Guest Post: What Are The Key Responsibilities Of An HR Specialist?

The human resources team is very important to any business, especially those who are based in office environments. HR individuals are there to ensure that processes flow smoothly, and other staff members receive the best experience with the organisation as possible. That makes a role in the team a highly prized one, but it is worth nothing that it can be a stressful position with plenty of hurdles to overcome.

However if you have always dreamed of playing an integral part to a business by working in the HR space, you might be interested to learn a bit more about what you could be doing on a daily basis. Here are just a few of the key responsibilities of an HR specialist:

Hiring and firing

The first thing to think about is whether you could handle the ups and downs that come with the role. You will have really good moments where you can tell someone they have got a job, but you will also have to do the opposite from time to time. It is inevitable that someone will lose their job for whatever reason, but you need to be able to deal with the situation in a professional and cool manner without it getting too personal.

Monitoring and recording illness

You would be expected to record the days when certain staff members are not able to make it into the office due to illness. This might be on a paper file or something more advanced such as CIPHR People software (click here to read more). If employees are consistently reporting illness over a long period of time, it may be the case that they need an official warning for missing too many days without valid proof of sickness.

Organising training days

When you aren’t monitoring staff for their absences, you will be able to do things with a bit more of a positive twist. One such example is organising training days and seminar sessions for employees. These can vary but they can be anything from companywide events to small venues with limited spaces. Training is something that is very important to staff as they want to feel like they are progressing within the company and are valued.

Coordinating appraisals and reviews

Of course, they will have a chance to air their opinions when they have their appraisals and reviews. The frequency of these will be laid out in each employee contract, so it will be up to you to ensure they are done on time and in full. Again, you might rely on software to remind you when each one is due; this will help you to coordinate with senior managers who need to be involved in the process.

Handling grievances and disciplinary reviews

You may also need to have extra meetings with an employee and their manager if they are involved in a grievance or disciplinary. These do occur now and again, and you want the end result to be a positive one for both parties if possible. Sometimes it is necessary to bring in external mediators if your company does not have one employed.

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.