Hi Nmarata,
Firstly congrats to you and all the very best for your new profile.
Coming to your query -
HR is a very broad department and includes lots of functions and roles. A single HR person has to play various roles or should master one of the roles. This depends on the size of the company and their policy.
For example, in an established and well to do firms (like in corporates)
We have a different person handling different roles in HR - one in recruitment, one in T&D and likewise;
Whereas in start-up firms or in SMBs, we have one or two people handling the whole gamut of HR.
Core functions of HR is as listed below and this is not exhaustive list.
Recruitment and Selection
Joining Formalities
Induction & Orientation
Team Building
Grievance Handling
Employee Engagement
Performance Management (which is more than just Performance Appraisal)
HR Auditing
Statutory Compliances
Compensation & Benefits (Yes, the finances are looked after by the Accounts people but salary structuring, salary designing, linking the salary to attendance, leave and performance, all this is done by the HR and the monthly calculations are forwarded to the accounts who then either form the cheques accordingly or do net transfer as per the payment policy.)
Attendance and Leave Tracking
HR MIS handling
Employee Motivation
Training and Development
Reward and Recognition
Strategic HR Planning
Manpower Planning & Succession Planning
and I think the list can go on.
However as I said, depending on the company's policy, size and the industry it caters to, the scope of the roles played by an HR person changes accordingly.
One important aspect of HR is to be unbiased and neutral.
HR is supposed to be a communicating link between the management and the staff. If we happen to be biased towards the management, the staff will never open up their problems and hence the problems would never be solved.
One needs to understand that as HR we need to see to it if the policies are being followed righteously. If the management is malpracticing, as an HR it would be our moral duty to correct them and advise them accordingly.
You can also visit the following link to know the kind of attitude that HR should project:
https://www.citehr.com/458979-hr-att...ml#post2053253
Hope it helped. :-)