Role of the HR – People are the greatest resource of an organisation. However, the team responsible for people management is equally significant. This team is designated as the human resource management team (HRM team). The HR department is responsible for enhancing employee performance such that the organisational output is high. Previously, HR was focused on “recruiting” and “termination”. In the present day, the HR department performs several functions that benefit the employees as well as the employer.

Statistics indicate that

  • More than 45% of companies invested in improving HR management
  • Along with the HR team, the HR software market will continue growing with a worth of $13.8 billion
  • 75% of employees stay at a company where the HR team addresses employee concerns

Presently, retaining employees has become a challenging task as employee requirements and demands have changed. A thriving workforce is equal to a positive and productive workforce whose concerns and conflicts are heard and mitigated. Additionally, employee retention is not restricted to just providing them with proper training and development but paving a path for their career growth. A talented and happy workforce is a valuable asset to a company!

External crises, such as disease outbreaks, unstable economies, and changes in government laws, can often affect an organisation. In the time of such a crisis, the HR team is what will lead the organisation through a crisis with confidence and certainty. As a result, the company stands tall and continues to move forward.

Why should you invest in human resource management?

  • Building a strong organisational culture – Organisation culture is the behaviour displayed within the organisation. The behaviour aligns with the company’s values, vision and mission. A company’s culture is crucial to attracting and retaining top talent. The HR team is the core of an organisation that contributes highly to the development of a strong organisational culture. A good HR team will be an asset to your organisation by reminding the executives to act according to the company values and engaging in improving employee morale. In addition to this, the team works with company leaders to transform “culture visions” into executable actions. By investing in proper HR teams, a company can improve its culture, leading to improved interactions between the employer and employee as well as within employees. Furthermore, with an appropriate HR team, conflict resolution is increased, thus improving the organisational culture.
  • Improvement in talent pipeline – An organisation is no longer just about hiring people but also about keeping them and enabling their continuous growth. A proper HRM team in place increases the capacity of the company to accommodate talent as well as enhance its product/service line.

The HR team improves the talent pipeline by

  • Improved recruitment and onboarding
  • Improved employer branding
  • Hiring suitable candidates
  • Providing employees with an enhanced experience
  • Increasing employee retention
  • Assessing talent pool and bridging knowledge/skill gap

The HR team’s role does not end with completing the talent pipeline. An optimum HR team will continue to nurture the relationship with the employees and facilitate their professional development. Ultimately, managing people is important for the success of an organisation.

  • Upskilling employees – With the changing trends and organisational requirements, the skill gap has emerged as a major challenge. This is where HR teams come into play where they are responsible for bridging the skill gap. Strategic HR management involves providing employees with opportunities to develop professionally and enhance their skills. So, as an HR team, once you have built the talent pipeline, you have to invest in the development of your organisational workforce. On contrary to what many organisations believe,
  • 70% of employees stated that job-related training and development made them continue the job
  • More than 85% of the employees believe that professional development and career growth are extremely important

Therefore, investing in a proper HR team will help your organisation go beyond recruitment and provide upskilling opportunities to your workforce.

  • Remaining updated and competitive – Investment in strategic HR management enables the company to stay current. A reliable HR team continuously assesses the employee benefits package to minimise hiring costs while remaining in line with the market trends. In addition, improving the package such as the addition of flexible days and a retirement plan allows for high employee retention. Apart from trends, a huge responsibility of an HR team is to provide the organisation with a competitive edge. This requires proper management of people to help the company lead through any challenge.

The three most important factors enhanced by the HR team

  • Organisational Flexibility

The outbreak of the pandemic has transformed the face of organisational functioning. To combat such sudden changes, ‘organisational flexibility’ is important. Many organisations are breaking away from the rigid structure and incorporating a more flexible structure as a permanent measure. For example, the concept of a hybrid workplace is in place to provide employees with a flexible workplace structure as well as employ a larger number of recruits. This provides the HR team with an extraordinary ability to manage people and teams. A flexible organisation is more open to uncertainties and combating challenges.

The role of the HR team is to aid the organisation to transition to a flexible structure and facilitate employees to remain productive even with high flexibility. Flexibility is tailored to each individual’s convenience, however, it is important for the HR department to ensure that efficiency, productivity and value-add components are primary drivers of organisational success. While, organisational flexibility allows employees to work according to their schedule or sometimes even timing and location, regardless of where and when people are working, professional development opportunities and resources should be applied.

  • Organisational Fluidity

Many organisations have been unable to move forward due to the rapidly changing business environment and its continuous evolvement. With the outbreak of the pandemic, the importance of organisational fluidity became increasingly evident. Those organisations that can respond optimally and adapt to the change will not only survive the challenge but succeed in flourishing. An organisation that can embrace fluidity will thrive in terms of innovation, evolution and agility. This will allow the business to inculcate the required changes to combat uncertainties. Organisational fluidity allows high creativity flows that encourage the workforce to be productive and generate high output.

The HR team is highly responsible for ensuring organisational fluidity. The team assists in communicating the company’s vision to the workforce which enhances their productivity and performance. In some cases, the HR team works in conjunction with the organisational psychologist to discover an innovative and strategic approach to the development of organisational culture and leadership. HR professionals must manage people in a flexible manner to help them adjust to the changes. In the present day and years to come, HR professionals must continue to drive fluidity in the organisation and allow and help form a responsive, resilient and adaptive workforce.

  • Organisational Agility

In a global survey, more than 90% of HR leaders stated that agility is crucial for an organisation’s growth and success. ‘Agility’ has become an organisational practice that is aiding even the largest organisations to transform the workplace. In the context of human resource management, agility is the ability to help people adapt to the changing business environment. As an HR manager, you have to ensure agility to sync employee engagement and retention with that of company goals and vision. It is essential that the workforce places customers at the centre of importance. Agility is brought about when employees tend to the need of the customers and adapt themselves to ensure high customer satisfaction. The HR department is responsible for inculcating this thought among the employees and encouraging them to depict high performance.

According to an article, HR agility mainly encompasses three aspects:

  • The ability to “identify the major issues and address them”
  • The ability to “reduce the time needed to mitigate the issue”
  • The ability to “apply analytics and implement design thinking for prediction and targeting the required audience for maximum success”

Thus, by incorporating flexibility, fluidity and agility, HR professionals can lead the organisation, irrespective of the crisis.

In conclusion, the human resource team plays an important role in guiding and developing the organisation to lead through challenges and crises. It is important that an organisation invests in human resource management to build a strong organisational culture, retain top talents, improve the talent pipeline and help employees upskill to contribute better to the company’s growth. Proper HRM in place also enables staying updated and gaining a competitive edge. Moreover, human resource management impacts the three most important aspects of organisations in the present day: flexibility, fluidity and agility. With a positive impact on these factors, an organisation is able to grow and develop successfully. Thus, HR professionals are crucial in leading the organisation through transformations and crises.

If you’re looking to enhance your organization’s HR strategy, look no further. Our team of experts is here to help you develop and lead your organization to success. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.