Depending on the size of the organization, the HR department may comprise of one or all of the domain areas:
- Statutory Compliance
- Operations & Payroll Management
- Hiring/Talent Acquisition
- Onboarding & Background Verification
- Training/Learning & Development
- Talent Management (Performance Management/Career & Succession Planning)
- Compensation & Benefits
Status of the HR department in the total organisation structure depends on whether an organization is small or large. In most of the smaller organisations there is no separate department to coordinate the activities relating to human resources. In fact, there may not be any human resource managers at all. Services of outsiders who specialise in maintaining statutory requirements or basic needs of human resources are used for a fee. Alternatively, a low-cost resource may be entrusted with the task of managing some basic needs of the employees.
Earlier, HR departments were called health and happiness departments. The people assigned to deal with personnel issues were often individuals who were past their prime. The personnel department was seen as a place where the lesser productive employees could be placed with minimal damage to the organization’s ongoing operations. Individuals in the personnel department were perceived as those responsible for planning company picnics, vacation schedules and retirement parties. Personnel as an activity was seen as a necessary but an important part of the organisation.
Fortunately, things have changed for the better and the status of the personnel department has improved enormously over the years.
A large-scale organisation we’ll have a manager director heading the HR department, his or her status will be equal to that of any executive in the organisation. This arrangement holds good when the company has a single unit where the company has multiple plants located in different parts of the country. There may be a centralised HR department at the main or Registered Office and each plant will have a separate HR department. Routine activities relating to each plant are handled by the HR department attached to the work whereas the broad policies matter concerning executives and the like are handled by the central departments.