The primary function of human resources in a company is to make sure employees and the business comply with federal and state labour and employment laws. The employees are basically the HR department’s internal customers. And for that reason, HR’s obligation to serve its customers is another function of the department.

When potential employees are being interviewed, human resource professionals assess the candidate against a list of key skills and personal characteristics needed for the specific job. But let’s stop there and turn the tables to see what that list of key attributes would look like for a human resource professional.

You can either do a certificate, diploma or degree in human resources management. But whatever qualification you do, it’ll offer you a broader suite of knowledge that’ll increase your skills and understanding. And if you want to be even more successful, doing a postgraduate course is the way to go. There’s also the option to do a short course in how to work with people, conflict resolution and so forth. And if you have good people skills and the ability to communicate effectively, then that’s a bonus.

Behind every successful business is a human resources team who drive all aspects of staff management. Here are five functions of becoming an HR professional.

Employee satisfaction

As a human resources professional, you’re likely to be charged with the responsibility of determining employee satisfaction. While you’re still a student, you’ll learn how to set up surveys, focus groups and interview strategies. And that will help you determine whether employees are content or not. You’re also likely to determine what the underlying causes are for employee dissatisfaction. You should be able to address those issues and motivate staff members with creative solutions. Your job will be to try and find out what exactly these problems are that employees are facing. And with that, you should be able to look for ways to assist them where needed.

Improve the performance of employees

Along with your team (or individually), you should develop performance management systems. Without a human resource professional in place, potential candidates can easily get a job without having the necessary skills and expertise for the position. That’s why it’s so important to have an HR manager or recruiter in your company. Along with the line manager or supervisor, you’ll have to give employee performance reviews on a quarterly or annual basis. And this is the time when you need to be as honest as possible. You should be open about the accomplishments of employees. If you think they could have done better, simply tell them.

Training and development

Every human resources department is responsible for conducting needs assessments for employees. That way they can determine the type of skills training and employee development programmes that are required for improvement. If you have a startup or your company is still in its growth phase, it’ll be beneficial for your business to identify training needs for your staff. It’s usually less expensive to hire additional staff members or more qualified candidates. This is also likely to reduce your company’s employee turnover and improve employee retention.

Improve employee turnover

If your business has a high employee turnover, it can end up hurting the company’s bottom line. When you’re busy with your HR management course, you’ll learn a lot of things, including how to hire the right candidates. You’ll basically know how to hire the right people from the start so they won’t end up leaving or being retrenched a few months down the line.

Then, it’s important to interview candidates carefully. You shouldn’t only check that they have the right skills, but also check that they fit the company’s culture. You should outline the right compensation and benefits too. Paying attention to employee’s personal needs will also be one of your responsibilities as a human resource professional. Clear career paths should also be discussed as employees would like to know how they can grow within the company. HR managers usually only see employees when there are problems or issues. But if you want to reduce the employee turnover, you’ll have to regularly visit staff members and find out if they’re still okay and happy.

Conflict resolution

It doesn’t matter where you work, there is likely to be conflict among employees. And that’s something that’s somewhat inevitable as employees have different personalities, lifestyles and work ethic. While you’re doing your HR management course, you’ll be taught how to handle conflict in the workplace and also how to resolve it. The situation must be handled as professionally as possible, that’s also something you’ll learn in business school. Whether the conflict arises between employees or an employee and top-management, you should be able to assist both parties equally and not choose sides.

There are many more benefits of becoming an HR manager or recruiter. When going to business school, you’ll learn to develop a strategic approach to training, recruiting and developing the company’s most important asset: its people.