Why is human resources (HR) important?

If there is one thing that no business can afford to do without these days, it is human resources (HR). Whether you keep it in-house or work with an outsourced HR consultancy, you need HR to be able to thrive. That is because it is all about the management of people – and the employees are what will make or break a business.

What is HR?

When we use the term ‘human resources’, we are referring to work that would have previously been done by a personnel department. HR is about managing your employees so that they can perform to the best of their capabilities. That encompasses areas like recruitment, on-boarding and training, but also helping employees to navigate personal problems. Beyond that, HR is about shaping a company culture in which every employee feels safe and valued.

Why is it so important?

Now we are going to break down some of the reasons why HR is so vital. Here’s why it is important:

Ensuring employee engagement and satisfaction

This is one of the key functions of HR, but it covers a lot of territory. Making sure that employees are engaged and happy is about a solid pay and benefits structure, but also healthy communication and providing opportunities for career advancement. For the first of those things, your HR department should administrate pay and benefits, so that every employee gets what they are entitled to on time.

For the second one, it should ensure that both managers and employees are equipped with soft skills. That will allow the former to explain their decisions and solicit feedback from the latter, which will help employees to feel that their input is valued.

The third is about evaluating employee performance levels and offering pathways to promotion for top performers. Good employees are usually ambitious, and they need to feel that they can fulfil those ambitions with your company if you want to attract and retain the best talent. HR will set up training programmes so that they can learn the skills needed to progress their careers.

Creating a positive workplace culture

The culture of your company has to be one in which all employees can thrive, and HR is responsible for defining and enforcing it. What is meant by company culture is the values and attitudes of your business. The role of HR is to devise policies outlining what is and is not acceptable in terms of behaviour, before communicating that clearly to all employees. This begins during recruitment and is an ongoing process.

The promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is central to creating a positive workplace culture. Its purpose is to produce environments that are free from discrimination. The HR department will have the responsibility for coming up with DEI policies and making sure that everyone working for the company complies with them.

Having those policies and ensuring compliance are not just beneficial, they are a legal necessity. HR will guarantee that your company does not fall foul of anti-discrimination law.

Driving organisational agility

Another important role that HR has within an organisation is to make it more efficient and agile. That can take a number of different forms, but it basically boils down to making sure the company has a workforce that is flexible and adaptable to change. HR departments will evaluate employee skill levels before setting up training programmes to address gaps. The wider the skill sets possessed by your employees, the more flexibility you will be able to achieve.

HR departments can also enhance organisational agility by exploiting new technologies. These can make everything from payroll and benefits administration to performance management more streamlined and efficient. Technology offers the potential to utilise data and analytics when looking at employee performance levels. This will provide more accurate results and pinpoint areas that need to be worked on.

Managing the employee lifecycle

It is the job of HR departments to manage employees across every stage of their time at a company. That means ensuring new employees have all the information they need to on-board successfully. It also involves providing existing ones with development opportunities, as well as ensuring departing ones can off-board smoothly.

At FiveRivers Consulting, we offer company culture consultancy services that deliver results. Get in touch with us now.