The HR Major Functions
HR management typically entails the following highly interrelated functions:
Job analysis and design involves systematically gathering information on the job (job description), determining the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the job competently (job specification), and designing a job that can be performed efficiently and competently by a qualified employee.
HR planning is the process of balancing a health care organization’s HR supply and demand so that shortages or excesses of certain personnel are avoided. HR planning, for example, might involve determining how many additional physicians, nurses, therapists, and support technical personnel will be needed to staff an expanded sports medicine center in a large suburban hospital.
Employee recruitment involves assembling a pool of job applicants from which the health care organization can draw. Recruitment involves identifying and using various recruitment sources (for example, a private employment agency, temporary help agency, university placement office). HR managers recognize that recruitment sources vary with respect to the type and quality of applicant that they yield and the expense that they involve.
Employee selection involves identifying and hiring the best applicants from the recruitment pool. The selection process involves the intelligent use of selection predictors (devices used to gather information to “predict” whether an employee will perform competently) such as application blanks, interviews, background checks, personality and integrity tests, and knowledge tests, among others. One selection predictor that has become increasingly important is a background check to verify previous employment and to check an applicant’s criminal, driving, and credit history. The use of selection predictors often requires consulting with a qualified industrial psychologist.
Training and development is used to provide employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform their jobs, stay abreast of the latest developments in their field, and enhance their careers. This HR function may be performed in-house using HR staff or externally using consultants and experts. Training and development activities include identifying training needs, establishing training program goals, selecting employees for training, designing training programs, conducting the programs, and evaluating the effectiveness of the programs.
Performance appraisal is the process of determining how well an employee is doing the job. Typically, the HR department designs the performance appraisal instrument, and the supervisor or manager administers the instrument on a periodic basis. The performance appraisal process should include a postappraisal interview for employee feedback.
Compensation and benefit management entails administering salary surveys, performing job evaluation, designing pay structures and benefit packages, and ensuring the proper administration of the compensation and benefit program. Compensation and benefit management is probably the most complex HR function because of the myriad of laws affecting pay and benefits as well as the economic, social, and psychological factors that affect employee perceptions of pay.
Health and safety is a critical issue in many health care institutions. Although supervisors are clearly responsible for workplace safety, the HR department usually monitors compliance with federal (Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA) and state health and safety laws.
The Professionalism of HR Managers
Historically, HR managers have ranked below accounting, financial, marketing, and other managers in terms of pay and prestige. In recent years, however, the importance and recognition of HR managers has grown as organizations have become cognizant of the critical importance that human resources play in the success of an organization. The major professional organization for HR managers is the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). It provides a variety of educational and certification opportunities for HR managers. The organization also keeps HR managers up to date on developments in the field.
The two professional tracks for HR managers are the HR generalist and the HR specialist. HR generalists, such as a medical center HR director, are in charge of an entire HR function. They oversee a staff that performs the HR functions described earlier. A generalist may have a business degree such as an M.B.A. or master’s degree in human resource management. An HR specialist focuses on a specific aspect of HR management such as discrimination law, health and safety, or benefit programs and may work as a consultant or at the headquarters of a large organization. HR specialists may have master’s, doctoral, or law degrees, and they may have spent a considerable amount of time becoming experts in a relatively well-defined HR area.
by
arsalanshaikh (student)
