While every aspect of a company is important, human resources (HR) is what keeps the door open. Good human resource management is essential for all businesses, which is why the HR team at GCS Malta has outlined the 7 core functions of HR in this article.

What is a human resources?

While it might feel strange to refer to your colleagues as ‘human resources’, human resources are all the people that work or contribute to an organization, making up the workforce. To have an effective human resource management system, many follow the 7 HRM basics:

  1. Recruitment & selection
  2. Performance management
  3. Learning & development
  4. Succession planning
  5. Compensation and benefits
  6. Human resources information systems
  7. HR data and analytics

These 7 HR functions need to be implemented to benefit both employees and business.

  1. Recruitment & selection

This is one of the most visible elements of HR since it’s a key HR responsibility to oversee the recruitment process. When there is a new vacancy, HR is responsible for the following tasks:

  • Advertising
  • Setting salary budget
  • Writing job description
  • Defining the requirements
  • Defining the needed skillset

HR can use different recruitment methods such as interviews, references checks and assessments to find the right candidate for the job. Sometimes, HR is also responsible for overseeing the onboarding process as well.

  1. Performance management

Performance management is a structure that allows employees to get feedback on their performance, enabling them to reach their best potential and performance and is usually a collaboration between HR and management. Companies typically work with an annual performance management cycle: planning, monitoring, reviewing and rewarding employee performance. Some methods for reviewing employees could be:

  • One-one-one performance reviews
  • Evaluation of peers/clients
  • More informal feedback

Having good performance management is essential since the outcome of reviewing employees can help you categorize workers as low/high potential and low/high performers.

  1. Learning & development

After onboarding, HR is responsible for the training and development of employees and providing the necessary tools to learn new skills and perform better. In turn, aiding employees to further their studies will make them feel appreciated at the workplace, encouraging employee retention.

  1. Succession planning

Succession planning is a strategy for replacement planning or passing on leadership roles. It is HR’s responsibility to create a talent pipeline from which qualified candidates can be chosen to fill senior positions in case of a resignation.

  1. Compensation and benefits

Compensation is the agreed-upon salary with each employee, while company benefits can range from pensions, health insurance, gym memberships etc. HR aims to create the best packages that benefit both employer and employee.

  1. Employee relations

Companies must maintain a safe work environment for all employees. The HR department is responsible for managing good employee relations. This is done in two ways:

  • By preventing and resolving problems between employees/management
  • By creating and enforcing policies to achieve a safe work environment

  1. HR data and analytics

In recent years, HR has moved towards a driven-data approach. Many HR keep track of data through HR Metrics or HR KPIs. This is crucial for any company since predictions can also be made through HR analytics, allowing your company to make more data-driven decisions.

Why GCS Malta?

At GCS Malta, our team of highly skilled Human Resources professionals can help you with various HR services as flexible as you require. Contact us today for more information.

Article by Sarah Jane Gauci