Provided by George S. May International Company 

 HUMAN RESOURCES GUIDELINES

HUMAN RESOURCES ARTICLES

In general, Human Resources or "HR" refers to everything related to the employer-employee relationship. The areas that HR covers should be thought of more as a network of inter-related activities, rather than a single function.

For example, some of the work that falls to HR professionals includes hiring and firing employees, creating organizational charts and shaping corporate culture after a merger or acquisition, managing employee communications, settling employee disputes, creating benefits programs, navigating government regulations, dealing with legal issues such as sexual harassment and occupational safety, and setting up policy and programs for measuring performance, compensating, recognizing, and training employees.

For a long timer HR was considered a support role in an organization. However, in recent years HR has taken on an increasingly strategic dimension in the world of business as managers have recognized that their employees are a significant source of competitive advantage.

Companies like Southwest Airlines, Nokia, Intel, The Container Store, Edward Jones, and others have shown that HR practices that create supportive environments for employees and strong corporate cultures can lead to superior returns for shareholders by being more innovative, efficient, and productive than their peers.

Globalization has complicated the HR role, creating new challenges, such as managing employees and overseeing employee regulations in different countries and cultures. Technology has created a new array of opportunities for streamlining HR administration and practice - everything from putting benefits programs online to e-learning to automating payroll and other administrative HR tasks.

The responsibilities and activities of HR practitioners vary depending on the size of company. At a small company, the HR pro will usually wear many hats. At larger companies there will be generalists and specialists in various HR roles. Many smaller and midsized businesses, or those of less than 1,000 employees, are increasingly outsourcing some or even all of the HR functions. A few responsibilities that fall to HR in both small and large organizations, such as staffing and executive recruitment, compensation and benefits consulting, and HR systems, have grown into multibillion-dollar service sectors designed to support in-house HR functions.

The issues facing HR practitioners also vary by industry. Compensation and benefits, staffing models, training, and company culture in the consumer products industry, for example, are very different from that seen in retail or health care.

Control Insurance Costs
"Risk management" can help to control - and in some cases reduce - runaway insurance costs.

Remedy For Healthcare Problems
Various models of managed healthcare cost increases hit with a vengeance.

Insurance Broker/Health Plan Consultant Expectations
Today more than ever, employers should be demanding in their choice of a broker or health plan consultant.

Assessing Business Insurance Risks
Discover the solution to controlling rising insurance costs lies in sound, proactive risk management.

Hiring The Best Person
Here are some tips to help you hire the best possible person.

Terminating Employees
Terminating a person can be difficult but planning makes the situation less traumatic for you.

Equally Enforcing Summer Clothing Standards
Summer is here and with it comes concerns about employees wearing casual clothing.

This information is compiled and provided by May International.