Human Resources - what does it mean?
Human resources has two meanings depending on the context. The original use comes from the political economy and economics, where it is called labour, one of the three main factors of production. The more modern usage within companies and businesses refers to individuals in the company and the portion of the company's organisation that deals with personnel or staff recruitment , training, record keeing and other personnel issues.
Human Resources (HR) in Business
Employees are the human resources in a company - as opposed to capital and equipment resources. Human Resources departments are responsible for all activities and polices that effect their employees. The HR department in any business is crucial to success - talented employees are a company's most important asset and a great competitive advantage. This is why HR executives are tasked with developing strategies to ensure their employees contribute to the company's success.
This is a difficult challenge, considering that the HR department must also improve efficiency and reduce operational costs while administering a vast amount of record keeping. Human Resource departments are responsible for:
- Staff recruitment and retention
- Staff training and development
- Employee records
- Time keeping and attendance
- Evaluating, creating and administering compensation and benefits
- Compliance to regulations
- Employee incentives
- Employee performance appraisal and evaluation
- Labor relations
- Ethics
- Health and safety
- Staffing of contract and temporary employees
- Payroll and tax record keeping