what is human resources hr 
human resources hr is the division of a business that is charged with finding recruiting screening and training job applicants it also administers employee benefit programs hr plays a key role in helping companies deal with a fast changing business environment and a greater demand for quality employees in the 21st century understanding human resources hr john r commons an american institutional economist first coined the term human resource in his book the distribution of wealth published in 1893 however it was not until the 20th century that hr departments were formally developed and tasked with addressing misunderstandings between employees and their employers 1an hr department is an essential component of any business regardless of an organization s size it is tasked with maximizing employee productivity and protecting the company from any issues that may arise within the workforce hr responsibilities include compensation and benefits recruitment retention firing and keeping up to date with any laws that may affect the company and its employees key hr activitiesthe following are the six key people related activities that hr must effectively do to add value to a company hr management strategiesbeginning in the 1980s there was a push for strategic initiatives within hr departments this movement was based on research related to the impact of employee related issues on a firm s long term business success collectively these strategies are sometimes referred to as human resource management hrm strategies hrm is a comprehensive approach to managing employees and an organization s culture and environment it focuses on the recruitment management and general direction of the people who work in an organization an hr department that adopts hrm strategies typically plays a more active role in improving an organization s workforce it may recommend processes approaches and business solutions to management google is one example of an organization that has adopted a more active approach to employee relations through its hr department the company offers many employee perks including on site wellness centers on site meals and snacks fitness centers massage programs and ergonomic support for google happy employees are equivalent to productive employees 23in 1901 national cash register co known today as ncr corp established what is thought to have been the first personnel department the hr predecessor to manage wages workplace safety and employee concerns 4hr outsourcingsince the mid 20th century some companies have outsourced some of the more traditional administrative transactional hr functions in an effort to free the department to recommend and implement more meaningful value adding programs that impact the business in positive ways 5functions that may be outsourced in this process include the use of modern tools such as recruitment software can help to improve the efficiency of hr departments in turn that can give them more leeway to focus on adding ever greater value 