The Human Resouce Function

In order to fully understand the function of an effective human resource department, you have to be entirely acclimated to the process by which human resource departments manage.  This process includes planning for staffing needs, recruitment of new staff, selection of highly qualified staff, professional development opportunities for new and current staff, employee evaluation and fair and equitable employee compensation.  Although this list of responsibilities seems daunting, it is simply an outline of the entire employee management process from job opening to retention and development of the hired employee. 

The process of human resource planning involves making sure that the current and hopefully future needs of the school are fulfilled upon completion of the process.  This is most effectively done by the administrator by establishing clear employee objectives and job qualifications.  In turn, the human resource department is able to offer highly qualified applicants to be considered for employment by the school administrators.

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In order to recruit new staff, the need for new staff needs to be established.  This task can be accomplished by simply sending out "contract intent letters" to existing staff and reviewing the job description of departing staff.  Once the need for new replacement employees is established, it is incumbent upon the human resource department, in conjunction with building administrators, if the need for newly created positions is present.  When the total number of replacement employees and new position needs are established the human resource department can begin the process of recruiting high qualified applicants to fill these positions.

Once staff needs have been filled with highly qualified employees it is the responsibility of the human resource department to ensure that the schools in their care are offering effective, relevant professional development opportunities.  These opportunities can range from grade and subject level specific classes to behavioral management practices.  The intent of professional development sessions is to encourage teachers to become as effective educators as they can possibly be.  Along those lines, almost all subjects covered in the sessions can serve as invaluable resources to educators.

The main function of human resource departments in education is the ascertainment and retention of highly qualified educators.  This is easily accomplished by the organized HR department head that has a clear mission statement and a competent staff.

Lunenburg, F. C., & Ornstein, A. C. (2008). Educational Administration, Concepts and Practices. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.