What is HR?

Do you know what HR is?

No seriously. Think about it. What is Human Resources? I'm guessing that the first things that came to your mind were hiring, firing, telling people off for not doing work etc. Basically the 'parent types' of an organisation.


People in HR constantly have to defend what we do - even though its such a huge field and pops up in pretty much every industry, people seem to have no idea what we do. Or they think what we do is meaningless - a 'soft' job if you will. Or what we do is just get in the way.

I was talking to someone the other day, who I just met, and I mentioned that I studied HR. He actually asked me, and I kid you not, 'You wouldn't have exams for HR would you? I mean theres nothing they can test you on'. I was so shocked I couldn't speak. How dare he imply my degree is 'untestable' and basically that my hard work is worthless?

So, in honour of the lack of knowledge of HR, I present to you....

Human Resources: What it is

 

' Human resources is the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals (i.e. the human resources).'

In any business, people are your greatest asset. No matter how good your computer system is, no matter how good your product is, no matter how pretty your office is, without people, you have nothing. This could be 1 person, 2 people or 200 people. Having a Human Resource specialist, to ensure you have the best people, who have the highest productivity, as happy as possible, thereby staying productive, and doing things the most profitable way, without killing themselves, therefore churning out the highest productivity, is pretty friggen important.

I will take a list from Wikipedia detailing what HR people do with my comments in italic:

• Maintaining awareness of and compliance with local, state and federal labor laws - yes, this is important, otherwise you are in breach of that thing called the law, and will be fined and spend time in jail. Have you ever tried to interpret an award, or a industrial relations law? Its not easy yet HR people know how to do it for you - and do it right.
• Recruitment, selection, and on boarding (resourcing) - this is hiring. Basically making sure you have the best employees in your business as possible, which will make you more money.
• Employee record-keeping and confidentiality - it is illegal to keep certain types of information and it is illegal to give information to anyone other than the employee in question (with a few exceptions). Record keeping is vital - how else are you going to know how much money you paid for that workers compensation claim, or how many warnings that employee has gotten?
• Organizational design and development - this is the processes that workers engage in, in order to gain the best outcome for the organisation.
• Business transformation and change management - in general, people don't like change. Change can cause negative outcomes for a business. HR manages people through the change, whether it be a new computer system or a whole new management system or shifting to a new department, and ensures the intended outcomes are reached. 
• Performance, conduct and behavior management - this is the naughty stuff. If you spend 90% of your time on Facebook at work - HR will get involved. They also ensure no one is behaving inappropriately, and on the flipside - recognise when work is being done well. If you are performing well and HR knows about, chances are it will come up in your next performance review and that could mean a promotion or pay rise. 
• Industrial and employee relations - negotiating with unions, making sure everything is legal, managing industrial action etc etc 
• Human resources (workforce) analysis and workforce personnel data management - you know when companies boast that 40% of all senior management are females? Or a workplace audit takes places and its discovered the company has been deliberatly hiring juniors to pay them less? And how the company knows everything about you - work history, medical stuff, performance reviews, salary etc? HR controls all of that info, and in the case of the audit, works to fix it by creating goals for workplace diversity 
• Compensation and employee benefit management - money money money, its so funny, in a HR world! This also relates to other non-salary benefits, such as a car parking space, or a fancy office, or a health care programme
• Training and development (learning management) - have your skills been lacking in something lately? Perhaps you'd like to move into a different area and need a certificate to do so? Or maybe a new system was implemented at work and no-one knows how to use it. HR will teach you what you need to know.
• Employee motivation and morale-building (employee retention and loyalty) - Many people feel a bit blah at work. Unless you truly love what you, which lets face it, not a lot of people do, it can be hard to stay motivated. HR makes an effort to keep employee motivation up through various initiatives, and working with the management team.

So you see, HR is a real discipline and is vital for all workforces. Without your people, you don't have a business, but without HR, you don't have people. Or you might have people but they are incorrectly paid, unmotivated, untrained and severely lacking in compliance.

To this end, I would like to shout out to the guy who asked me whether or not there were exams in HR:

FUCK YOU

When I'm sitting on a recruitment committee and you come looking for a job, guess whose not going to get it?

Book Club!

Hi everyone

So Stephanie and I had our first bookclub meeting :) 

We have the blog all set up. Its called On The Shelf, and I think it looks FANTASTIC! Kudos to Stephanie and her design skills, as I don't have a creative bone in my body :)

We have a blog badge, but no books yet.

If you have a book you'd like us to read, please let us know and we will endeavour to put it on the list. Please join up and read along with us, or just comment. 

Check out the blog here.

I know I have neglected you all lately, but this is soon to change I promise! Uni is just crazy busy at the moment, and I'm barely having time to sit down and work out what I'm doing. Right now, its an essay on how the media portrays (inaccurately) scientific research. I promise you all a proper blog post soon.

Until then, much love and I hope to see you On The Shelf

Ashleigh 

Semester 1, Here I Come

Hi everyone


So Semester 1 is upon us. I have just finished up volunteering at Orientation Week, catering to the new students on campus. There were laughs, tears, stress, new friends made, things learnt, fun campus tours. And that was just me. I can't remember what my orientation was like, it all went past in a blur and I'm sure the 2010 commencing students will be much the same. 


I loved volunteering. I loved taking everyone on a campus tour, pointing out the 1st, 2nd and 3rd most important buildings on campus (The Tav, Asian Food Van and Library.... in that order). Then at Festival Day (held on the Friday and just a chance for everyone to let their hair down) I was the jellybean girl. I walked back and forth in front of the First Year Experience stall yelling 'Jellybean! Jellybean!' and giving away heaps of the little sugar bites. People took my photo. Yes I was that famous. I was also recognised from my awesome campus tours a couple of times. 


Plus I handed out about a gazillion of student cards. That was.... ahem..... fun. 


Now I am anxiously waiting on 2 things. A) my results from the summer unit I took. I'm pretty sure I passed, but you always have that niggling doubt until you see the little black letter on your screen. B) for the phone call saying 'Yes we would like to offer you a graduate position based on your awesome work as a vacationer', or 'Unfortunately, we will not be making an offer at this time. All candidates were very strong and we wish we could have all of you, but there is only one position available'. 


Kill me now. The wait is frustrating. 


And Semester 1 begins on Monday. I have an epic timetable this semester. Uni for 1/2 of Monday and 3/4 of Tuesday. Thats it. Yes you read correctly. I am stoked. I'm going to work on Wednesdays and Thursdays and use Sunday as my 'do readings before class and catch up on crap' time. Possibly with a trip to the Fremantle Markets for my weekly food shop. 


Speaking of, I am doing this tomorrow. My friend and I will catch the bus down, have coffee on the cafe strip, chat, then do some shopping in the Fremantle Markets. Semester is beginning, therefore the time for healthy eating is here. I pay extra attention to my diet during semester because I know getting sick will have dire consequences. Plus I feel like I teeter on the edge of a mental breakdown half the time anyway, so having anything extra to worry about is just NOT an option.


I am feeling that teetering right now. Every semester I feel like I barely hold it together (although I do still get good grades) and I always worry 'is this the semester I won't make it through?'. I'm sure its not, but it always feels like the end is never in sight. But it is! 18 months and I am finished. This time next year, I will be looking at my final semester at uni. Then real life begins right? 


Anyway, I'm going to continue on my reading about Employment Relations, then move onto Safety, Errors and Accidents, and Developmental Psychology. As well as getting myself organised e.g. assignment dates in diary, books organised etc.


Much love


Ashleigh