A Comprehensive Guide To The Full Form Of HR In A Company

Updated 26 January 2023

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Most organisations include a range of specialised departments responsible for certain tasks that support the overall success of the organisation. While many of these departments may focus on serving clients or other external stakeholders, some of them are responsible for internal affairs and organisational operations. One of the most important examples of internally focused departments is an HR department. In this article, we define what the full form of HR in a company is, explain why HR is important, discuss the common types of HR employees and list the typical functions of HR professionals.

What Is The Full Form Of HR In A Company?

The full form of HR in a company is human resources. Human resources professionals are responsible for defining, building, managing and improving the labour workforce within an organisation. They address concerns, provide disciplinary action and improve the workforce to support the organisation's overall performance.

An organisation's HR department is responsible for managing its employee life cycle. This includes recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training and, if necessary, terminating employees. The department's ultimate goal is generally to maximise employee productivity to support the organisation's goals while protecting the organisation from any potential workforce issues that may occur.

Some of the key components of HR may include:

Creating and ensuring a safe work environment
Ensuring the organisation complies with labour laws
Maintaining strong relationships between employers and employees
Overseeing employee benefits and compensation
Professional development and training
Recruiting ideal candidates for proper jobs

Why HR Is Important?

HR is essential for creating and maintaining company culture. Company culture, or organisational culture, refers to the shared attitudes, goals, practices and values that characterise and guide an organisation. Developing and fostering a strong company culture is essential for helping employees connect with their work and motivate them to achieve exceptional results. This ultimately may strengthen employee engagement, which offers additional benefits like higher levels of employee satisfaction and reduced employee turnover rates.

Human resources professionals may provide other important benefits to their organisations, such as:

Fostering diversity: HR professionals are responsible for creating and maintaining the most effective workforce for the organisation, and this often requires seeking a variety of candidates. Some organisations may prioritise evaluating their current demographics to identify ways to improve, including how to best support all types of employees.
Improving communication: An HR department often serves as a liaison between employees and organisational officials. For example, employees may express their concerns to the HR department, the HR professionals discuss them with officials and the HR department explains how officials with address the employees' concerns.
Protecting the organisation: HR professionals are essential for protecting employees and, as a result, protecting the overall success of the organisation. While this is important so employees feel valued, it is also crucial for the good of the organisation because the company's labour force is one of its most important assets.

Types Of HR Employees

Each organisation has a unique HR department. Some organisations may favour HR professionals who focus on business duties and organisational operations, whereas other organisations may focus on HR professionals committed to improving employee morale and planning company events. However, some organisations may require employees to complete a combination of these tasks. Also, some organisations may use the job titles to create an organisational hierarchy within the HR department.

Some common job titles for the various types of HR employees include:

Employment specialist
Human resource assistant
Human resource coordinator
Human resource generalist
Human resource manager
Human resource recruiter
Human resource specialist
Recruiter
Recruitment manager

Main Functions Of Human Resources In A Company

Most HR functions relate to maintaining organisational operations and supporting employees. While the exact functions of an organisation's human resources department may vary, some common HR functions include:

Recruiting candidates

HR professionals are generally responsible for recruiting ideal candidates for positions with their respective organisations. This requires developing an excellent understanding of the organisation's needs, goals and present performance. Recruitment may involve performing market research, reviewing the budgets and consulting with stakeholders about hiring decisions. Following their research, HR professionals create and distribute enticing advertisements for the roles.

Hiring employees

In addition to recruiting new employees, HR professionals screen and hire candidates. They schedule interviews, and, depending on the organisation, they may participate in the interviews. Once they identify the right candidates, HR professionals create and extend offers of employment.

Onboarding new employees

In most organisations, HR professionals oversee onboarding new employees. This begins with providing them with all the necessary information for their first day of work and ensuring they bring the required paperwork. HR professionals may assist employees in completing new-hire paperwork, process legal documents and introduce the new employee to everyone within the company.

Related: Top HR Skills and Activities

Processing payroll

While some organisations may outsource their payroll or assign it to accounting professionals, others may delegate it to their HR department. HR professionals may be responsible for tracking the hours that employees work, determining taxes or deductions and calculating bonuses, raises and reimbursements. This often involves using a payroll service or software, but processes vary by organisation.

Overseeing disciplinary actions

A primary function of HR departments is often conducting disciplinary actions. This typically requires meeting with employees to discuss changes in their performance or possible violations of company policy. However, the goal of these conversations is often to help the employee resolve issues they may be experiencing, allowing the organisation to avoid using resources for recruiting and helping the employee improve their career. It may be difficult to have these conversations, so it is important for HR professionals to build and maintain good relationships with all employees.

Updating company policies

HR professionals review policies at least once a year, and it is important for them to update the policies as needed. In most organisations, HR professionals may require to propose policy changes to a variety of stakeholders to seek approval. They may recommend changes in response to employee situations or feedback from employees or based on outdated policies that no longer benefit the organisation or its employees.

Maintaining employee records

Most organisations maintain comprehensive records about each of their employees. While exact records may vary by organisation, they often include the necessary personal information and performance evaluations. HR professionals often use this information to learn more about employees and modify organisational operations accordingly. For example, they may use demographic data to identify a need so as to update hiring processes accordingly or they may evaluate employee qualifications to determine skill gaps, and develop learning opportunities.

Analysing benefits

For some candidates, the benefits an organisation offers may be the determining factor they use when deciding between two offers. As such, it is important for organisations to review their benefit offerings often. HR professionals may conduct research and ask for employee feedback to learn more about benefit offerings, then compare their findings to existing policies to identify opportunities for improvement.

Assisting with career growth

HR professionals may consult with employees about their short- and long-term career goals. This may help the HR department identify employees with potential for growth within the company and assist these employees in understanding how they may be able to progress within the organisation. This benefits organisations because they may be able to spend less on recruiting practices and employees may feel more supported at work, improving their engagement and performance.

Providing training opportunities

HR professionals may assist in developing training programs or implementing programs to provide continuing education opportunities. This may involve asking employees for feedback about their goals and skills they hope to develop. HR professionals may also consult with stakeholders and organisational leaders regarding how they feel the organisation could improve. Based on what they learn, the HR professionals may design and lead training programs or update employee benefit offerings.

Supporting and training managers

An organisation's HR department may be responsible for helping stakeholders identify potential new leaders for the company. They may consult with these employees about their potential for growth and provide them with training opportunities. HR professionals may also organise training events or retreats to help managers develop to support optimal organisational efficiency.

Ensuring health and wellness

HR professionals are often resources for employees any time they may need assistance. They may provide employees with information about company resources available to meet their needs or guide them to their other options for help. This allows organisations to reinforce how much they value each of their employees as individuals aside from their contributions in the workplace.