HR Roles and Responsibilities

Human Resources Management (HRM) is a versatile entity within an organization that must continuously adjust to periodic transitions throughout the lifespan of an organization. The role of HRM is to enable an organization to effectively compete within an ever changing industry to maintain a competitive advantage over competitors. They are responsible for developing highly trained professionals in an effort to formulate effective leaders of tomorrow. The role of HRM also includes maintaining compliancy with all statewide regulations and adjusting to any changes that may arise.

For centuries, the standards of what is and is not morally or ethically acceptable within an organization has changed significantly, therefore it is solely up to the HRM professional to ensure that ethical standards are being met. For example, in the medical industry, the regulators of ethical practices within the medical facility would include the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), in which case HRM would make sure that all employees are in complete compliancy when it comes to protecting patient confidentiality and so forth and so on.

The core competencies for HRM include:

? "The ability to lead the change effort in the organization, not just the change effort in HR

? A strong belief in empowering employees and decentralizing decision-making

? A commitment to organizational/people development (Grantham and Hook, n.d.)

? The confidence to be a consultative business partner in HR issues (as opposed to
an "employee advocate" on the one hand, or "the people police" on the other)

? The capacity to both recognize problems as they occur and work with others to solve them

? Proven experience in planning and implementing a strategic HR role

? Patience to continue with a change program and handle resistance to change

? The ability to obtain a commitment to a change program from the top executives,

? and with them, to develop a sense of urgency/importance for the change efforts." (Grantham et al, n.d.)

Human Resources Management (HRM) is widely impacted by a plethora of challenges. In terms of globalization, a significant amount of organizations are geared towards developing leaders and retaining employees within an international framework. Leadership is a necessary priority in all businesses globally. An organization will deteriorate if there is no specific training module implemented to offer employees an opportunity to advance as a leader by sharpening their skills and passing aptitude test that will determine whether an individual is both mentally and emotionally stable to lead an organization and manage a staff of about 200 employees or more. The challenges associated with leadership development includes the recruitment of highly-qualified, trained and educated employees. A leader must possess strong leadership qualities in order to effectively lead a nationwide organization. Some other challenge HRM might be confronted with may also include:

? "Variations in social, political, and economic circumstances." (Rioux, Bernthal and Wellins, n.d.)

? "Different locations/offices have their own way of doing things and are resistant to change." (Rioux et al, n.d.)

? "The perceived value of the HR function varies across locations/offices." (Rioux et al, n.d.).
HRM is challenging for any organization, however; an organizations that maintains an effective and efficient globalized HR function can enable management to utilize the attributes of employees from across multiple geographic and culturally diversified boundaries (Rioux et al, n.d.).