This is how you keep track in your HR department

1. What is a human resources department?
2. Why does a company need a human resources department?
3. What goals does a human resources department pursue?
4. What are the tasks of an HR department?
5. What jobs are there in a personnel department?
6. What organizational structures are there in a personnel department?
7. How is an HR department structured and what is the ratio of staff to HR staff?
8. Which HR software is recommended for an HR department and which HR software simplifies HR administration?

She guards secrets like few others, she sits behind one of the most knocked-on doors and has oversight and responsibility over the most important resource of a company - human capital. Of course, we're talking about the human resources department. But before you start yawning, thinking the HR department is all about administration and rummaging through analogue files, be prepared for what this area has to offer.

If you want to know what a human resources department is, what tasks they take on, and what jobs to aim for, if you want to get a glimpse into the structures of the HR department, and if you're interested in which exciting software solutions can make HR professionals' work more efficient, then you'll get comprehensive answers to all these questions right here and now.

What is a human resources department?

The Human Resources department of a company, often referred to as the HR department, deals with all relevant employee topics and is available for any personnel queries. Considering that the HR department bears the responsibility for the most important resource of any company, the importance of this department becomes clear quite quickly.

Why does a company need a human resources department?

Very small companies with a low number of employees often manage without an HR department. The most basic tasks are then taken over by a person in addition to their normal work, and anything that can be outsourced is handed over. Therefore, you may wonder why a company needs a human resources department at all. Indeed, the role of the department should not be underestimated. First of all, it makes sense to have a point of contact or several points of contact who can answer all personnel questions and inquiries. Without an HR department, once a certain number of employees is reached, hardly anyone has an idea of how the company can attract and convince new employees. For you to receive your work contract including individual agreements for signature and for your first day or first week at a new company to go smoothly, planning and implementation is needed, much of which is often taken over by the HR department. As you can see, the HR department has more than just a reason for being.

What goals does a human resources department pursue?

The HR department often finds itself caught between two stools. Employees' needs and wishes are just as high on the agenda as the company's economic goals, and both are to be fulfilled and achieved equally. Both management and employees want to be satisfied. While management focuses on increasing revenue and cutting costs, besides a balanced work-life balance, salary, competent leadership and job security are key to the employees, according to the 2018 Deloitte European Workforce Study. Thus, the HR department can advocate for benefits and variable salary components, introduce development opportunities (for managers), and promote regular employee appointments. Because: satisfied employees work more productively, have fewer sick days and stay with the company longer. The HR department can therefore contribute to reducing or maintaining a low employee turnover rate through measures to motivate and retain employees. This, in turn, means that less budget has to be invested in recruiting new staff, i.e., costs can be saved.

What are the tasks of an HR department?

Now you have already gained some insights, but let's get a bit more specific. You are probably wondering what employees in an HR department do on a daily basis, i.e., which tasks are performed in the HR department.

The tasks in an HR department are diverse and are sequenced across the entire employee life cycle. Most HR department tasks can be clearly presented using the following phases in the employee life cycle.

Source: https://job-wizards.com/de/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/JW_graphic_tt_EMPLOYEE_LIFE_CYCLE_DE.png

Attractiveness and attention

Let's start with Attraction, i.e., how to make the company attractive to potential applicants and draw attention to itself. In this context, you're sure to have heard of Employer Branding. This area of responsibility deals with the strategy of positioning oneself as an attractive employer and standing out positively compared to the competition. There is, therefore, also a connection to recruiting. Important channels for Employer Branding include the company website, social networks such as LinkedIn, XING and Instagram, for which relevant content must be created, but also job fairs and university fairs, which must be prepared and implemented by the HR department.

In fact, Employer Branding is not only directed outwards, as one might initially think. Employee retention is also part of Employer Branding. But more on employee retention in the section below.

Recruiting

In a nutshell, recruiting is about acquiring new employees for the company. This department is often referred to as Talent Acquisition. If you think Recruiting only involves reading applications and conducting job interviews, you're very much mistaken. What tasks are involved, we'll tell you now.

Recruiting new talents is also based on personnel planning, also known as personnel requirements planning. Among other things, this includes planning how many employees with which qualifications are needed in the short, medium and long term in order to achieve the company's goals.

Now to the recruiting process including the associated tasks:

First, a job advertisement for the open position must be formulated. This is done by the HR department in consultation with the respective department, as this department knows the exact requirements for the position to be filled best. After that, the job advertisement is published and communication via the company's various channels begins, as well as on job boards. In addition, many recruiters do active sourcing, i.e., actively searching for and approaching potential employees, mostly through channels like LinkedIn and XING. Also for very important and/or difficult to fill (leadership) positions, external agencies, also known as headhunters, are often used. Their work also involves actively approaching suitable candidates.

