Advantages of Human Resources

Alicia Griffiths

English 135

Fall B

January 12, 2005

Max Messmer says that “Most people in business agree that being sensitive to – and doing your best to meet – the people needs of your employees is in your best interest as an employer” (7).  The human resource manager is responsible for applying “practice and policies” of the company and how these relate to your employees’ “welfare and morale” (Messner 7). 

Over the last few years there human resources has become a very important field within companies and organizations.  The law has changed a lot over the years to protect the employees at work.  Think about the early part of this century, the wages were low and employees worked an enormous amount of hours.  Children of all wages used to work in the factories.  Coal miners were exposed to conditions that proved to be fatal by working in the mines.  In more recent years, women were paid less than men.  Sexual harassment was a norm.  Managers used to smile on sexual harassment occurrences instead of the severe punishment that will occur in today’s workplace.  The emergence of laws that protect the employees and the rise of human resource departments have helped reduce and eliminate these practices that were found in yesterday’s workplace.

Am I going to get sick or die from working in these conditions?  Why am I at work instead of at school?  Is it okay for my boss to come on to me in a sexual manner?  Why is that man getting paid four times as much for the same job I am doing?  These are not questions that today’s workplace normally asks.  They were questions that previous generations of workers probably did ask themselves on a daily basis.

The increasing number of laws and focus to protect the employee in the workplace has driven up the demand for human resource specialists and managers in recent years.  This is evident in the number of workers who have chosen human resources as their career field.  A great example of this increasing number of workers in the field can be found within the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).  According to the SHRM web site, the organization was founded in 1948 with 28 members and has grown to over 190,000 members today.  This is also prevalent with the increasing number of universities that have added coursework and degrees in human resources.

In the modern business world, human resource management plays a critical and beneficial role.  Kathleen Barclay, Vice President of Human Resources of General Motors, tells us “my view is that there has never been a more important time in any company to have a very strong, active HR organization. HR can have so much impact on the way the company works, how the culture feels, and the type of talent you have both now and in the future" ( 26).  There are many benefits in using human resources.  These benefits outweigh the disadvantages that some people may have with human resources.  These benefits, according to Max Messmer, include: staffing, federal and local law compliance, policy enforcement and benefit management (1).

The first benefit of human resources is staffing.  What do we mean by staffing?  Staffing takes into account many aspects of a business.  Human resource department will analyze or get feedback from departments when they need additional help.  The human resources department, or recruiters within the human resources department, will start searching for people to fill these needs.  The staffing process begins with finding and hiring the right people for the job.  Jennifer Schramm says that background checks have become more common in today’s business world since the costs for these have gone down (Schramm).  This process may be done by the human resources department, recruiting department within human resources or it may be outsourced.  The next step with staffing is retaining employees.  Anne Kniffen says that “Creating a healthy and more efficient work environment includes addressing basic issues innate to any habitable space” (Kniffen).  Another aspect of staffing is termination or layoffs.  Unfortunately, these are facts of business.

The next benefit of using human resources is making sure that a company is operating within federal and local laws pertaining to employees.  Over the last century, there has been an enormous amount of laws passed to protect an employee.  These laws can apply to several aspects of the workplace including: interview process, equal rights, work conditions, and termination processes.  Can you imagine getting fired because you are pregnant?  This is just one example of how laws have changed over the last century to protect the employee.  It is human resources responsibility to make sure that they understand these new laws and that the company or organization is adhering to these laws.

The next benefit for human resources is ensuring the organization’s employees are adhering to company guidelines and policies.  This is a critical area for organizations.  They need people to help train, or set up training, for current and new employees on company policies.  The human resource department usually gets involved if an employee or manager has violated company policies.  Many times they act as a mediator between the two parties involved if there is a dispute or disagreement.  “The importance of the role of the Human Resource professional in understanding and interpreting legal decisions and legislation is fundamental in our increasingly litigious society” (monster.com).

The last advantage to human resources is benefit management.  Human resource departments help review and implement benefit programs for the company.  Benefit management could include education, changes, and selection of companies to offer benefits.  Human resource departments usually get trained on the benefits there company offers and they train the employees on these benefits.

The only real disadvantage for human resources is cost.  Many companies see human resource personnel or departments as very expensive and a waste of time.  It does cost money to hire employees or outsource human resource personnel.  This cost can be easily justified.  A justification of this expense could be a wrongful termination lawsuit.  An employee is fired for the wrong reason.  They are not performing up to company standards, but the employer does not take into account that the employee is eight months pregnant.  They terminate her without offering time off provided by Family Medical Leave Act.  This employee could easily take the employer to court and sue for lost wages and damages that could have been avoided if they had used a human resource professional that would have informed them of this.

As you can see from above, the advantages of using human resources far outweigh the disadvantages.  This has led to tremendous growth for human resource professionals.  This is one of the reasons I have chosen human resources as my new career field.

Works Cited

“About SHRM.” SHRM Home. 5 Jan. 2005.

     <http://www.shrm.org/about>

Caudron, Shari. "HR is Dead Long Live HR." Workforce Jan     2003: 82. :26-31.

ProQuest. 19 Jan 2005.

<http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=8&did=275296701&SrchMode=1&sid=

2&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=11061

89215&clientId=8189>.

“Employment Law/Employee Relations/Government Related.” Monster.com. 16 Jan.

2005. <http://humanresources.about.com/od/legalissues/>

Kniffen, Anne. "Workplaces that Work: Increasing Employee Retention and

Satisfaction." HR.com. 16 Jan. 2005. 16 Jan. 2005

 http://www.hr.com/fpSearch.aspx.

Messmer, Max.  Human Resources Kit for Dummies.  New York: Wiley Publishing,

            2001.

Schramm, Jennifer. “Background Checking.” SHRM.org. January 2005. 16 Jan. 2005

            < http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/0105/0105schramm.asp>.