What is the Goal of Human Resource Departments?

Human Resource departments are now an important part of many companies—which is why it may come as a surprise to learn that the concept of human resources is actually far, far newer than the modern conception of a company. Why did the need for human resource departments arise, then? To simplify greatly, there are three general reasons: more competition in the hiring market,increased legal regulation of worker’s rights, and a rising need for efficiency. Here’s a quick breakdown of how each of these three factors help create a necessity for human resources.

Competition in the hiring market. As the modern economy creates increasingly specialized work, workers become more valuable—and thus have more power in the job market. Because the quality of employees can make or break a company, businesses quickly realized that it was in their best interest to attract the best employees possible. Human resource departments aim to accomplish this by promoting employee satisfaction, aiding in the hiring process, and mitigating potential conflicts between employees and management.

Legal regulation in the workplace. There are now dozens—if not hundreds—of local, state, and federal laws regulating the relationship between employees and management. Non-compliance with such laws can cause businesses to face fines and/or lose talent. Human resource departments take on the task of understanding all of these laws and making sure they are followed.

Increased demand for efficiency. The duties discussed in the previous two bullet points could potentially be handled directly by business owners/management—so why do human resource departments exist? Because those tasks are time-consuming—and business owners realized it would be much more efficient to simply create departments within their companies that handle such tasks for them.
Taking efficiency one step further…

Nowadays, human resources is one of the most commonly outsourced business functions. This is because businesses now choose to increase efficiency even more by outsourcing human resources entirely to companies that specialize in handling such work. If you think this might be the right option for your business, contact Precise Payroll today to learn more about the options we offer!