After (hopefully many) applications have come in, they are screened in the first step in order to make a pre-selection. Some companies use AI tools for this step, which filter the candidates according to set criteria and thus make a selection. This is followed by job interviews, which can extend over several rounds. The HR department is responsible here for including the right interview partners from within the company. For the interviews, objective criteria should be established in advance to ensure candidates can be compared. Many recruiters often rely on their gut feeling that a candidate is (un)fit. In addition, in many cases, tasks known as case studies are added, which the applicants must work on and subsequently present. HR department staff in some companies also conduct personnel diagnostic tests, which can be a great help in selecting new potential employees.

If the candidate was able to convince, the recruiter makes an offer and prepares the employment contract with the negotiated terms. Ideally, the recruiting process ends, of course, with the acceptance and signature of the contract, so that HR can prepare for the entry in the next step.

In order to evaluate recruiting, it is measured by various KPI’s. This article tells you what key metrics recruiting can be measured by.

Onboarding

Once the new employee has signed the employment contract, the onboarding process begins, i.e., the integration into the work environment and the introduction to the new tasks. Onboarding is given great importance because the measures in this period largely determine whether an employee quits during the probationary period or stays with the company beyond that.

During the period between the signing of the contract and the newcomer's first day, there is a continuous exchange with the new employee. A new employee should continue to get the impression before their first day, that they made the right decision. Already first information can be provided for example about the first day, so he/she has an idea of what to expect on the first day.

In order to collect all data, information and documents, a personnel file is created. Of course, this is possible in the classic way, analogously, but various software programs already offer digital options. Among others Personio.

Internally, the HR department informs the IT department so that all work materials, such as a laptop, are provided. Also, access rights must be granted. Thus, it is important to keep an overview of the various onboarding tasks including responsibilities.

The first impression counts on the first day of work. Good preparation is, therefore, essential. The HR department informs colleagues that someone new is starting, all work materials and perhaps a small gift are ready at the workstation. The HR department plans lunch dates for the first week, for example, where the newcomer can get to know the colleagues. There are various ways to make the start a success. The HR department can budget part of the available budget for the onboarding of new employees and continually develops the process if necessary. Part of the onboarding process can be to gather feedback from the newcomers in order to optimize the steps in the onboarding process based on this.

To prevent the startup of several new employees at the beginning of the month from ending in chaos, onboarding software can be useful. Which software is right for your company naturally depends on your requirements and needs. Here you get an overview of 7 outstanding software for your onboarding.

The end of the onboarding process often marks the end of the probationary period – in most cases, this is after 6 months.

Employee retention

Winning employees is one thing, keeping them is another. Therefore, employee retention plays a vital role in HR departments. They strive for the appropriate measures. To do this, it is important to find out what the employee values so that a real added value for the employee is created individually. Employee retention measures range from training programs and promotions to company shareholdings. Also, the possibility of taking a sabbatical or supporting childcare, for example by subsidising it or a company nursery, can be binding measures. To create a pleasant working atmosphere sustainably, regular team events can strengthen togetherness, which in turn contributes to feeling comfortable at the workplace.

Personnel development

Also, the HR department takes care of recognizing potentials and further developing the strengths and qualifications of the employees so that they can make the best possible contribution to the success of the company. Therefore, a personnel development strategy is needed. This includes a good feedback culture to conduct constructive development discussions and performance management to set measurable goals and provide appropriate incentives, such as variable pay components.

Offboarding

In the last step of the Employee Life Cycle, Offboarding, the HR department is once again strongly challenged. Even when employees leave the company, it should be ensured at this point, contrary to the assumption that the employee is not bringing anything to the company, how the parties separate from each other. From the time of resignation (whether from the company side or the employee), the tasks of the HR department include the creation of a severance agreement (if necessary), definitely the creation of a qualified work reference, the exit interview, ensuring the return of all work materials and blocking access rights in cooperation with IT and a respectful farewell on the last day of work. If the offboarding process is well thought out and runs smoothly, companies can secure a positive reputation with the last impression, which has become even more important since employer rating platforms like Kununu.

The payroll, which awaits the HR department at the end of each month, should not be forgotten. This task is often handled entirely internally in many companies, or partial outsourcing takes place, i.e., an external tax consultancy supports it.

Another overarching task that can be mentioned is HR controlling. Here, HR key figures are collected and evaluated. By analyzing the data, correlations can be shown and decisions made for the HR department based on these.

You now have an overview of many tasks of the HR department. Many of these tasks can be made easier through software and tools.

