Human resources (HR) is a crucial function in any business, regardless of its size or industry. The HR department is responsible for managing the organisation's most valuable asset, its employees. It is essential to have a dedicated HR function in your business to ensure that your employees are happy, motivated, and productive. In this article, we will discuss why it is important to have an HR function in your business.

According to the CIPD Profession Map, there are 10 different areas that HR can be broken down into:

• Employee experience
  • The employee experience is exactly what it says on the tin. It is about how you can elevate the experience an employee has by curating a thriving working environment.  There are multiple factors that contribute towards the employee experience and Line Managers play a vital role in this element of the employment relationship. Other contributors are employer brand, communication, flexible working and the journey through the recruitment process.
• Employee relations
  • This field is about developing and sustaining a successful working relationship between an organisation and the people that are working for it.
• Equality, diversity and inclusion
  
  • Acknowledging the different communities that exist within an organisation and how to embrace them to demonstrate an accurate representation of the communities demographically.
• Learning and development
  • Is identifying the needs of the business and developing a learning culture that motivates employees to engage with professional development.
• Organisation development and design
  • Allows companies to review their current state and design the organisation in the optimal way to ensure success by adapting or building strategies, operational models and strong workforce. 
• People analytics
  • Within this area of HR, collating and analysing data enables the organisation to make correct decisions based on factual data. People Analytics examines the data and finds solutions using people intelligence and improved decision-making.
• Resourcing
  • Focussing on bringing in the talent to deliver the business goals, resourcing is all about how to attract and recruit people into wanting to work with a business.
• Reward
  • Refers to what the company gives back to their employees, this includes their salary, bonuses, healthcare, pension schemes, car schemes and a whole host of ways to ensure an employee feels valued.
• Talent management.
  • Is more than focussing on incoming talent, talent management focusses on developing the talent within the organisation and identifying plans for contingency and succession.
• Wellbeing
  • Acknowledging the wellbeing of employees is essential to maintaining and supporting a successful and positive working environment.

In conclusion, having a dedicated HR function in your business is essential for managing your most valuable asset, your employees. HR is responsible for recruitment and retention, compliance, employee relations, performance management, and culture and engagement. By having a dedicated HR function, you can ensure that your employees are happy, motivated, and productive, which will ultimately lead to the success of your business.