The Fundamentals of HR

Human Resources (HR) is a core part of any organisation. Many big organisations and multi-national businesses will have large departments dedicated to HR. However, HR management and basic HR functions will be critical to an organisation of any size. Human Resources relates to the most fundamental asset any organisation has – it’s people. HR is about the effective management and development of all people in an organisation.

The following CPD article looks to briefly explain some of the fundamentals of HR and basic HR concepts, and to offer some insight and guidance for individuals looking to build a career in HR or smaller organisations looking to gain more understanding of how to successfully implement and provide HR.

What is HR management?

Human Resources Management (sometimes referenced HRM) refers to a strategic approach to the employment, professional development and overall wellbeing of all people working in an organisation – its human resources. HR Management is about effectively maximising and enhancing the performance of the human resources within an organisation. In essence, it is about maintaining a balance between the needs and wellbeing of the individual and the wider objectives of an organisation.

HR Management will have responsibility for areas such as recruiting employees, handling employees concerns or disputes, dealing with compensation and benefits, establishing and maintaining company culture, overseeing workplace health and safety, and facilitating the training and professional development of employees. An efficient and effective HR Management will aid the workforce to successfully contribute to an organisations goals.

What are the core functions of HR?

The areas HR cover in an organisation can be extensive but there are fundamental core functions in all effective HR:

Human Resource Planning – It is important to define the staffing needs of an organisation. This requires profiling the kind of individuals needed for an organisation to fulfil its objectives. It will also involve future projections – how many and what type of staff will be needed in a 2-3 year cycle or perhaps longer. This requires an assessment of the current workforce along with monitoring areas like market trends, anticipated organisation growth and new technologies.

Recruitment - Many HR studies and thinking will define this as the most important HR function. An organisation is only as strong as its people. Effective HR will find the best methods for identifying the right individuals and ensure that skillful questioning and profiling are used during the recruitment process.

Additionally, HR has a crucial role in the onboarding process, ensuring new employees have relevant training and the required documentation and authorisation for the workplace. Ineffective recruitment can be costly for an organisation. The wrong individual can fail to achieve organisational needs but there is also huge expense in re-hiring and starting the recruitment process over again.

Benefits and Compensation – HR assumes responsibility for the administration of employee benefits and compensation. This will involve requirements such as establishing salary ranges, developing market competitive benefits packages, defining pay adjustments for promotion and achievement, and designing performance incentives such as bonuses and commissions.

Performance Management and Employee Engagement – HR ensures that employee assessment and review is administered in a standardised and fair way. This involves HR establishing evaluation systems that are measured, systematic and applicable to the whole organisation.

HR also plays a critical role in determining methods for monitoring and enhancing employee engagement. This can involve tools such as regular employee surveys and exit interviews to understand specific reasons for individuals leaving - potentially leading to overall improvements in the structures and culture of the workplace.

Training and Development – HR plays a crucial role in how an organisation develops its people. Investing in employees training and professional development is fundamental to meeting organisational objectives, achieving return on investment (ROI) and maintaining a motivated and fulfilled workforce.

In practice, HR will be responsible for determining budgets for training and development programs and deciding how they are allocated. HR must also identify skills shortages and weaknesses to ascertain what types of training are most beneficial. This requires a holistic approach, understanding what is required immediately, but also recognising what may be necessary owing to future growth and possible market changes. 

What are the basic HR concepts every HR professional should know?

There are many elements to being an effective HR professional but there are a few HR concepts, human resources basic knowledge and human resource management tips, that an HR professional at beginner level or beyond should know:

Be organised – With the many responsibilities that fall under the remit of HR, it is imperative to be organised. With different work streams at all times, it is important to have thorough filing systems, good record keeping and time management. For example, there is great value in allocating small periods of time simply to sorting to do lists or clearing emails.

HR professionals potentially deal with lots of varied, sensitive and complex staff issues, and very often they need to be dealt with simultaneously – good organisation skills can help manage this.

Clarity – Sometimes within HR, difficult and complex situations arise. This could be a workplace dispute or an unhappy staff member. In these circumstances, individuals may offer vague or contradictory information. The role of the HR professional is to always seek clarity. Focusing on facts is important and keeping a clear, open mind on issues and avoiding opinions. It is important to deal with a situation methodically and try to find the clarity at all times. Clarity is also important in training and onboarding – employees need to clearly understand overall expectations

Discretion and ethics - With the responsibility for the people in an organisation, HR will often encounter sensitive and confidential information. It is important to deploy discretion and a sense of ethics at all times. This could be a personal issue for an employee or important information about an organisation as a whole – HR professionals have to sometimes balance these different elements. However it is important that all people in an organisation feel they can communicate to HR in trust and without judgement.

Communication – Communication is fundamental in HR. This will be effectively communicating with management to clearly understand wider goals and objectives so they can be implemented strategically, but also good communication with all employees. The stronger and clearer the communication with the organisation as a whole, the more HR can understand their people and find the best and most effective methods for overall development and success.

The benefits of CPD for HR professionals

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) can be a valuable and effective way of learning the basics of HR and developing HR skills and knowledge. CPD is a holistic approach towards the enhancement of personal skills and proficiency throughout a professional’s career. CPD combines different methodologies to learning, which includes training courses, seminars, workshops, conferences and events, webinars and online eLearning programs.

The CPD Certification Service hosts hundreds of courses and events in basic HR training and basic HR training for Managers on behalf of our members. These would be beneficial for beginners looking to pursue a career in HR or small businesses and organisations looking to understand more about introducing HR. Please see the HR section of our website here to search for relevant courses.

There are also courses for more experienced HR professionals looking to develop their skills further, and CPD can offer benefits for individuals at all stages of their HR career. There is some more useful reading on CPD online HR courses here. CPD can also be valuable as a basis for implementing HR systems within an organisation. A commitment to CPD can form part of the training and professional development required as part of effective and successful HR. There is more explanation on the importance of CPD for HR in our previous article.

Where to find Human Resources CPD Courses?

Please visit the CPD Courses Catalogue where you will find thousands of training courses and events across industry sectors and subjects which would be suitable for any HR Continuing Professional Development needs. All of the certified providers, courses and training have been reviewed and recognised as meeting the required industry standards and benchmarks.

CPD accreditation for your HR and professional development courses

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.