Board of Directors

1. Introduction

Further to the recent organisation re-structure forecasting the closure of the HR department, the following report has been created to highlight the importance of the HR activities and the support it offers within the organisation.

This report highlights how certain HR functions can save the business a considerable amount of money. Although the HR department doesn’t increase revenue, it can add to the bottom line through cost saving measures, therefore it is crucial your HR department, along with its skilled HR professionals survives this planned re-structure and its existence remains in place for the future.

2. HR Function

The Human Resources (HR) function is concerned with the issues of managing people within the organisation. It develops, advises on and implements policies relating to the effective use of personnel.

Their aim is to ensure that the organisation employs the right balance of staff in terms of skills and experience, and that training and development opportunities are available to employees to enhance their performance and achieve the employee’s business aims.

The HR professionals have a clear understanding of the business objectives and are able to devise and implement policies which select, develop and retain the right staff needed to meet these objectives.

Not only do the HR professionals deal with staff welfare and administration centred activities, but they also deal with strategy and planning. The HR department add value to the organisation by analysing internal and external factors that threaten the future business to the company.

SWOT analysisPESTLE analysis

3. HR Activities – Supporting Strategy

HR professionals are involved in a range of activities required by the organisation, these cover areas such as Ensuring employee welfare and employee relations are positive Pay
Recruitment – the process of recruiting suitable candidates for the organisation Conditions of Employment
Negotiating with external work related agencies
Equality and Diversity
Identifying and meeting the training needs of existing staff Ensure the working environment is safe for employees
Raising awareness of current workplace legislation

3.1 Recruitment

HR acknowledge that recruitment is a critical activity, and all involved in recruitment activities are equipped with the appropriate knowledge and skills. It is crucial to the organisational performance for the selection of the right person. HR have saved time and money by creating the right job descriptions, notifying existing staff of internal opportunities, advertising, building relationships with recruitment agencies and recruiting the right candidate for future vacancies.

3.2 New Employee’s

Once the new employee has been selected HR:- check salaries of existing staff to ensure that new recruits salaries are in line with employees in a similar role, thus ensuring fairness and no grievances are raised. HR provide induction information packs to new starters; review company policies such as Health & Safety procedures ensuring employee awareness; gathering payroll information; explaining and obtaining signatures for benefit programs.

3.3 Employee Relations

Motivating employees is important to keep up performance and enthusiasm for the job involved. HR build relations with employees through internal interviews and questionnaires to provide a snapshot of current attitudes and practice. By analysing the data collected, HR can provide incentives to boost low employee morale. The use of the HR department as an intermediator between employees and management has allowed open communication between employee union representatives and reduced the likelihood of industrial action and this can, and has previously saved the company money.

4. HR – Supporting Line Managers & Staff
HR and Line Managers work together to find a balance that best supports the business and employees. Line managers are dependent on the HR function for assistance in knowledge sharing and facilitation.

4.1 Maternity Pay / Leave

HR have a responsibility to ensure they keep up to date with the latest legal implications regarding maternity, fostering, adopting regulations and calculating the correct amount of leave an employee is entitled to. HR keep the employee involved with work, so they feel less isolated by arranging social events for other parents on leave, such as coffee mornings, and playdates for those employee with young families. HR also arrange back to work meetings; keeping the employees updated with their role and company news; employees will return to work thus retaining skilled and experienced staff and no need to invest on training and recruiting.

4.2 Retirement / Pensions

Working alongside the Line Managers, HR make sure managers have the information they need to manage the performance of employees of all ages, including older workers. HR professionals ensure the Performance review of all employees to prevent the risk of unlawful age discrimination. HR analyse details when employees are approaching the age of retirement, ensuring Line Managers ask all employees where they see themselves in a year or two – this gives older workers an opportunity to talk about retirement planning, avoiding unexpected announcements and loss of productivity due to staffing shortages.

4.3 Maintaining A Safe Working Environment

Employees spend a major part of their daily life, at work. It is essential for them to have a safe and friendly working environment. It not only helps the worker to be more committed to their job, but also contributes to the company’s overall productivity. So, HR and Line Managers concentrate on providing the safe environment at the workplace by engaging employee involvement with regular training and updates. This ultimately minimises legal issues.

5. Conclusion

To conclude this report highlights the importance of the HR department, its purpose of supporting the organisation and how these functions can save a considerable amount of resource and money. Could you efficiently run the organisation without the skills and experience of the HR department? Who would the workforce turn to, if they had a grievance? Would Managers be capable of managing their own workload and also have time to keep up to date with new and constantly changing employee legislation, overseeing recruitment and employee relations?