The 6 pillars of Human Resources

These are the main pillars that define the activity of Human Resources professionals.

Often, when talking about organizations and companies, people fall into the trap of assuming that these entities are practically machines for producing and issuing products or services. However, this way of looking at things is not only simplistic; it is also fundamentally false.

Companies and organizations are above all teams of people who use specific resources to achieve an end that can only be attained jointly. In other words, human beings form the core of these entities, they are not mere cogs to be combined with the rest of the means of production.

However, this kind of synergies and forms of teamwork cannot exist if the assignment of tasks and the way in which people participate in the organization's activities are not managed; improvising or pretending that individuals organize themselves spontaneously makes this relationship between workers unfeasible, for many reasons. That is why Human Resources (HR) professionals exist, in charge of shaping the work, role assignment and mutual support networks that should exist in an organization. Here we will see what are their main functions, through a review of the HR pillars.

What is Human Resources?

The term "Human Resources" has two closely related meanings. On the one hand, it refers to the all the employees and collaborators of an organizationThe first refers to the people whose work makes it possible for the entity to achieve its objectives or to try to achieve them; in other words, the people who provide the labor force, whether physical or intellectual.

On the other hand, it refers to the professionals in the teams or departments in charge of managing the previous element through employee training through employee training programs, personnel selection, job descriptions, the establishment of criteria for promoting employees, the application of incentives, recruitment, etc.

Thus, Human Resources professionals are in charge of tasks that have an administrative and bureaucratic aspect and another of a more behavioral and human nature, although in practice both overlap.In practice, however, the two overlap and mutually condition each other. For this reason, it is very common for people trained in Labor Relations or Psychology with a specialization in Work Psychology to work in HR departments.

The 6 fundamental pillars of HR

The pillars of Human Resources are the areas of work that structure the day-to-day work of HR professionals and shape their role in the company. Let's see what they are.

1. Recruiting employees

Recruiting employees is one of the best known and most striking aspects of Human Resources. However, However, it does not only take the form of job interviews.. It is present even before this phase arrives; something as simple as generating a good brand image and gaining a reputation for good working conditions also influences a company's ability to recruit, as does the job description published in job advertisements.

2. Evaluation

Evaluation is very important both in the selection process and in measuring the performance of employees and departments. It is not only to see if there are workers who are not performing as agreed; It is also important to evaluate the workstations themselves, and the work environments, looking for ergonomics or workflow problems..

3. Training

A company that is totally dependent on employee training provided by external entities is an organization with little capacity to adapt and is constrained by the limitations of the labor market. It is important to know how to train in the corresponding skills so that workers can perform their tasks, adapting perfectly to the characteristics and needs of the company's employees. perfectly adapted to the characteristics and needs of the company in which they work..

4. Creating incentives and retaining talent

Ideally, the company should be able to retain for many years the people who contribute most to the organization. This allows to have teams with a lot of accumulated experience, and at the same time avoids the challenge of having to constantly renew the staff, which would entailIt also avoids the challenge of having to constantly renew the staff, which would entail rushing, losing a coherent and overall view of certain projects, etc.

5. Management of communication channels

It is important to ensure the existence of communication channels that allow relevant information to flow in all directions of the organization chart.. Leaving areas of the organization disconnected from each other not only worsens working conditions, but also leads to misunderstandings, duplicities and bad working dynamics, wasting resources and obtaining poorer quality results. It can also lead to conflicts if certain demands are not heard.

6. Knowledge of new technologies

The last of the Human Resources pillars has to do with knowledge of the latest technological and technical advances in the sector. We must not forget that with the boom of digital tools and Big Data, the market is undergoing changes from one year to the next, and you need to be aware of the implications for HR, its opportunities and its potential when it comes to the new technologies.The opportunities and potential for recruiting and training, its impact on the behavior of competitors and the expectations of employees, etc.

Do you want to train in Human Resources?

If you are thinking of specializing professionally in the field of Human Resources or simply want to learn the fundamental aspects of this facet of organizations and companies, perhaps you are interested in the Specialization Diploma in Attraction, Recruitment, Evaluation and Loyalty of Talent organized by the University of Malaga..

This is a 100% online course of 32 ECTS credits whose first edition begins on October 4, 2021 and ends on April 30, 2022; in it, students will learn about topics such as talent recruitment strategies, the preparation of selection reports, job descriptions, the phases of a selection process, loyalty strategies, and other fundamental aspects of this area of the company, all taking into account the latest technical and technological advances applied to HR methodologies.

On this page you will find more information about this course and other HR training programs of the University of Malaga.