HR Career Overview
Human resource management is a contemporary, umbrella term used to describe the management and development of employees in an organization. Also called personnel or talent management (although these terms are a bit antiquated), human resource management involves overseeing all things related to managing an organization’s human capital.
Human resource management is therefore focused on a number of major areas, including:
- Recruiting and staffing
- Compensation and benefits
- Training and learning
- Labor and employee relations
- Organization development
HR Career Path
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM, USA), HR professionals can be organized into 3 categories based on their job description and work experience.
Early-level HR professionals are specialists who perform a specific support function or generalists with limited experience. Their work includes supporting HR initiatives, executing tasks requested of management, and performing tactical or transactional tasks.
Mid-level HR professionals are generalists or senior specialists who are most often responsible for managing projects, programs, or initiatives, implementing plans designed by senior management, and delegating tasks to early-level staff members.
Senior-level HR professionals are considered experienced generalists or specialists who are responsible for developing and leading implementation plans and analyzing business information. They may also serve as the most senior leaders of the HR management team. They are organizational leaders and designers of human capital strategy.
