HR Roles and Responsibilities

The role of the human resources (HR) department is shifting, and that means that the roles and responsibilities of HR professionals are changing, too. Increasingly complex organizational needs are placing high demands on the HR function and the ability to integrate the basic HR disciplines is essential to success. "Human Resources Management (HRM) consists of an organizations "people practices"--the policies, practices and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance" (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright, 2004, p. 26).

New HR professionals expect jobs that let them use the skills they developed both in academic programs and at previous jobs. A recent symposium on the future of HR, hosted by the Society for Human Resource Management, confirms that challenging jobs and clear career paths are keys to attracting high-caliber students to the profession (Rodriguez, 2006, p. 5). "If the HR function wants to continue attracting top students, HR jobs will have to be more interesting," says Cappelli.

Society for Human Resource Management

English: Facade of Ives Hall, Cornell University

A few issues of SHRM's monthly publication HR Maga...

He recommends that organizations keep their challenging human resource projects in-house, rather than sending those projects to consultants out of house (2006, p. 5).

Globalization

The days of the 40 hour work week are practically non existent as the world economies moves forward with e-commerce (Noe et al., 2004, p. 60). "Globalization often means that

operations take place across many time zones, requiring management at all hours" (2004, p. 113). Many companies are taking advantaged of the new global economy. Companies are branching out around the world with offices and divisions in one or more countries. Because each country has their own cultural differences, human resources must take on a new look and involvement within a company to deal with such differences. Human resources are involved in corporate strategy in many different companies. Managing global operations and successfully formulating and implementing a corporate...