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Career Planning: A HR Career!
from: John GrothCareer Planning: Human Resource Positions and overview of HR as a career.
In many organizations the Human Resource (HR) department is essential to the smooth day to day running of the organization. The department does the hiring, terminations, training, sometimes payroll, compensation, benefits, conflict resolution and a number of other key tasks. The career path of the Director of Human Resources is usually filled with someone with a background in communications, business, and the human resource field and employee relations.
Many start in this career field working in the HR department reviewing job applications, checking references, processing applicable hiring and termination paperwork, interviewing applicants, investigating work place problems, conducting meetings, new employee orientation and a whole host of other administrative matters. With experience the career may branch out so the individual is responsible for a specific section within the HR department: such as, compensation, benefits, safety, training, recruiting, written communications and other tasks required to keep the organization in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
The HR Director has the task of communicating with the employees and company executives. They and their department are the link between the employees and those running the company. In many organizations the HR Director is seen as the “conscience” of the organization. Often the director is passing on employee concerns to the executives and pressing for the best way the concerns should be handled.
However, there are many times that the HR Director will be placed in an awkward position with staff. The staff will come to the director with personal or work place problems and the director must be able to counsel that person appropriately. If it is a personal problem that is affecting their work, often their absence at work or their lack of productivity is noticed first. Then the problem is addressed because their work is slipping. Also if there are problems in the work place between employees it is the director’s responsibility to mediate and then try to resolve the conflict and find a solution. This can lead to other workplace problems if not communicated properly.
The Human Resource Director must try and remain impartial because they cannot be choosing sides of the argument based on personal feelings of one person or another. During conflict resolution there are often harsh feelings established and this is the difficulty of the profession. The other challenge of the HR Director is that because they are the person staff go and see with their problems, there is no one for them to go to with concerns other than the executives above them. That is really difficult because the problem could directly involve the executive they have to go talk to.
The positive side of the human resources position is that it is a secure and attractive career opportunity. There are still ample opportunities to be promoted senior management positions. It is also a position found in so many different work places that the skills learned in one company are relatively easy transfer to another company. The job allows contact with a wide variety of individuals and does not totally rely only on paper work or dry analysis. There are many attractive opportunities in this career field.
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