Why is human resources important in 2021?
Is human resources and under appreciated or neglected side of your business? Find out why it’s so important in 2021.
As a business owner, you’ll agree that your staff are the driving force behind your entire operation. Whether it’s efficiency you’re looking to improve, or you’re interested in making sure all of your team members are motivated, happy and safe at work, then there’s little that comes close to the importance of human resources.
Whether you’re looking to enhance your existing human resources department, or you’re someone interested in getting into the human resources industry, we have some excellent tidbits in our article.
For those looking to succeed or step into a career in human resources through education with providers like the Monarch Institute Australia, or interested in climbing the ladder in HR we have plenty of insights below.
What is human resources?
Before we delve into why human resources is so important in 2021, we’ll first take a look at what the term means and why some of the workflows under this umbrella are so integral to business.
In short, human resources or HR is all about pushing a workforce’s performance and increasing productivity, workplace profitability and, of course, employee motivation and satisfaction.
In decades past, HR was essentially only focused on either hiring, firing or salary reviews, however, as we step into 2021 the field has become a whole lot more than that. We’ll take a look at some typical HR workflows in 2021 below:
- Employee benefit management
- Onboarding
- Recruitment services
- Management of holidays
- The development and training of employees
- Compliance with safety
And a whole lot more.
As you can see, there’s a tonne that goes on in the field of HR and if you’re someone who’s looking to make an impact in a workplace, then the human resources field might be right up your alley.
Why HR is so important in 2021
With one of the most infamous years in history behind us, we’ve all come to know a world where work has changed almost entirely — and likely forever. That in mind, it’s clear to see that there’s major room for an HR overhaul and a big focus on work-from-home support and assistance.
A vast majority of Australians are still working from home at least part of the week, and this means that human resources are more integral than ever before when it comes to the management of staff and ensuring team members have access to the tools and information that they need — when they’re not in the office.
It’s also important to keep in mind that in a traditional sense, poor HR can severely damage staff relationships with a business and affect everything from efficiency, productivity and motivation.
When you’re dealing with poor human resource solutions in a remote work environment, these effects are majorly exacerbated and can essentially stunt your business’s growth.
That in mind, we’re confident in saying that human resources is so important in 2021 because of the field’s importance when it comes to keeping staff performing well in home and office environments.
To summarise, poor HR can have a domino effect that falls all the way down to your brand’s profitability and bottom line.
The pandemic
In line with what we outlined above, there are some specific pandemic-related insights we’d like to provide some information on.
As a business owner, or a prospective HR team member, we’ve had to majorly change the way we worked over the past year and businesses have been forced to re-assess how operations are conducted as well as how work is undertaken.
At the height of the pandemic, great HR took centre stage in allowing companies to move their staff back to their home offices and keeping their employees motivated and in the loop with what is happening in the company.
With these big changes, mental health took a severe hit, and great human resources will have enabled correct management of a vast majority of these issues and allow most businesses to thrive in these at-home environments.
To add, brands with poor HR departments or a lack of focus in HR performed far more poorly and with that in mind, the HR team in 2021 may be the make or break for businesses.
Maintaining and re-building company culture
To end our article, one key factor that makes human resources so important in 2021 is the fact that there will need to be a company-wide reassessment and re-instalment, so to speak, of company culture.
With all staff working from home and being so far from team members, it won’t be a shock to find that a good majority of staff have forgotten what it’s like to work closely as a group.
Your modernised and pandemic-proof HR department will be heavily relied upon here to rebuild and reinforce company culture in the workplace, boost employee motivation and push productivity back to its peak.
Human resources is vitally important now and in the future
All of those points in mind, and it’s quite clear that human resources in the coming year and decade ahead will be vitally important to ensuring the success of brands coming out of a pandemic.
As an employee in HR or a business owner, you’re going to be required to push harder than ever when it comes to re-motivating staff and instilling that incredible company culture once again.
