Introduction to Human Resource
Human Resource (HR) is a term used to refer to persons who make up the workforce in a firm. The function of recruiting, managing and supervising the HR in an organization is known as Human Resource Management (HRM) (Armstrong, 2006, p. 5). A HR officer handles matters relating to an organization’s workforce such as recruitment, work safety, training and development, benefits, performance and compensation among others. He moulds the employees’ approach towards work and ensures that they work in humane conditions (Legge, 2004, p. 41). One of the qualities that make a good HR officer is his ability to understand the human psychology and that of the organization and integrating the two in his daily duties.
Objective
The main aim of this presentation is to explain why I took a career in HR and the importance of human resource in an organization.
Discussion
Everyday, we hear of staff protests and strikes, employees going on a go-slow and in extreme cases, destruction of property. These are just a few of the consequences of poor human resource policies in an organization. These actions are always because of communication breakdown between the employees and the management, some of which would have been averted by adopting effective HR policies (Bratton & Gold, 1999, p. 18). Therefore, the position of a HR specialist is vital for day-to-day activities in an organization.
A Vital Position in an Organization
The reason why I chose to pursue a career is that this is a very important position in an organization; the success or failure of an organization lies in its human resource department, obviously, this is the central department of any organization. The position of HR officer enables me to interact with the staff to improve their productivity and this directly improves the organization’s performance (McNamara, N. d., para. 1). Taking this career was not a mistake as this has always been my passion since the days in high school when I used to see our school non-teaching staff undergo many problems such as late payments, unnecessary dismissals and poor working conditions.
Keeping Pace with Developments
Secondly, I chose to study HR because I like to interact with people and can understand human psychology. This position enables me to find solutions to employees’ grievances and act as a bridge between the organization’s management and the staff. This is no easy work; there are always new employee policies that need to be incorporated with the organization’s policies, technological advancements hence the need to train the staff afresh. Besides, the growth of an organization dictates that new staff must be recruited and those who have the necessary qualification and experience be promoted. This work requires that one must keep abreast with all the new developments relating to staff, both internal and external (Mclean, 2006, p. 142). Therefore, this position comes with many challenges and requires one to have a genuine interest in other people’s well-being and progress and commit to the fundamental culture of a firm and work on improving that.
Conclusion
A career in HR is full of thrills; I get to meet many people with unique problems and have to apply my interpersonal and intellectual skills to come up with solutions, these challenges make every single day of my work very interesting. Besides, the employees and management are happy with my services, this makes my work quite fulfilling, and these, in my opinion, are the sublime reasons why I love and appreciate working in HR.
Reference List
Armstrong, M. (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (10th ed.). London: Kogan Page.
Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (1999). Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. London: Macmillan Press.
Legge, K. (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
McLean, G. N. (2006). National Human Resource Development: A Focused Study in Transitioning Societies in the Developing World. Advances in Developing Human Resources; Vol 8; No. 3.
McNamara, C. (N. d.). Human Resource Management (and Talent Management).