Human Resource Department is commonly regarded as an indulgent function where a lot of people think that only the sizeable organizations can afford to have an independent HR Department; while most of the resources and focuses are being put on sales, marketing and production capacities, to which the contribution can be easily measured quantitatively. This misconception causes many employers and employees to have relatively low awareness of Labour Law that governs the employment affairs, which subsequently leads to time consuming and costly employment disputes.

Apart from payroll administration, it is HR Department’s responsibility to educate everyone in an organization on the employers’ and employees’ rights they are entitled, and their respective obligations owing to one another under the statutory provision. And make sure the company’s HR policy is being aligned in accordance with Labour Law from time to time.

It is the fact that, many of the staffs from HR Departments do not have the relevant qualifications in HR, or the relevant qualifications may not be regarded duly as a prerequisite for the posts in HR. In view of that, the employers are reminded to make sure their staffs from HR Department are equipped with sufficient knowledge of Labour Law, and act on a neutral ground as a consultant to both the employers and employees bearing in mind that any employment related dispute can be costly to the company, and low morale will lead to low productivity.

Once the abovementioned employment obligations are fulfilled, only then HR Department can play their most important part on employees’ professional development and retention of competent employees.

Professional Development

To further enhance the competency level of the employees in terms of knowledge and skills to carry out their job in accordance with their job descriptions and job specifications. This can be achieved via the following:

1.       College / University Courses

2.       In-house Training

3.       Seminars

4.       Workshops

5.       Self Study

Note that a successful professional development program should be associated with rewards upon accomplishment. The best reward would be entitlement for internal promotion.

Retention of Competent Employees

One of the largest investments most of the companies made would be the cost to train up employees. Every competent employee is regarded as an appreciating asset to the company. Therefore, it is very important for the HR Department to come out with motivation schemes to retain competent staffs from leaving the company. The examples of the motivation schemes are as follows:

1.       Remuneration revision

2.       Internal promotion

3.       Company Loan

4.       Job enrichment

5.       Job enlargement

6.       Job rotation

Note that different motivation scheme should be offered to different employees according to the employee’s individual needs and wishes.

With the right employees at the right positions, and high commitment to the company, the interaction among departments and efficiency at work shall be at the fullest. Hopefully this will bring the greatest revenue to the company and sustain the success in the long run.