Human resource management facts for kids
Human Resources (HR) is all about managing the people who work in a company. It helps a business succeed by making sure its employees are happy, productive, and work well together. HR aims to get the best out of every employee so the company can reach its goals.
HR teams handle things like finding and hiring new people (recruitment), training them, checking how well they're doing (performance appraisal), and managing their pay and benefits (like health insurance or vacation time). They also help companies change and make sure everyone follows the rules, including laws about work and agreements with employee groups (like unions).
The main goal of HR is to make sure a company can succeed because of its people. HR experts manage the "human capital" – that's the skills, knowledge, and experience of the employees. They create and follow rules and plans. Some HR pros specialize in finding, hiring, training, and developing employees. Others focus on keeping good relationships with employees or managing their benefits.
Training and development teams make sure employees learn new skills and keep growing. This happens through special training programs, checking how well people are doing, and giving out rewards. Employee relations deals with problems employees might have, like issues with company rules or unfair treatment. Managing employee benefits means setting up pay plans, parental leave programs, discounts, and other perks for employees. Some HR professionals are "generalists" who work in many different areas, or they might work with employees who are part of a labor union.
HR started in the early 1900s. Researchers began to see how important it was to manage workers well to help a business grow. At first, HR mostly handled simple tasks like payroll and benefits. But now, with the world changing fast, HR focuses on bigger plans. This includes things like helping companies join together (mergers), finding and keeping talented people (talent management), planning for future leaders (succession planning), and making sure workplaces are fair and welcoming for everyone (diversity and inclusion).
Today, most companies want to keep their good employees and avoid them leaving. Hiring new people costs a lot of money and there's always a risk that a new person might not fit in. HR departments try to offer great benefits that make employees want to stay, which helps the company keep its best people.
Contents
How HR Started
Early Ideas About People at Work
The idea of human resources began to form in Europe in the 1800s. It was based on a simple idea from Robert Owen and Charles Babbage during the Industrial Revolution. They realized that people were super important for a company to do well. They believed that if employees were happy and healthy, they would do better work. Without healthy workers, a company wouldn't last.
HR became a specific field in the early 1900s, influenced by Frederick Winslow Taylor. Taylor studied "scientific management" to make factory jobs more efficient. He looked closely at how workers did their jobs to find ways to make them more productive.
Around the same time in England, Charles Samuel Myers started the National Institute of Industrial Psychology in 1921. This helped start the "human relations movement." This movement, especially through studies like the Hawthorne studies (1924–1932), showed that things other than just pay or working conditions could make workers more productive. For example, paying attention to employees or making them feel important could help.
Later, thinkers like Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg also helped show how important it was to understand people's needs and motivations at work. Their ideas helped build the field of HR.
HR Becomes a Formal Field
As businesses grew and laws changed, the way employers and employees worked together changed too. HR became a formal field, often called "industrial and labor relations." In 1913, one of the oldest HR groups, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), started in England.
In the United States, the first school for studying workplace issues, the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, opened at Cornell University in 1945. In 1948, the largest HR group today, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), was formed.
During the second half of the 1900s, companies started to see employees as valuable "assets." Because of this, "human resources management" became the common name for this job. The SHRM even changed its name in 1998 to reflect this.
Other names for the HR field include "talent management" or "people management." These names all point to the idea that people are a company's most important resource.
What HR Does
Key Business Functions
HR has four main jobs:
- Staffing: This is about finding and hiring new employees. HR teams interview people, check applications, and use networks to find the best candidates. They need to create good plans to attract talented people who fit the company's needs.
- Training and Development: Once people are hired, HR makes sure they get the training they need to do their jobs well and keep learning new skills.
- Motivation: HR helps keep employees happy and productive. This includes managing benefits, checking performance, and giving rewards. Good benefits, fair evaluations, and rewards encourage employees to do their best.
- Maintenance: This means keeping employees committed and loyal to the company. HR works to keep employees motivated so they want to stay and continue working hard for the company.
HR also makes sure the company follows all the employment and labor laws, which are different in different places. For example, in the United States, laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 set minimum wage rules. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects against unfair treatment based on things like race or gender. The Family and Medical Leave Act allows employees to take unpaid time off for family or medical reasons. Following these laws is a big part of HR's job to protect both the company and its employees.
In larger companies, there's usually a whole department just for HR. People in this department might specialize in different HR tasks, and leaders make big decisions for the whole business. Many colleges and universities offer programs to train people for HR jobs.
Career Paths in HR
There are many HR professionals around the world. The highest-ranking HR person in most companies is the Chief HR Officer or HR Director. This person usually reports directly to the company's CEO.
HR jobs generally fall into two types:
- Generalists: These HR professionals help employees directly with their questions and problems. They work on many different projects and need to know a lot about all areas of HR.
- Specialists: These HR professionals focus on one specific area of HR, like recruitment, training, or benefits.
Some people spend their whole careers as either a generalist or a specialist, while others try both before choosing a path. Being an HR manager has been called one of the best jobs in the U.S. because of good pay, job security, and the chance to help people.
Some people also work as HR consultants. They advise companies and help with HR tasks that companies might not do themselves.
Many people with advanced degrees in HR also become professors. They teach HR principles at colleges and universities and do research on topics like pay, hiring, and training.
How Technology Helps HR
Technology has changed HR a lot. It makes information easier to find, saves time on paperwork, helps businesses work globally, and cuts costs. Here's how technology has improved HR:
E-recruiting: Hiring Made Easy
Finding new employees (recruiting) has been greatly changed by technology. In the past, recruiters used newspaper ads or word-of-mouth. It was hard to reach many people or track all the applications. Now, with e-recruiting tools, HR professionals can post jobs online and track thousands of applicants from different places all in one spot. Things like interview feedback, background checks, and new employee paperwork can all be done online. This makes hiring much faster and easier.
HR Information Systems: Digital Files
HR professionals used to handle tons of paper, from transfer requests to tax forms. These papers had to be kept for a long time. Now, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) let companies store all these files electronically. This means less paper, more office space, and information can be found in seconds. Having all the information in one place also helps HR teams quickly look at data from different locations.
Training: Learning Anywhere
Technology also helps HR train new employees more efficiently. New hires can access their onboarding (getting started) and training programs from almost anywhere. This means trainers don't always need to meet new employees in person. Training in "virtual classrooms" allows HR to train many employees quickly and check their progress with online tests. Employees can learn at a time and place that works best for them, which helps them balance work and life. Managers can track training online, which helps avoid repeating training and saves money.
Learning About HR
Many universities offer programs to study human resources. The Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University was the first school in the world to offer college-level studies in HR.
Most business schools also have courses in HR, often within their management departments. These programs teach students the skills needed to be HR managers, including how to communicate well with people. As HR keeps changing with new technology, universities are offering courses that prepare students for the future of work.
HR Groups and Certifications
There are many professional groups for HR, and some offer training and certifications. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), based in the United States, is the largest HR group with over 285,000 members worldwide. It offers certifications like the Professional in Human Resources (PHR). The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in England is the oldest HR group, started in 1918.
Other groups focus on specific parts of HR, like recruiting or employee rewards. There are also academic groups, like the Academy of Management, that do research to find ways to make HR more effective.
