The head of the personnel department is one of the most important positions in the enterprise. This is due to the large amount of responsibility assigned to him: staffing the organization is a very difficult task. The main competencies of the head of the personnel department are recorded in a separate job description. What is its specificity?
The specifics of the position of the head of the personnel department
The job description of the head of the personnel department is a document that reflects the powers, rights and obligations of a person who performs such significant labor functions in the company. What is the specificity of this professional specialization?
The head of the personnel department is a specialist with sufficient experience to solve the problems associated with staffing his company with the right employees. He is also endowed with managerial powers: in his submission are human resources specialists, HR managers, and assistants. The job description of the head of the personnel department is a source in which a comprehensive reflection of the relevant specifics of the activities of the person performing the labor function in question is assumed.
Consider the structure of this document. Most often, any job description - the head of the personnel department in healthcare, construction, and industry - begins with general provisions. We study their features.
General provisions in the job description
This part of the instruction may contain provisions fixing the fact that the document is prepared in accordance with such and such sources of law. So, the job description of the head of the personnel department can be based on the Decree of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation No. 37 dated 08.21.1998, which reflects industry-wide characteristics of various positions of specialists.
The general provisions of the instructions may reflect the fact that the head of the personnel department is a managerial position. The document may contain formulations, according to which its purpose is to establish the rights, duties, as well as responsibilities characteristic of a specialist who performs the corresponding labor function.
General provisions that may contain the job description of the head of the personnel department may also reflect the requirements for a candidate for an appropriate position in the company. So, in many organizations, employees in the considered position must have higher education, as well as at least 5 years of work experience in the profile.
Qualification requirements
The next aspect of the instruction, reflected in its general provisions, may relate to the qualification requirements for a person working in the position in question. So, the points are usually fixed for which the head of the personnel department should know: legal acts on labor, methodological materials related to working with personnel, patterns typical of the labor market, the specifics of processing certain documents for legal consolidation of labor relations, the basis of office work, structure staff of your company.
Guiding sources
Another important component of the general provisions of the job description of the head of the personnel department is the wording by which the documents that are the key managing sources for the person in the position under consideration are determined. So, in many organizations, job descriptions state that the head of the personnel department should be guided by laws, the organization’s charter, and the provisions of local regulations.
The general provisions of the instructions also fix the mechanism within which a person is replaced at the position in question. So, the document may contain provisions on which the replacement should be based on the order of the director.
Another important component of the instruction is the provisions regarding the labor functions of the head of the personnel department. Consider it.
Labor functions
A typical range of functions of the head of the personnel department regardless of industry specificity can be presented in the following list:
- organization of a database in which information is recorded on personnel, on staff development, on mechanisms for finding new employees;
- participation in the study of the results of certification of employees, carrying out activities related to the implementation of the decisions of the commission involved in assessing the competence of company employees;
- organization of accounting for vacation schedules, ensuring its practical implementation;
- study of factors affecting staff turnover, work related to the strengthening of labor discipline, increasing the efficiency of employees using working time;
- the implementation of the necessary reporting procedures related to the main areas of activity, the preparation of the necessary documents intended for transfer to archival storage.
Of course, the job description of the head of the human resources department in healthcare will be supplemented by formulations that are not characteristic of a similar document for the industry. However, the specifics of the activities of people in an appropriate position allows us to generally apply standardized formulations in the preparation of the instructions in question.
Another most important component, which may include the type of source under consideration, is the job responsibilities of an employee holding the position of head of personnel. Let's consider it in more detail.
Job responsibilities
A typical range of responsibilities specific to such a position as the head of the personnel department can be presented in the following list:
- organization of team management procedures,
- Promoting the development of staff competencies;
- increase productivity in the organization;
- performance of key functions in the aspect of applying the practical provisions of the personnel policy of the organization, direct participation in their development;
- Creation of necessary documentation, preparation of recommendations, instructions, various proposals;
- record keeping within the framework of mechanisms that meet legislative criteria, which are enshrined in legal acts of various levels;
- ensuring a fair work load between the employees of their department, improving labor efficiency in subordinate structures;
- predicting the company's needs for new personnel, determining the channels through which the staff of the organization will be staffed;
- carrying out work with company employees in the direction of increasing labor efficiency, informing employees about new vacancies at the enterprise;
- training of personnel reserve for the enterprise - both at the expense of the organization’s internal resources, and through the use of external search channels for the right employees;
- Increasing labor motivation among company employees through material and other available tools;
- the implementation of the correct reception of new employees, the dismissal of employees, transfers of specialists between departments or to other organizations;
- preparation of documents necessary for accruing pensions to employees of the company and other support measures;
- updating of methodological resources of the personnel department, material and information base in the corresponding division of the company;
- the implementation of direct management of personnel of the personnel department through written and oral instructions;
- exercising control over the qualification level of personnel department personnel, helping to increase their level of competence;
- the formation of analytical materials relating to the situation in terms of supplying the enterprise with the necessary personnel;
- introduction and maintenance of mechanisms for recording employee time;
- interaction with other divisions of the company - for example, with accounting (for salaries, vacations);
- in the case of poor performance by employees of their duties - the application of disciplinary measures;
- compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation.
