The human resource manager's roles and responsibilities can vary based on the size of the company for which she works. In smaller companies, she has multiple duties and more visibility, while in a larger company, she manages an extensive HR staff. Her main function is to create and implement an HR plan and policies matched to the company's internal structure and values, employee demographics, the industry and company interests. Excellent communication abilities are at the forefront of her skill set. She must be able to communicate across multiple layers of an organization with people of different genders and across varied cultures.
Recruiting and Employment
When new employees are needed in a company, department heads and managers turn to the human resources department. In small companies, the HR manager multitasks; she creates the advertisements, reviews and vets resumes, manages the first interviews and tests potential candidates. In larger companies, she manages a staff that handles these responsibilities. Regardless of the size of the company, one of the HR manager's roles is to oversee job recruitment and interviewing. Members of her department are the first people with whom employees meet when they enter an organization, and the last people with whom they interact when they leave the company.
Training and Development
A human resource manager often generates and implements new employee orientation programs and skills-training classes. In some instances, she may provide employee development and counseling assistance to enhance the productivity of the workforce. A human resource manager might also schedule keynote speakers or trainers, or book employees for important offsite training or conferences.
Compensation and Benefits
Wage and salary administration typically go along with the role of human resource manager, as does creating and updating all the company's job descriptions. A human resource manager also manages executive compensation packages and develops the company's internal incentive pay or bonus structure in conjunction with top management. She establishes and manages the benefits program a company offers including health insurance, paid time-off programs, tuition programs, 401k and retirement pension plans.
Health and Safety
While larger corporation may have a specific manager that oversees health and safety issues separate from the HR department, in smaller organizations, the human resource manager is the contact person that oversees all the company's health and safety programs onsite. This requires that she stay abreast of all current health and safety laws, as well as laws that affect a company's employee management practices.
Other Roles and Responsibilities
A critical role that the human resources manager undertakes is working with management to determine the company's future workforce needs, salary costs and expenditures. She manages the company's internal and external community relations programs. She often creates and conducts employee attitude surveys, works to improve labor relations, oversees or creates in-house newsletters and publications, as well as employee assistance programs, employee relocation services, disciplinary actions and outplacement services.
2016 Salary Information for Human Resources Managers
Human resources managers earned a median annual salary of $106,910 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, human resources managers earned a 25th percentile salary of $80,800, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $145,220, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 136,100 people were employed in the U.S. as human resources managers.
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Writer Bio
As a native Californian, artist, journalist and published author, Laurie Brenner began writing professionally in 1975. She has written for newspapers, magazines, online publications and sites. Brenner graduated from San Diego's Coleman College.