There are times when HR employees walk into the office and employees get that panicked look on their face. As HR professions, we’re often the “corporate killers”; the ones who give the bad news, enforce the rules, or give people lousy raises. Let’s set the record straight, for most of us, this is the least favorite part of our job. It’s fair to say that most people got into HR because they were “people persons” and want to work for the greater good of the company and their employees. Delivering hard messages is never easy, especially for the people who value the work of their employees and want them to be successful. But someone has to do it and all too often, it falls to HR. While it may seem there’s a lot of negativity in HR, there’s also a lot that’s positive and good; we just sometimes need to be reminded.
- Hiring – There’s nothing better than making a good match between an open position and a candidate looking for a job. The candidate is happy and the company fills a need.
- Employee Relations – For many HR professionals, they love to solve problems and make people happy. Often, that’s what employee relations is all about. HR is able to listen to frustrations and facilitate the solutions with the goal of making the situation better for both the employee and the Company.
- Benefits – The positive side of benefits delivery is that HR is able to provide employees with medical, dental and other benefits that help keep them and their families healthy.
- Strategic Planning – HR is able to get involved in strategic planning as companies grow. Growth is a good thing as it typically comes with more profitability.
- Compliance – Keeping companies out of legal trouble is a major function for HR. The very nature of our rule following is a huge upside for the companies we support.
- Employee Events – In many companies, the fun stuff falls under HR. The summer outing, holiday party or lunches/breakfasts brought into the office. Who doesn’t love a little time to get away from the regular monotony of work?
The list could go on and on; HR is responsible for paying people, making sure everyone is safe, training employees, ensuring policies makes sense, building relationships… Let’s face it, without a solid HR department, a company is at a significant disadvantage and there’s nothing good about that!
