Human Resources Management

Business Areas

As it is known, every beginning is difficult. So it is in business world too. By starting up a new business you are called to face a few challenges that affect your business. Our business, Eastern Foods, is going to analyze some of them. We are going to discuss about Human Resources (HRM), Accounting, Marketing and Operations Management.

Human Resources Management:

Human Resources is an important function, no matter how small the business is, especially for the employees. It is the area which ensures that the employees are working the right hours, they are getting the benefits they deserve so they can expel the stress that they may get and be happier and more productive. It is also responsible for payroll, benefits, hiring, firing, communication and keeping up to date with state and federal tax laws. Moreover, it helps managers to recruit, select, train and develop members for an organization.

Accounting:

Accounting is used to collect, classify, and manipulate financial data for the organization and keeps the financial stability. It is responsible for determining an organization’s overall wealth, profitability, and liquidity. Without accounting, organizations would have no basis or foundation upon which daily and long-term decisions could be made. The budgets for marketing activities, profit reinvestment, research and development, and company growth are based on that area.

Marketing:

Marketing is also an important piece of the business puzzle. It has to do with matters of promoting and selling the products. Basic staffs are the name, logo and advertisement, so it provides a good relationship between business and costumers. With a good promotion the business is more likely to have success and profit. Marketing research, pricing research and public relations are used in order to achieve that goal.

Operations:

This area has to do with the designs, quality and management of the product and the processes. They consider what the clients really want and based on that the product is designed. Size, location and technology are some of the factors they have in mind.

Now let’s have a look more specifically into two of the areas above as being key issues.

Firstly, the Human Resources. It is far easier to work with a group of people that you are already familiar with. Recruitment has become a marketing exercise in recent years. Knowing how to properly generate interest in a company or a specific job placement is paramount to recruiting the right candidates. Worthwhile employees are increasingly seeking jobs that address their need for a better work-home-family balance. Companies also need to consider the prospect of job security for employees, as they are often more concerned with stability, health benefits and their employment economic condition.

Outsourcing is also a major part of human resource management’s role in a company, as many companies choose to hire freelance workers to complete additional tasks rather than taking on salaried employees in-house. When outsourcing, human resource managers do not need to consider overheads like taxes, working equipment costs or benefits, as these are met by the freelancers themselves.

Many countries are now governed by strict laws that make rights abuses and discrimination in the workplace severely punishable. As it is illegal in these countries to discriminate based on age, gender, religion and race, HR managers need to be aware of this and their methods need to reflect this. Most companies see diversity as forward-thinking and teamwork-promoting, as well as fostering a sense of equality. As well as following recruitment protocols that take diversity – and its legal implications - into account, human resource management departments may need to prepare for higher levels of disagreements and more distinct methods of resolution.

Conflict resolution is a major part of a HR manager’s job in that it is always easier and cheaper to keep an existing employee than to recruit and train a new one. As such, the conflicts that arise from different departments, workers and employment levels need to be resolved effectively.

For almost every business, training is a major part of day-to-day operations, as every business is different and therefore has different practices to follow. All need to start from somewhere, and investing in talent through both basic training and preparing senior executives for the next step up can pay off when done right by organized and skilled HR managers. It is HR’s responsibility to fit the training around day-to-day work, factoring in time, financial costs and third-party coordination for each company department and budget.

Safety is also a major part of training organization, as many businesses follow practices that minimize risk and promote safety, whether they are using specialist, potentially dangerous equipment or not. Even incorrectly-positioned chairs or too bright LED computer monitors can cause extensive health issues, so everything right down to these small issues need to be considered when organizing staff and departments.

These are only some of the major issues faced by human resource departments today – there are many more, much smaller problems that can slip under the radar. Rather than investing in more employees or working longer hours to keep up with every single eventuality, it might be more worthwhile for the company’s bank balance and the HR manager’s work-life balance to invest in some new HR software instead – so the management can keep their eye on the bigger issues.

Secondly, marketing. Marketing is a very important aspect in business since it contributes greatly to the success of the organization. Production and distribution depend largely on marketing. Marketing covers advertising, promotions, public relations and sales. It is the process of introducing and promoting the product or service into the market and encourages sales from the buying public.

No business possibly ever thought of just letting the people find out