What is the human resources role in today’s business?
The HR manager or team is, of course, charged with ensuring all the administrative work is done and in controlling the costs related to human capital. However, the best HR professionals have broad exposure to business requirements and are part of the senior team. They understand a business’s financial statements, competitive challenges and, most important, their goals and objectives. They should be fully versed in strategies for keeping top performers and other tools for making a business even better. This expertise can come from an employed HR team or a part-time outsourced HR expert and can benefit companies of all sizes.
In the best situations, the HR manager is in close touch with all departments, advising on work force issues and attending key meetings. That HR person won’t be buying the new piece of production equipment, but will be making sure that employees are scheduled for training, the right people are hired to maintain the equipment and that its use meets OSHA requirements. The HR person may also be helping to determine the impact of the purchase on overtime and how it will reduce payroll costs.
How can an organization make the transition to having an HR manager who is a senior-level employee?
If you have a dedicated HR manager, perhaps you’re beginning to recognize that your HR person has insufficient skills to help manage your work force in today’s environment. The first thing is to sit down with that person and say, ‘If you want to continue in the HR manager role here, these are the areas where I would like to see you acquire more expertise. I’m willing to assist you with training so that you can get up to speed, but you will need to commit time and energy to the process.’ Often, despite support, it is not possible to achieve this transition. The person may not have the skills, motivation or fundamental education to succeed, and you may need to hire someone else. Or, if your company can’t afford a more experienced HR manager, you can outsource this role and secure this expertise on a part-time basis.
Business owners who want to attract qualified HR staff and get the most out of them need to create an attractive environment for them in the same way they do to attract good sales people or product designers. Providing opportunities for input, communicating goals and objectives and supporting continuing education all come into play. Outsourced arrangements can be a better choice for some companies because HR training, continuing education, back-up and supervisory requirements transfer to the outsourcer.
What are the benefits of securing a senior-level HR professional for your company?
When you look at the companies that achieve market success and even dominance, they all have tip-top, up-to-date HR management that ensures they are recruiting the right people, managing them effectively and promoting company goals. The right kind of HR leadership can take the load off upper managers through proactive problem solving, giving managers time to focus on customers, revenue growth and profitability.
Ultimately, how a business owner spends infrastructure dollars is a personal decision, but testing out the value of a professional HR program if you have never had one before may be very worthwhile for your business.
Peggy Pargoff, PHR, is senior vice president at ManagEase Inc. Reach her at [email protected] or (714) 378-0880.