To understand what a personnel department is, you need to study the features of its work, the main functions and structure. But speaking generally, such units take part in the personnel management process. The efficiency of the enterprise depends on them in many respects.
What is a personnel department?
This terminology is used to determine the structure within the company, the key task of which is to help achieve the goals of the organization by selecting the necessary specialists. Also, the personnel department contributes to the most efficient use of the experience, working capacity and qualifications of employed workers. Thus, they take part in the personnel management process within the enterprise.
If we talk about the work of this structure in more detail, then we can distinguish the following tasks, the implementation of which it is engaged in:
- Search, selection and hiring of staff in the right amount and with the necessary qualifications. Interviews are conducted and the necessary documentation is drawn up.
- Development of career plans for employees. Employees are allocated to specific positions: they can be promoted, demoted, and also reassigned.
- HR technology development. It is planned to replace specialists in managerial positions, improve the skills of employees, etc.
- Formation of an effective system of full-time employees. The scheme of promotion of specialists on the career ladder is being developed.
Moreover, all activities of the department should be consistent with the requirements of labor legislation.
Structure
A full-fledged personnel department consists of several main and auxiliary units. We are talking about the following functional separation:
- staff recruitment;
- Labour Organization;
- studies of the socio-psychological climate;
- staff training and retraining;
- safety and labor protection;
- promotion and career planning;
- motivation, including financial incentives for employees;
- assessment of reserves, certification and rationing of labor.
In small companies, some of the departments may be missing.
Functions
Understanding what the personnel department is will be easier if you look at the features of its work.
The functional side of the work of such structures is reduced to the personnel management of the company, taking into account the formed strategy of the company. Also, the personnel department determines the need for the company in the staff at the moment and in the future. Based on the data received, new specialists are recruited and evaluated.
To increase the efficiency of the process, recruitment criteria are being developed. It also optimizes the ratio of internal and external involvement of staff.
Studying what the personnel department and its functions, you need to pay attention to such a direction of work of this structure as advanced training of company personnel. This is a necessary measure to achieve the strategic goals of the enterprise. This task is performed by initiating the following processes:
- selection of the most appropriate form of training for employees during continuing education;
- determination of forms, terms and principles of personnel certification;
- organization of retraining and training of employees of the enterprise;
- planning of various measures necessary to improve the skills of all employees.
It is necessary to touch on the issue of dismissal in order to fully understand what the personnel department is. Specialists of this structure in the enterprise have to periodically dismiss employees.
As part of this process, actions such as:
- selection of suitable options for the release of employees;
- providing social guarantees to those employees who are leaving;
- analysis of the reasons for the release of staff.
Construction work and costs
The personnel department is obliged to build and organize the work that is needed to implement key processes: the definition of jobs, the formation of technological and functional relationships between them, and the provision of necessary working conditions. The implementation of these tasks is inevitably associated with such actions as:
- conducting operational control over the work of personnel;
- creation of favorable working conditions;
- implementation of short-term staff development planning (qualification-professional);
- determination of the content of work at each specific place.
The responsibility of the personnel department includes planning the costs of personnel and social services that are provided to him.
Control
The main function of the personnel department is personnel management. For its implementation, specialists of this structure use the following methods:
- Administrative and legal. With their help, such types of influence as administrative, organizational and disciplinary are carried out. This also includes administrative fines.
- Organizational. Their essence is reduced mainly to job planning.
- Economic. These methods include material incentives, determining the minimum amount of labor, economic accounting, privileges and guarantees.
- Socio-psychological. It is about social and psychological research, as well as planning.
All methods are used taking into account the specifics of a particular enterprise.
Planning
Any organization periodically makes calculations to determine the level of necessary resources. Personnel planning within the framework of such analytics is one of the main elements of the overall system. It, in the end, allows you to provide the company with all the necessary specialists in certain positions and at the right time.
Planning must be carried out in the following areas:
- recruitment;
- optimization of the composition of specialists;
- staff costs;
- staff development;
- training;
- staff relocation and reduction;
- use of specialists;
- staff retention.
Such planning is carried out in order to achieve the following goals:
- the most efficient use of staff potential;
- providing the company with the necessary labor;
- receiving and retaining new employees in the team;
- determination of costs for the maintenance and hiring of personnel;
- identification of possible problems that may arise amid excess or lack of staff.
The first thing that determines the human resources department as part of the planning process is the factors that influence the organization’s need for staff. We are talking about jobs, technologies used, the number of products that are produced, and enterprise development strategies.
The staff itself can be divided into 3 main categories:
- employees, including various levels of leaders;
- technical staff;
- workers (qualified specialists of auxiliary and basic professions).
Chief Responsibilities
The head of the structural unit, for example, the personnel department of the hospital, should distribute responsibilities among employees and monitor their implementation. Such a manager is obliged to know all the facets of the hospital (or other institution) in order to notice gaps in the organization of labor processes in time. It is the manager who is responsible for the performance of the entire department.
His responsibilities also include the endorsement of documents and verification of the legality of their completion. Thus, if the specialist is mistaken, then the manager of the unit will be fined.
The head is also developing a HR strategy for the company.
Documents
Information on working with official documents will also help to understand what a personnel department is. Registration under the code of hired workers is complemented by the need to compile planning tables. The latter are often used at state-owned enterprises to enter information on the accounting of experience, change of ranks, etc. Any such change should be accompanied by an order.
It is necessary to write and approve the provision on personnel service. It is used to fix the rights, duties and functions of department specialists. In addition, a work plan is being drawn up.
Human Resources
For a clear idea of what the personnel department is at a university or other institution, you need to pay attention to the features of the interaction of this unit with the personnel of the company.
To ensure that communications in the work team are at a high level, a study is made of the personal and business qualities of employees. Based on the data obtained, characteristics are compiled, followed by the transfer of specific specialists or the reallocation of responsibilities, if necessary.
The personnel department also conducts disciplinary action. Before applying specific measures, specialists of the unit study the misconduct of employees, correctly draw them up and inform the employee of the situation.
It is important to take into account all the legal subtleties in the process of compiling such documents.
A competent approach is also necessary in the case of rewards. There are certain restrictions on each of them.
Conclusion
The main function of the personnel department is to identify the need for specific specialists, their search and subsequent design. Fulfillment of such duties entails a large amount of work, since it is necessary to correctly evaluate potential employees and correctly distribute them among various positions.