The human resources department generally handles the recruiting, screening, and hiring process for all new employees. This department also helps new employees set up their payroll and explain the benefits available to the new employee. Human resources will also inform current employees of any updates or changes to their payroll or benefits, deal with disputes or harassment claims, develop policies for employee services, handle bonuses and raises, and take care of general employee welfare.

Most importantly, a human resources manager must be available to answer the questions and needs of the employees in the company. Employees may come in with any manner of issues and claims, and the manager must handle these complaints with professionalism while respecting and having a firm understanding of the employees and the company’s rights. Human resources can never favour one employee over another; they must see that all employees of their company follow the guidelines that have been set out for them.

Employee morale is of vital importance to the human resources manager, therefore practices need to be implemented that create and help to foster high employee morale within the company. Managers will often conduct surveys to see which areas of the company can be improved upon, and then they must figure out which suggestions to implement and how.

Examples of Human Resources Managers include:

• Employee Relation Managers or Labor Relations Managers are responsible for employment policies. They will negotiate and write labor contracts on the topics of wages and benefits, grievances, or management and union practices. They are also responsible for mediating issues between employees and managers and taking care of the grievance process.
• Payroll Managers supervise the entire payroll department. They ensure that payroll is processed accurately and on time. They will resolve payroll issues, keep payroll procedures updated and accurate and prepare accounting reports.
• Staffing Managers or Recruiting Managers oversee recruiting, interviewing and hiring new employees. Depending on the size of the organization, they will usually supervise Human Resources Recruiters. When recruiting and hiring for high-level positions, these managers will often take care of the recruiting duties themselves. It is their responsibility to strategize a competitive recruiting plan in order to meet the staffing needs of the organization.