Human Resources and Recruiting Officer Job Description
Introduction
Since the turn of the century, the Human Resources landscape has evolved, resulting in the HR functions dispensed to a variety of professionals. Currently, the structure of HR has been redesigned in that it currently has five job classifications, such as:
- Human resource and recruitment officers (1223).
- Human resource managers (0112).
- Professional clerk (1415).
- Professional occupations in business management consulting (1122).
- Training officers and instructor (4021).
Each of the aforementioned works have certain obligations. HR manager (0112), one of the most popular jobs nowadays, is discussed in the paper with regards to responsibilities, working conditions, skills required among other issues.
Human Resources Manager (0112)
A Human resources manager (HRM) is tasked with the duties of guiding and managing the overall HR services, policies, as well as programs for small to mid-sized (SMEs) companies. The HR manager reports to the CEO and HR director. According to Arnold (2007), HR specialists cooperate with other operational managers on a variety of HR issues. Consequently, the HR executive offers solutions to the HR subject matter expertise in the areas of selection and staffing, training, compensation, as well as benefits, performance management scheme, employee engagement in addition to local compliance.
Major Activities or Responsibilities of the Position
A human resources manager has various responsibilities. The main duties entail administrating all organizational functions regarding the development and implementation of recruitment policies, staffing levels as well as conducting applicant examination, interviews, and selection processes and other related tasks. After recruiting and hiring the best candidate for a job , it is the task of an HR manager to guide the newly employed personnel to fit into an organization’s structure. Therefore, HR specialists are responsible for providing assistance, facilitation, as well as guidance for employees who have traits that are not aligned with an organization’s corporate values. HR managers are obligated to conduct a company-wide yearly performance analysis review to offer the best solutions to hiring strategies as well as the HR budget. These people are likewise obligated to make certain that all HR functions are operated within the labor regulations.
The Knowledge and Other Skills required for a Human Resources and Recruiting Officer
Excellent verbal and written communication skills. HR Managers are expected to demonstrate exceptional modes of communicating as they cooperate with different individuals including fellow executives, recruiting agencies and officers as well as other subordinate staff.
Excellent organizational, project, and time management skills. HR managers are expected to have the ability to organize, schedule, as well as execute their functions with precision and time consciousness. As indicated by Arnold (2007), hiring managers may or may not attain their goals if they do not get the right personnel at a specified time, a factor that is dependent on the HR manager.
Excellent presentation, training, and interpersonal skills. After hiring personnel, most organizations are structured to provide additional training to their staff for them to best fit the philosophy of an organization. HR managers are expected to posses interpersonal skills that would aid in developing an environment that encourages growth, learning, as well as teamwork.
Commercial awareness and effective adopting skills. The current HR environment is highly competitive and dynamic as more organizations use their human resources capacities as tools to outdo other companies. HR managers are expected to be highly updated and adaptable in dispensing their functions to achieve high efficiency.
Working Conditions
While performing the duties of an HR manager, the executive is exposed to significant technological work considering that a variety of HR tasks presuppose the use of computer. For example, recruitment can be done through Skype. Nevertheless, the executive is confined to the computer or the office for long hours because most HR personnel report to them. The position of an HR manager entails specific vision capabilities required by the job including the aptitude to analyze future happenings as well as expectations.
Part 2: Job Description
Job Summary
A human resources manager’s primary objective is to offer a relevant strategic approach to address the needs of the individuals working in an organization. Besides, the specialists are expected to provide the best possible HR strategies, plans, and policies that increase the efforts of all workers .
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
As presented by Desslerm et al. (2011), each Hr specialist is expected to perform the core functions of the department.
Resource hunting and recruitment. One of the primary responsibilities of the manager in this position is to hire personnel. An HRM is expected to understand the intricacies of the job posting, hiring, conducting interviews, conducting recruitment exams as well as offering clear-cut duties to potential employees. In the current environment, managers are expected to understand and execute strategies such as HR outsourcing within the educational institutions and recruitment agencies to increase the success rate for any organization.
Coaching the employees. HR managers are expected to train and offer orientation guidelines to their newly-employed personnel. During the initiation period, training involves induction as well as orientation lectures that enable the employees to understand a company’s culture. As cited by Leonard and Cook (2005), managers are also obligated to come up with proper policies that aid new employees to settle into their new positions and environments in the best possible way through organizational-wide training sessions that involve all employees.
Motivation and performance appraisal. Over the last two decades, motivation has become a primary tool for achieving effective employee performance. An HR manager is obligated to conduct lectures to inform employees on the growing competition conditions in the markets. Consequently, this enables the executives and workers to come up with the best motivational policies that would increase employees’ efficiency, a factor that triggers a higher organizational competitiveness. Besides, HR managers are expected to offer monthly or annual employee reviews.
Employee satisfaction and feedback. Performance of employees is known to be boosted when they are satisfied and motivated. Managers are thus expected to come up with the answers to questions regarding employee’s approval of the internal atmosphere in the company or any issues that may cause unrest among them.
Qualifications
Desslerm et al. (2011) indicated that there are two factors in reference to the qualification which allow an individual to be considered the best in their position, namely educational and occupational qualifications.
Educational Qualifications
HR managers are expected to hold a bachelor’s and master’sdegree in HR with a minimum of six years human resources experience. Additionally, as explained by Desslerm et al. (2011), it is preferable that these executives have vast experiences in at least two or more other professional fields, such as organizational development/change management, process improvement (Six Sigma preferred), compensation, and staffing.
