Job Descriptions: Human Resources Advisor

The main function of a HR Advisor is to look after the most important item belonging to a business - its staff.

A Human Resources Advisor is a very important and equally varied role. Many Human Resource departments will have different employees focusing on different aspects of Human Resources. This could be anything from hiring and recruiting new members of staff, training and developing current members of staff to be better or more efficient in their job, settling workplace disputes and even firing staff.

As the role of a Human Resource Advisor is so very varied, graduates can expect to specialise especially in larger companies. The main focus is that Human Resources departments help the business function better and become more productive. The role is highly personal and requires graduates who are considering it as a career to be fully aware that they are working for the business not its staff and may have to do difficult tasks such as redundancies, sackings and disciplinaries.

Some of the work requires Human Resources Advisors to be extremely up to date with legal proceedings and changes to things like employment law. It is highly important that Human Resources Advisors are entirely on point with details as they become highly important when it comes to someone's job. Other great skills required to be a successful Human Resources Advisor would be great problem solving skills, business nous and high levels of organisation.

Human Resources Advisor Salaries

The average starting salary for a graduate entering Human Resources is £21,702. This is more than a respectable sum for a graduate starting out on their career. The average starting salary is evidently comparable to other graduate roles in other business functions similar to Human Resources.

When graduates usually start out in Human Resources much of their early career concerns learning the ropes of Human Resources and Human Resources management and it is as they become more experienced or specialise in a particular area they increase their earning power. Many Senior HR advisors and managers can earn upwards of £100,000 a year and some operate on a freelance, consultancy basis while some are based in-house.

The Daily Duties of a Human Resources Advisor

A Human Resources Advisor, especially early on in their career, can be expected to undertake a wide range of duties and tasks. This revolves around keeping the workforce operating at maximum efficiency and dealing with developments in the company such as new technology or new initiatives for the staff at an organisation.

As mentioned before, HR Advisors often specialise later in their careers, especially at larger organisations, but early on graduates will be expected to turn their hand to a variety of tasks, here are the main duties of a Human Resources Advisor.

• Appraisals and Disciplinaries - Human Resource teams, especially at larger organisations, play a key role in the management of individual members of staff. This means HR Advisors may play a role in giving appraisals to members of staff on their contribution, effort and performance. They also play a part in disciplinary proceedings and will be the people called upon to issue dismissals and redundancies.
• Employee liaison - Human Resources teams often operate as a mediator between management and staff. This is occasionally a tricky position to operate in if new initiatives or plans for the business are not to the liking of staff. However, what must be remembered is that Human Resources teams and Human Resources Advisors are there to represent the best interests of the business, not the staff.
• Recruitment - This is one of the main duties of a Human Resources Advisor. They are usually involved in the start to finish of recruitment of new members of staff. This includes drawing up job descriptions, interviewing, screening candidates and arranging contracts. Human Resources Advisors are also often involved in the internal promotion of staff and the paperwork that runs alongside this.
• Training - Human Resources Advisors are often relied on for running training seminars for staff. Whether this is a new approach to health and safety or a new system of data storage at a company, a Human Resources Advisor will be responsible for ensuring members of staff understand and are competent with this. Their duties for training also extend to ensuring members of staff are able to work to their maximum potential and can often use training seminars to ensure this happens.
• Workforce management - More generally, the main duty of a Human Resources Advisor and a Human Resources team is to make sure that workforces are working to their hardest, performing well and happy. Workforce management may include rewarding and encouraging good work, setting targets and making sure legal and ethical practices are evident in that work place.

There is a lot of legal and complex issues surrounding the world of Human Resources and being a Human Resources Advisor. However, working with people and ensuring business and organisations are operating well and contently is a rewarding career. While there are difficult duties as part of the job such as disciplinaries and dismissals, graduates looking for a career that includes working with people and helping people, becoming a Human Resources Advisor should be the career choice for them.