August 7th, 2022
What Does an HR Manager Do?
The most valuable asset of any business is its people, and the person keeping them satisfied is an HR Manager. As an HR manager, you oversee the administrative functions of an organization that relate to employees. You onboard new recruits, manage benefits and payroll, help mediate disputes, and communicate with employees about changes within the organization. If you’ve always considered yourself a people person, HR might be the field for you. Here are some of the responsibilities of an HR Manager:
Recruit and Hire Employees
When new positions are created or when employees leave the company, you help fill those open jobs. The first step is to draft job descriptions and post them on your company website and online job boards. You might also attend career fairs or host open houses and webinars to recruit job candidates. Then, you and your team review applications, set up interviews, and assist with the selection process. Once employees have been selected, you process their paperwork and guide them through the hiring process.
Train and Assist with Professional Development
After you hire new employees, you train them in your company’s policies and procedures. A new hire spends most of their first day with you as you walk them through employee expectations and guidelines, job duties, and internal processes. At other times, you may host professional development training to all employees. These workshops help employees freshen their skills, learn new technology, and build camaraderie with their teammates.
Payroll and Benefits
For every pay period, you ensure that paychecks are processed and issued correctly and on time. In larger organizations, you may oversee the payroll department, but in small organizations, you might be the one to handle payroll or outsource it to a contractor. This includes collecting timesheets or hours clocked, adding in bonuses or raises, and calculating taxes.
As HR Manager, you also coordinate the employee benefits package, which might include healthcare, vacation and sick time, retirement plans, stock options, and incentives such as tuition reimbursement. Periodically, you may need to update the benefits package to save expenses, attract new employees, or conform to new regulations.
Mediate Disputes
Not all employees will live harmoniously together in their work environment. And when conflict arises, it’s up to HR to find some happy middle ground. Mediation can resolve conflicts, build trust, and repair flagging team morale. With effective policies and people skills, you can prevent simple misunderstandings from escalating to serious problems. But when the problems are serious—like harassment—it’s also your job to put employees on improvement plans or dismiss them.
Communicate Policies
Internal communication is a key aspect of your job. When new benefits become available, or when company policies change, it’s your responsibility to share these updates with employees. You may send emails that welcome and introduce new employees to the team and announce upcoming company events and activities.
Governance and Compliance
You need to ensure that employees in your organization adhere to federal, state, and local laws and act when those laws or policies are violated. You investigate claims of harassment, fraud, or unsafe working conditions, and you protect employees who speak up from retaliation. You also ensure that your organization follows minimum wage regulations and that employees work the appropriate number of hours and take breaks when needed to comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act. When employees violate laws and policies, you follow up with disciplinary action.
Performance Appraisals and Termination
Employees should regularly be appraised of their performance. In a smaller organization, you may handle the appraisals yourself while in a larger organization, you make sure that the appropriate supervisors and managers complete them. You may answer any questions or concerns throughout the process, distribute copies of the appraisals to employees and supervisors, and keep copies on file. In cases where an employee is seriously underperforming or has caused disruption in the company, you may need to assist with a performance improvement plan or terminate their employment. Once let go, you make sure that they no longer have access to company accounts and information and delete their credentials from internal systems.
As businesses expand and compliance laws change, employment of HR managers is expected to grow. If you are organized, have strong communication skills, and like to work with people, you may already have the qualities of a good HR manager. But to qualify for a position in this field, you also need an education. A bachelor’s degree in human resources can help you polish your skills and learn the practical knowledge necessary for a career in business.
At Limestone University, we offer a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management that can prepare you for entry-level jobs as well as the Society for Human Resource Management-Certified Professional credential. Click the button to learn more.
Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
In the Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management program, students learn to manage the development of employees in organizations and to provide related services to individuals and groups. Students study personnel and organizational policy, human resource dynamics and flows, labor relations, gender roles, civil rights, and human resources laws and regulations.
