Top 10 Vital Roles and Responsibilities of an HR Manager: A Comprehensive Guide

The role of a Human Resources (HR) manager in any organisation is crucial as they play a significant role in managing the most important asset of a company – its employees. HR managers are responsible for ensuring that the organisation’s workforce is motivated, productive, and engaged. They are responsible for a range of activities, including hiring, onboarding, training, benefits administration, and employee engagement. In this blog, we will discuss the top 10 responsibilities and roles of HR managers and how HR software can help them streamline their work.

Workplace Policies:

Another essential role of the HR manager is to design workplace policies to ensure legal compliance and avoid conflicts. These policies must protect the interests of both employers and employees. Some common policies irrespective of the organization are:

•     Anti-harassment and non-discrimination
•     Attendance and leave policies
•     Standard operating hours and procedures
•     Rewards and benefits

HR managers must also ensure compliance with regional and federal laws while designing organisational policies, especially when the companies operate in multiple locations.

Payroll Operations:

Payroll processing for the entire company is a tedious task and involves several steps. HR department and its manager must account for all the required details for calculating employee payroll and maintain clear records for it. This also includes benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks. Apart from this, the HR manager must ensure that:

•     The entire workforce is paid on time based on their contracts
•     Managing employee benefits and processing them with salaries and considering the deductions
•     Tracking payroll legislation and ensuring compliance
•     Addressing any issues or inquiries related to payroll

Payroll operations also involve a close track of an employee’s benefits and rewards, which becomes the next role of the HR manager.

Rewards Management:

HR managers are also responsible for rewarding the employees for their performance, punctuality, etc. This is a way of motivating the workforce to do their job better. HR managers can consider various factors like other employee’s inputs, performance analysis, etc., to reward the workforce. Apart from this, they can directly ask the employees for the type of rewards that can further motivate them. For example, employees can be given a choice among bonuses, leaves, work timing, etc.

Promotions and Appraisals

Performance appraisal is a process of evaluating an employee’s performance annually and promoting or rewarding them. HR managers are responsible for its smooth execution by conducting performance reviews and setting goals. HR managers must clearly understand an employee’s role within the company to assess their performance and provide feedback if necessary.

Based on the performance review, the HR manager can decide to promote an employee, give an appraisal, or both. Also, the HR department must communicate the goals, expectations, and measurement criteria with the entire workforce. Smooth appraisals and promotions depend on the HR managers’ communication with the staff, understanding their responsibilities and requirements, and maintaining transparency.

Off-boarding:

Offboarding candidates also fall under the responsibilities of the HR manager. Any employee leaving the company would mostly disrupt the operations. So, proper planning is essential for offboarding too. The HR managers should conduct exit interviews to understand why the employee is leaving the organisation. It provides useful feedback for retaining an efficient workforce. Also, the managers can negotiate with the employees to retain them based on their input. In case the discussions aren’t fruitful, the HR department must immediately start looking for a replacement to meet workforce requirements.

Many HR professionals use various HR software available in the market to handle their responsibilities in an organized way.

Other roles and responsibilities of HR manager include:

Legal Compliance:

The HR manager must ensure that the organisation complies with all applicable laws and regulations. This includes managing employee records, ensuring that the company policies and procedures are up to date, and managing risk. 

Conflict resolution:

The HR manager must manage conflicts in the workplace. They should mediate disputes between employees, address employee complaints, and provide necessary support.

Diversity:

HR managers should also promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace by creating diversity programs. They must also ensure that the company’s policies and procedures promote diversity and inclusion.

Employee motivation:

HR managers are also responsible for employee engagement activities to keep them motivated. They can do so by creating a positive work environment, addressing employee concerns, etc.

Data Analysis:

HR managers should also analyse data related to employees, business operations, etc., and provide reports to the hierarchy.

These are the top roles and responsibilities of an HR manager in balancing organisational requirements and employee enthusiasm. HR managers play a vital role in creating a good workplace and providing the right resources to the companies. They are involved in every stage of the company and have a significant impact on business profits!