Role of Human Resource Department in Today’s Businesses:

While the role of human resource departments (HRD) shows considerable variation across organizations, almost all HRDs carry out several common activities, including the following:

•   assist the organization to attract the right quality and number of employees;
• orient new employees to the organization and place them in their job positions;
•  develop, disseminate and use job descriptions, performance standards and evaluation criteria;
•  help establish adequate compensation systems and administer them in an efficient and timely manner;
•  foster a safe, healthy and productive work environment;
• ensure compliance with all legal requirements in so far as they relate to management of workforce;
•    help maintain a harmonious working relationship with employees and unions where present;
•   foster a work environment that facilitates high employee performance; and
•  establish disciplinary and counselling procedures.

To meet these ever-increasing challenges such as economical, technological, political, social, demographic, legal, and cultural, human resource managers are expected to possess a number of competencies, including the following:

Business Mastery: HR professionals must know the business of their organization thoroughly and recognize and incorporate financial and economic realities into their analyses and decisions. They should understand and foster customer orientation and be familiar with external realities and challenges facing the organization and the larger industry.

Mastery of Human Resource Management Tools: As professionals, they should be familiar with state-of-the-art tools in areas such as staffing, training, compensation planning, performance appraisal and planning, employee relations and communication, and organizational change interventions.

Change Mastery: Not only should HR professionals possess an abundance of problem-solving, critical thinking, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, they should also be well versed in using these to bring about changes in the organization and its various subsystems. Strong communication skills combined with strong networking skills facilitate HR managers' attempts to influence others; reputation as a team player is a necessary prerequisite in most settings for successful change initiatives.

Personal Credibility: The HR professional should project an image of a trustworthy, ethical, socially responsive, courageous leader who can build relationships and inspire others to work for larger causes.

In your views what should be the role of the HR department in creating the company's work environment beneficial for employees?