What Does a Human Resource Manager Do?

HR Management’s Typical Roles & Responsibilities

Anyone who enjoys working with people and who wants to help an organization with essential functions like recruiting, training, team building, and employee relations should consider a career in HR management.

Recently, we answered the question, What is Human Resource Management?, and here we’ll review what human resource managers do in detail, such as the typical roles and responsibilities of HR managers, why anyone looking to get into the field should consider getting a Bachelor’s Degree in HR Management, and why those looking to improve their HR leadership skills may want to consider completing a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management.

After you’ve learned about the functions of HR management, and the reasons why getting your degree in the field is so important, fill out our information request form to receive additional details about our 100% online bachelor’s and master’s degrees in HR management. If you’re ready to get started, submit your application today.

HR Management’s Typical Roles & Responsibilities

The scope of HR management is wide ranging, overseeing a series of critical organizational functions, including:

• Recruitment and hiring.
• Training.
• Organizational development.
• Performance management.
• Organizational policies.
• Salary and benefits.
• Organizational culture.
• Employee relations.

Next, let’s look at each of these important job functions in detail.

Recruitment & Hiring

Typically, HR managers are responsible for designing an organization’s recruiting strategy and overseeing all components of the hiring and onboarding process, including important tasks like:

• Obtaining referrals from previous employers.
• Participating on social networking websites like LinkedIn and Facebook.
• Attending job fairs and career fairs to represent the organization.
• Posting job openings online.

When it comes to hiring responsibilities, HR managers are heavily involved in all aspects of the process, and may find themselves responsible for:

• Managing job applications from potential applicants.
• Handling all the application paperwork.
• Conducting background checks.
• Issuing or overseeing job-specific performance tests.
• Designing, distributing and negotiating job offers.
• Dealing with all the paperwork and administrative processes required to hire and then onboard new employees.

Recruiting and hiring responsibilities are absolutely critical to the health of any organization, which is just one of the many reasons why HR managers play such a prominent role in determining the success of their organizations.

Employee Training

When it comes to training, HR managers serve a critical role in designing, deploying, and reviewing the results of organizational training systems. 

One of the most important job duties that HR managers are responsible for is ensuring that training plans and programs are matched with organizational goals, objectives, and needs.

HR managers may be required to complete the following training-related tasks:

• Assessing training needs.
• Developing training programs to cover unmet organizational needs.
• Running orientation sessions for new employees.
• Overseeing skills development programs for existing personnel.

Organizations may approach training with different strategies and processes, but virtually all of them will utilize HR managers to assess training needs, create training programs, and review training results.

Organizational Development

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, organizational development is a human resources discipline, and HR managers play a critical role in establishing effective organizational development programs.

Organizational development strategies are used to enhance the effectiveness of an organization and the well-being of its members, and HR managers may be responsible for each of the following organizational development-related tasks:

• Ensuring the organization provides its members with the skills needed to meet current and future job demands.
• Coaching and training.
• Succession planning.
• Interpreting and responding to legal and regulatory issues.
• Technology policies.
• Employee performance.
• Outsourcing. 

At some organizations, especially larger ones, HR managers may be entirely devoted to specific tasks above serving in specialty roles and only managing a single part of the process, while at smaller organizations, HR managers may be responsible for all of the above tasks.

Performance Management

Performance management systems are critical to organizational success as they allow managers to track and monitor performance of employees and departments, providing the data and analytics required to measure their operational effectiveness.

Typically, performance management systems are selected, designed, implemented, and monitored by HR managers, making this another essential organizational need that falls under the purview of the HR manager.

Regardless of size or industry, virtually every organization relies at least in part on the performance management systems established by HR managers for making strategic decisions designed to help improve efficiency and optimize profit.

Organizational Policies

According to The Balance Careers, organizational policies are used to ensure a safe, organized, convivial, empowering, and nondiscriminatory workplace.

Typically, HR managers are in charge of designing, instituting, and managing company policies, and they’re also responsible for verifying that established policies protect employees from unfair treatment and unfair working conditions.

Virtually every organization needs these sorts of policies in place, since they serve as the ground rules for organizational and employee behavior, and because these systems are one of the best defenses against complaints, lawsuits or similar concerns.

Company policies established and maintained by HR managers may include:

• Employee behavior standards, including establishing rules regarding dress codes, email protocols, internet policies, and other similar concerns.
• Advice for handling common situations, like travel expenses, employee disagreements, purchases of company merchandise, etc.
• Legal protections to prevent company exposure to expensive litigation, fines, fees, or penalties, like those stemming from harassment lawsuits, discriminatory hiring accusations, or other similar concerns.
• Verifying and enforcing compliance with laws like the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, or other worker protections.
• Rules and regulations for employee discipline, safety, breaks, and other common issues.
• Benefits programs, including those governing the rules around accumulating and using paid time off, company tuition assistance programs, jury duty leave, etc.