This is the range of basic responsibilities that may include the job description of the head of the personnel department. The sample list of relevant provisions considered by us, as in the case of labor functions, is fairly standard. It is used in enterprises operating in a wide variety of industries.
Rights of the head of the personnel department
Another important component, which includes the job description of the head of the human resources department - in construction, medicine, industry and most other areas - the rights of an employee of a company holding an appropriate position. Let's consider their essence in more detail.
The rights of the head of the personnel department can be represented in a rather wide range. Which of them can be called basic? An employee in the relevant position may have the right:
- to receive the information necessary for the implementation of their work (from management and other structural divisions of the company);
- to present ideas to top managers of the organization related to improving mechanisms for staffing the enterprise;
- to receive guarantees and resources from the management that contribute to the effective performance of official duties.
Another standard component, which may contain the job description of the head of the personnel department of the hospital, scientific organization, sports club, are provisions that reflect the employee's responsibility in the relevant position.
Responsibility
What are most often the heads of the personnel department responsible for? As a rule, this applies to:
- improper performance of labor duties, which are provided for by the job description (provided that its provisions do not contradict the legislation of the Russian Federation);
- offenses committed by the chief during the course of work - if they are provided for by the administrative, criminal or civil legislation of the Russian Federation;
- damage to the employing organization within the limits that are recorded in the sources of law relating to the civil and labor legislation of the Russian Federation;
- neglect of the requirements of the Federal Law "On Personal Data" and other sources of law approved in the Russian Federation - federal, regional, municipal level, local legal acts adopted in a particular organization;
- refusal to comply with the requirements of direct managers, expressed in writing - in the form of orders, various orders, instructions or orally.
Another component of the job description of the personnel department is provisions that reflect how an employee of the corresponding profile can interact with colleagues from other structural divisions of the company. Consider its specifics.
Interaction with other company structures
The wording in this manual can be very different. So, for example, in the corresponding part of the document it can be said that the head of the personnel department is obliged to work according to a schedule that is approved directly by the director of the company. However, in the part of the instruction under consideration, provisions can be fixed that the head of the human resources department can plan his work independently.

In some cases, a person in an appropriate position may have the right to endorse certain orders of the head relating to staffing the enterprise with specialists. The head of the personnel department can interact, as we noted above, with the accounting structures of the company - for the correct calculation of salaries, vacation pay for employees. Significant may be the interaction of a person in the considered position with colleagues in terms of information exchange. Such communications are possible in a wide range - with specialists from your department, other structural divisions of the company, and management of the organization.
Uniform standards and new in 2014
We noted above that the provisions of the job descriptions for the heads of human resources departments of organizations in different industries are generally uniform. The content of the relevant documents may not change. So, if at a particular enterprise the year in which the job description of the head of the personnel department is drawn up in 2013, the content of the source in question may not differ too much in its structure from the requirements recorded in the order of the Ministry of Labor indicated at the beginning of the article.

However, as new posts appear in a particular industry or economy as a whole, instructions of the type in question may be adjusted. This can be done both on the basis of updates in the legislation, and in accordance with the private initiative of the leaders of specific enterprises. As a result, the job description of the head of the personnel department, which is usual for company employees, can change very significantly. The year 2014 is interesting due to the emergence of a unique source - the Atlas of New Professions, developed by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, as well as the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo. It indicates the professions that may appear in the Russian economy in the near future. Job descriptions for them are probably yet to be developed.
National standards
It can be noted that in the aspect of national standards for the formation of documents of the type in question, there is relative unification. So, for example, in the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus and Kazakhstan, enterprises can take as their basis a completely uniform job description of the head of the personnel department. Ukraine is a state that in many branches of legislation also has fairly similar sources to those adopted in neighboring countries. This can be seen in various industries. In particular, this concerns the algorithms for the formation of such a document as the job description of the head of the personnel department. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia, legislation, due to the integration of economic processes, as many experts note, can become even closer.