1) A Line function: The Human resource manager directs the activities of the people in his or her own department and perhaps in related areas (like the plant cafeteria).
2) A coordinative function: The human resource manager also coordinates personnel activities, a duty often referred to as functional authority ( or functional control). Here he or she ensures that line managers are implementing the firm's human resource polices and practices (for example, adhering to its sexual harassment polices).
3) Staff (assist and advise) functions: Assisting and advising line managers in the heart of the human resource manager's job. He or she advises the CEO so the CEO can better understand the personnel aspects of the company's strategic options. HR assists in hiring, training, evaluating, rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing employees. It administers the various benefit programs (health and accident insurance, retirement, vacation, and so on). It helps line managers comply with equal employment and occupational safety laws, and plays an important role in handling grievances and labor relations. It carries out an innovator role, by providing up-to-date information on current trends and new methods for better utilizing the company's employees (or "human resources"). It plays an employee advocacy role, by representing the interests of employees within the framework of its primary obligation to senior management.
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B. assisting upper management in formulating business strategies
Human resource managers in today's workforce still need skills in areas such as employee selection, training, and compensation, as HR managers in the past did. However, modern HR managers also require broader business knowledge and proficiencies, which can be gained through an MBA program. For example, to assist top management in formulating strategies, the human resource manager needs to be familiar with strategic planning, marketing, production, and finance. He or she must also be able to "speak the CFO's language," by explaining human resource activities in financially measurable terms, such as return on investment and cost per unit of service.
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