9 Reasons HR Is Important to an Organization

Recruitment

Businesses pay a high price for hiring errors. HR experts are trained to recognize candidates who fabricate their qualifications or lie on their resumes. They conduct background checks to eliminate those who are unsuitable. They also know which interview questions are prohibited, such as those pertaining to age, religion, or marital or family status.

Payroll

Employees can register a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board if they are underpaid, not paid on time, or not compensated for work completed. An employer's odds of facing the NLRB, state and federal labor bureaus, and the IRS are reduced when they have a skilled HR and payroll department. Hourly wages, overtime, employee benefit deductions, and payroll taxes are all covered by employment mandates.

Benefits

Organizations, particularly small firms, spend a lot of money on health insurance, workers' compensation, and retirement plans. For the best costs, HR staff members negotiate with benefit plan administrators and sponsors. Employee assistance programs, disability insurance, health and wellness tests, and discount programs are all possible benefits.

Laws

HR managers make sure that firms follow state and federal labor regulations. Family medical leave, sexual harassment, wage parity, and discrimination based on color, gender, age, religion, or disability are all covered by these laws. The Human Resources section advises firms on how to comply with applicable legislation.

Safety

Organizations must provide a safe working environment for their employees. HR works together with security to implement emergency evacuation plans and prevent workplace violence. The department also keeps track of applicable OSHA laws, instructs personnel on safe work practices, and prepares the organization for safety audits.

Terminations

Layoffs and terminations are managed by HR. One purpose is to reduce the company's risk of being accused with illegal layoffs or unjust dismissal practices. Another objective is to guarantee that departing employees are handled with dignity and respect.

Productivity of employees drives demand for products and services. HR surveys employees to measure their job satisfaction and, on occasion, conducts exit interviews with departing employees to find inefficient practices.

Mediation

Employee disagreements are mediated by HR managers. This function in maintaining peace avoids confrontations from reducing productivity, turning violent, or necessitating termination.

Appraisals

Employees should be aware of the performance standards that are required of them. HR is looked to by business leaders to assist in the development of performance standards and the administration of formal appraisal systems to fairly and objectively rate managers and employees.

Now to go a little more in depth:

Recruitment

Although recruiting and selection processes vary depending on the size, structure, and workforce demands of an organization, it is vital to audit the basic operation of your company's recruitment and selection process. To attract a varied pool of competent applicants, make sure your HR department posts job openings in a range of media. Use internet job posts, traditional advertising, employment boards run by professional associations, and university recruiting resources, for example. Examine how well recruiters and hiring managers understand fair employment practices when interviewing and selecting candidates for open positions.

Compensation

Several main factors are addressed in an audit of your small business's compensation practices. Investigate comparable occupations and salary in your industry or geographic area to see if your company is providing competitive compensation. Examine whether your company pays comparable compensation for equivalent jobs, and make sure your salary and wage decisions aren't arbitrary. Examine whether men and women are paid equally for comparable work, for example. Auditing this pay process reduces the danger of unequal pay or discriminatory pay practices in your firm.

Safety

For work contexts where employees are expected to utilize complex machinery or hazardous substances, auditing HR policies for safety and risk management is especially critical. Employee injury and fatality logs, such as those required by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, are also examined during HR safety audits. With employers increasingly concerned about workplace violence, a comprehensive audit focuses on how the company handles events that endanger employees' safety and well-being.

Training

An HR audit would be incomplete if it didn't include an evaluation of employee training and development options. Many organizations provide annual leadership training, classroom sessions about fair employment practices, and professional development opportunities for employees who demonstrate aptitude and motivation in addition to new employee orientation. California, Connecticut, and Maine, for example, compel companies to conduct annual training on workplace concerns like sexual harassment and affirmative action.

Termination

Auditing your company's termination procedures helps guarantee that employee resignations and dismissals are handled properly. This area of auditing can also help to reduce the likelihood of former employees filing wrongful termination claims. Exit interviews, conducted as part of the HR audit, can reveal the reasons why employees willingly depart, which is another element worth investigating to better understand issues like overall job satisfaction and staff morale.