What jobs are there in a personnel department?

Having now presented a wealth of tasks, this section will cover who carries out these tasks, i.e., what jobs exist within the personnel department. Depending on how large a company is, certain jobs may still be part of the HR department or may already have their own area. Often, the HR and Recruiting teams are set up separately, but this is not always the case. The classic jobs in the HR department are, first and foremost, a Personnel Manager, often also titled as Head of HR or Head of People & Organization, who particularly takes care of strategic tasks.

Some other jobs could be the following:

• HR Generalist is the all-rounder with broad knowledge and can therefore take over a variety of tasks
• HR Operations Manager takes care of the operational tasks, among other things all types of contracts and personal documents
• Talent Acquisition Manager / Recruiter takes care of personnel recruitment
• Employer Branding Manager is responsible for the attractiveness of the employer brand
• Payroll Accountant / Payroll Specialist handles the payment of wages and salaries
• Human Resources Consultant is used in personnel administration and development and can act as specialists for a particular area or as generalists
• HR developer is entrusted with the task of developing the employees of the company
• HR Controller is responsible for planning, controlling and monitoring personnel-related processes

What organizational structures are there in a personnel department?

Now that you have a whole range of jobs in the HR department on your radar, the follow-up question is how you can sensibly structure the department.

From a certain company size, it's worth structuring the HR department. For as soon as HR topics are no longer looked after by one or two employees on the side, it makes sense to approach this a bit more professionally in order to define responsibilities more clearly and address other relevant topics.

First, you'll learn which organizational structure options exist in HR departments and when they can be used reasonably. Beforehand, it might be mentioned that there are various subdivisions of organizational models and structures that cannot all be covered within this article. Therefore, you will find below an insight into very common organizational structures and a brief mention of other models.

Let's start with hierarchical organization. Very classically, one person (often Personnel Manager or Head of HR/People) leads the team. He or she engages with management and reports to them regarding the set goals. Within the team, top-down communication takes place, i.e., information is passed vertically from the top through the various hierarchy levels to the bottom. The advantage is, of course, that every employee knows exactly who they are subordinate to and what levels of promotion exist.

Next is formal and informal organization. Often, both are found within an organization. You can probably already guess that the formal organization is the one that is defined particularly by its hierarchy levels. Here there is a clear division of tasks and responsibilities. What may sound to some of you very stiff and bureaucratic at first, can lead to a very efficient way of working. Clear rules often make for quick problem-solving processes and make work easier for all parties involved.

Contrary to the formal organization is the informal organization. This is more flexible and is largely based on social interaction. The advantage shows particularly in the company climate, which can be improved by informal structures and the associated social relationships.

As mentioned, not all organizational structures can be presented in this article. Just so you've heard of a few more forms, here are some common structures: Organizations often distinguish between a central and a decentralized organizational structure. Also, functional or object-related structures can often be found in the HR department. Perhaps you have also heard of the network organization or shamrock organization.

How is an HR department structured and what is the ratio of staff to HR staff?

But how many HR staff members does a company need specifically? As so often, there is no concrete number that can be defined as a general rule, as individual influences also play an important role here. The ratio of HR staff to full-time employees (FTE) is given in the HR-to-employee ratio. The Bloomberg BNA HR Department Benchmarks and Analysis Report provides a rough guide. According to this, the HR-to-employee ratio is 1.4. The Society for Human Resources Management states an average HR-to-employee ratio of 3.4 for smaller companies (SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Study, 2015). For fast-growing companies, it often makes sense to hire more HR staff. Similarly, however, certain tasks can be depicted through outsourcing by external service providers.

FTE = Full Time Employee (full-time employed staff members). Source: https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/business-solutions/Documents/Organizational%20Staff%20Size.pdf

Which HR software is recommended for an HR department and which HR software simplifies HR administration?

Last but not least, let’s talk about software that can make life a lot easier for HR professionals, for example, to save dozens of Excel lists and have all important information collected in one place. In the course of the article, Personio was already mentioned. The HR software is an all-in-one solution. In addition to applicant management, digital personnel files, document management, HR administration, onboarding, and time tracking can also be managed with the help of Personio – and new features are added regularly.

In the end, of course, every company has to see which HR software meets its specific requirements, whether an all-in-one solution makes sense, or whether additional software should be introduced for various areas. You're not sure yet which software is right for your company? Here you'll find a variety of different HR tools including an overview of the functions as well as reviews of the ease of use, requirement fulfillment, customer support, and simplicity of setting up the software by verified reviewers.

Do you need more input on other tools & topics? For concentrated knowledge, why not browse through OMR Reviews.