Occupational Qualifications
Commercial awareness and adaptability skills. The current market dynamics require a quick-thinking, updated, and adaptable individual who understands the intricacies of HR functions that go beyond traditional methodologies.
Operational, organizational skills. Currently, all organizational executives are directly or indirectly involved in HR functions. Consequently, HR managers are expected to liaise with each one of them to meet an organization’s goals.
Interpersonal skills. As aforementioned, HR managers need to come up with the best performance analysis strategies, employee satisfaction policies, as well as budget estimations. Therefore, special interpersonal skills, such as communication, solving, motivational, etc. are required to achieve these goals.
Teamwork skills. HR managers are expected to have collaborative skills to help them develop an environment that would aid them in encouraging teamwork in different departments and levels of the organizations.
IT skills. Currently, most HR duties are computerized; for instance, many individuals present their employee profiles online. Consequently, HR managers are expected to have the necessary IT skills to evaluate the best personnel.
Efforts
Physical effort. The HR manager’s position has very limited physical movement as most HR staff members report directly to the executive’s office.
Mental effort. Various analytical responsibilities demand for significant attention. The HR manager is expected to liaise with all other HR personnel, develop policies, and help to execute each of them..
Emotional effort. Like in any other managerial position, HR executives are expected to remain calm in a highly emotional environment and to meet organization goals even under pressure.
Working Environment
While performing their duties, HR managers are exposed to significant work-related stress. A manager is responsible for most, if not all, HR functions, a factor that is stressful. Additionally, with increased organizational competition as well as the introduction of new competitive strategies, HR managers face various challenges that require staying at work for hours.
Part C: Labour Market Assessment
Over the last two-and-a-half decades, it has become more apparent the HR tools are significant for attaining a competitive advantage for any organization. The duties of an HR might be assigned to other specialists, a factor that might be perceived to make an HR manager’s work easier. The HR managers are currently facing more pressure than before as the HR market is multifaceted. Globalization has changed the nature of the demand for personnel significantly. As indicated by Effron, Gandossy, and Goldsmith (2013), organizations have a wider pool from which to source their preferred candidates because of the Internet. It is due to this factor that the phenomenon of HR outsourcing has taken precedence over the last decade. The demand for highly qualified personnel has augmented as corporations fight for staff members who can improve their competitive advantage, a responsibility that is bestowed on the HR manager. Additionally, with an increased personnel demand, legislation has been developed to protect workers. Currently, the phenomenon of cross-cultural HR has forced governments as well as HR administration bodies to come up with regulations that protect individuals of different races, gender, age, as well as religious background from any workplace. For example, since 2009 Walmart one of the US leading retailers has used HR strategies of gender sensitization and social classes in order to show equality a factor that aided in clearing the organization’s image (Powell, 2016). The prevailing market conditions have also affected the supply of labor. It may seem as if globalization has offered organizations a surplus in personnel supply; however, this is not the case. Competition has reduced the supply of highly rated employees. Additionally, employee retention is currently a factor of concern for HR executives because organizations are coming up with strategies to keep their top workers. For example, in 2010, Toyota US faced significant legal issues a factor that affected its staff negatively. According to a report by Reed-Woodard, M.A., (2017) about 65% of the employees at Toyota US indicated their dissatisfaction with the company. It is reported that the HR department invited top executives from Japan to deal with the social issues facing the company (Redshaw, 2012). This is an example of cross-cultural management as employed by HR.
Currently, factors such as cross-cultural management have also affected the supply of labor with managers investing in employees who they are easy to manage in relation to others. Therefore, managers are ready to not only employ on the basis of academic qualifications but also social or demographic trends.
In case the position of HR manager is to be replaced, the most significant recommendation is to hire highly rated HR subordinates, such as human resource and recruitment officers, professional clerks, professionals in business management consulting as well as training officers and instructor to keep an organization in good condition. The reason for this recommendation is based on the premise that ‘all managers are HR managers.’ Over the last decade and a half, operations manager have been involved in different HR functions. Issues regarding recruitment, training, staffing, and job description are not only based on the HR department but also other operational department. Therefore, to improve an organization’s performance, it is recommended that the other personnel create a link between the HR department and other departments. For instance, human resource and recruitment officers (1223) and professional occupations in business management consulting (1122) often take the lead in coming up with HR strategies such as HR outsourcing. However, it remains the mandate of the HR manager to execute such strategies with all liabilities falling on the executive.
References
Arnold, J. (2007). Managing careers into the 21st century. London: P. Chapman.
Desslerm et al. (2011). Chapter 3: Designing and Analyzing Jobs. Management of Human Resources – In-Class Edition, Third Canadian Edition. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education. Retrieved from http://www.pearsoncanada.ca/media/highered-showcase/multi-product-showcase/showcase-websites-4q-2012/dessler-ch03.pdf
Effron, M., Gandossy, R. P., & Goldsmith, M. (2013). Human resources in the 21st century. Hoboken, N.J: J. Wiley & Sons.
Leonard, E. C., & Cook, R. A. (2005). Human resources management 21st-century challenges. Mason, Ohio: Thomson Custom Pub.
Powell, S. (2016). Geert Hofstede: challenges of cultural diversity. Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 14 Iss: 3.
Redshaw, S., (2012). In the company of cars: Driving as a social and cultural practice. Virginia; Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Reed-Woodard, M.A., (2017). Globalization & the Automotive Industry. Network Journal.