reports that are aligned to the way each branch is forecast to be operating- many areas are based on customer service. We still have random customer service evaluations that go back to what was taught to us in training.
We even have transcripts of courses we have taken that have educated us. The courses taken vary from policies and why many of the things we do are important. You have to pass each one by a certain date in order to qualify for other bonuses. They even send you back to training if they or you feel like you need it.
In the end I do believe that its up to the manager to continue watering the seed that HR planted or not. This is just my view on it from my recent observance and I feel very blessed to have this conception of HR.
I think of HR as the filter for hiring employees and the consultant to the department manager who is firing an employee. I say they are the consultant, because they are expected to have knowledge of labor laws and employee rights. As far as hiring , HR has instructions to screen applicants for the type of person being sought for a certain job. To my limited knowledge, they are coordinators for department events and functions.
Personally, when I hear of the term “HR”, the first thing that comes to mind is the department that is a separate entity of the organization that I am working for. The human resources department doesn’t deal with the actual meat and potatoes of a business, they take care of the inner workings that are needed to ensure the business is up to par with the various legal requirements in today’s society. With that being said, and elaborating on some of the comments above, the HR department may have a difficult time recruiting the individuals that a business requires, or recruiting the type of individuals that a businesses culture fosters.
I haven’t had much contact with the HR department at my employer since the day I was hired. From what I can tell, they deal mostly with the hiring process, things like payroll and attendance, and disciplinary action. For the most part though that is dealt with through supervisors and managers and filtered down to the workers.
I as well have not had much of an encounter with human resource. Within my organization the HR typically deals with hiring to some extent. They arent the only ones able to hire employees. The HR dont get too involved in instilling the culture into employees.
An HR department deals with mainly aspects that deal with the employees themselves. Mainly a paperwork stand point such as enrollment in health insurance. This department is not involved in any other aspect. It is focused on hiring, employees, and employee benefits.
When I think of HR I think of the department you go to with problems within the business and on the outside of the business. I also think of where we call for payroll, insurance and anybody that owes money goes to HR. I like to look at it as a helpful department for our end but on the customers end if you have to talk to HR it’s probably not going to be a good phone call.
When i heard the words Human Resource, I thought of personnel being able to assist one with payroll, Family Medical Leave Act, taking breaks, and answering questions regarding to our 401K. Yes the HR did informed the newly hired employees about the culture of the organization, but did not instill the culture into the employees. One can tell that it was not to any significance. I see the inportance in instilling a culture in well qualified employees.