By managing these sorts of company policies, HR managers help ensure operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Salary & Benefits

HR managers are typically tasked with handling an organization’s salary and benefits systems, which typically requires a whole series of related responsibilities.

The Balance Careers explains that HR managers or Compensation Managers are likely to be responsible for:

• Developing and managing an organization’s system for pay scales and structure.
• Determining competitive salaries for each role at the organization.
• Ensuring the organization’s pay scale is legally compliant with federal laws and industry regulations.
• Overseeing the distribution of wages to all employees.
• Working with managers to develop promotion and retention strategies.
• Managing compensation and payroll processes.

Managing the salary and benefits systems of an organization makes the HR manager critical to organizational effectiveness, which is yet another reason why demand for professional, competent HR managers remains strong.

Organizational Culture (Team Building, Company Culture)

According to SHRM, one of the keys to building and maintaining a successful organization is the development of an underlying organizational culture, based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs supported by strategy and structure.

This is another important task that falls under the responsibility of the HR manager, who is likely to be responsible for establishing and perpetuating a strong culture that leads to operational effectiveness.

The HR manager’s role in setting organizational culture may include responsibilities like:

• Serving as a role model for the organization’s beliefs.
• Reinforcing the organization’s values.
• Ensuring ethics are defined, understood, and uniformly practiced.
• Building communications and feedback channels between individual contributors, managers, and senior executives.
• Clearly defining roles and responsibilities for all positions within the organization.
• Developing effective learning, training, and coaching systems used to improve employee performance.
• Creating and maintaining motivational rewards and recognition systems.
• Empowering all employees and teams.
• Addressing, then solving individual and organizational problems, concerns, and issues.

Employee Relations

According to AIHR Digital, creating and maintaining healthy employee relations is a central responsibility for HR managers, as well as one of the most important factors for determining organizational performance.

Fostering positive employee relations is vital to organizational efficiency, as studies have shown that employees who believe their organization has failed to look out for their interests have resulted in decreasing: 

• Trust in the organization.
• Job satisfaction.
• Intent to continue working for the organization.
• Sense of obligation.
• Performance.

Typically, HR managers are tasked with protecting organizational interests by establishing positive employee relations, which may include the following responsibilities:

• Establishing a positive organizational culture.
• Designing recognition and appreciation programs that provide positive feedback for exceptional employee performance.
• Creating feedback channels that allow employees to provide input and ideas to help them feel empowered as vital members of the organization.

What Degree Do You Need for a Job in HR Management?

Anyone interested in pursuing a career in HR management, but especially those looking to assume leadership roles in the field, should consider getting a degree in human resource management.

A Bachelor’s Degree in HR Management may be sufficient for building the educational background and skills needed for entry level HR manager roles and responsibilities, while leadership positions in the field are likely to require more training and experience. 

If your aim is to assume a management position, then we would suggest pursuing a Master’s Degree in HR Management.

Is a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management Worth It?

Yes. Earning a master’s degree in human resource management is a valuable investment in your career and a great way to improve your marketability for related positions.

HR managers are essential employees at most organizations, and the demand for professional Human Resource managers is predicted to grow substantially over the next decade.

In fact, according to the BLS, employment for human resource managers is projected to grow 7% by 2031, which is faster than the average for all occupations.

Getting your master’s degree in HR management is simply one of the best ways to prove that you have the skills and knowledge required to secure a role in the field.

Can You Get a Master’s Degree in HR Management Online?

Yes. CSU Global offers a 100% online Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management.

This program was designed to help you juggle education, work, and family responsibilities, with no set times or locations, monthly class starts, and accelerated eight-week courses. 

What are the Best Master’s Programs for HR Management?

If you choose to get a master’s degree in human resource management, CSU Global is one of the best schools you could choose to attend for the following reasons:

1. CSU Global’s Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, ACBSP Accredited by the Council of Business Schools and Programs, and its curriculum is aligned with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) HR Curriculum Guidebook and Templates.
2. CSU Global’s HR Management program earned a #2 ranking for Best Online Masters In Human Resources from Online Course Report, and a #5 ranking for Best Master’s in Human Resources from Intelligent.  
3. CSU Global’s HR Management master’s program prepares you to secure a job in the field, with 99% of alumni from our program working in their field and reporting an average annual salary of $76,786.

Furthermore, CSU Global offers competitive tuition rates and a Tuition Guarantee to ensure your rate won’t increase between enrollment and graduation.

Finally, CSU Global earned a Gold School of distinction from Best Colleges, one of only 15 gold rankings out of more than 2,000 online degree programs.

To get additional details about our fully-accredited, 100% online Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management, please give us a call at 800-462-7845, or fill out our Information Request Form.

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