Discussion questions is too vague to recover a meaningful subject.

¶ … roles and responsibilities of the HR department in your organization? Are they part of the strategic planning team and process in your company?

This is interesting this question is posed to us. I just had a conversation with one of the HR folks at Agilent Technologies who sits in Loveland. Our facility in Loveland is not the headquarters for the company we do happen to have a few folks from HR and Legal. Our HR department has evolved over the users. I remember when it was originally called personnel. Now it is human resources. Interesting we took the "person" out of the function and now we "resources." That is probably another discussion: ) Anyway, at Agilent our HR function focuses primarily on relocations, benefits and pay evaluations. They also participate on a limited capacity in investigations where our standards of business conduct have been breached. Most hiring functions are now handled by outsourced vendors. So the initial screenings and resume reviews are done by an outsourced vendor. They will take the resumes and forward the ones they feel fit the hiring criteria. However, the hiring manager can always ask to look at all the resumes.

It is interesting that such a vital function of the enterprise -- the hiring of new workers -- has been outsourced. One would think that to create a cohesive organization, united under a common sensibility, individuals familiar with the mission and purpose of the organization should be in charge of recruitment and development. The transition from a 'personnel' department to a 'human resources' department is usually seen as a reflection of the desire to have an in-house HR department devoted to doing more than merely handling payroll. Human resources means using the 'human resources' of the enterprise at their optimal level, as well as handle issues of harassment, promoting diversity, handling performance reviews, and orienting new hires. It sounds like Agilent may have changed the name of the personnel department, but that the newly-named HR department has a relatively limited capacity in choosing new employees to work for the organization, and even in investigating and facilitating potential breaches of ethics and policies.

2. The H/R department at my organization is responsible for employee training and the "Development of Human Capital." The dept is responsible for the recruiting of some positions but because we are a research organization many of the research labs and divisions handle the recruiting and selection process of the scientific staff. H/R sets the timeline and guidelines for all employees performance reviews, updates the employee manuals and the H/R web site. The dept also helps divisions and departments create job descriptions, compensation packages, and take care of payroll and benefits, legal requirements. Because of the unique structure of our organization H/R isn't always involved in all the aspects of strategic planning within the organization. We have an organization wide strategic plan, but most of the labs and divisions within the organization also have their own strategic plan that fits into the overall plan. I think that H/R is included in strategic planning when needed.

HR sounds very separate from the organization as a whole, but I can see how that makes sense given that at many research laboratories, different departments operate in a very independent fashion. When the organizational structure is very diffuse, it might make sense for a central HR department not to dominate selection and planning decisions. Hiring must serve the organization's strategic plan, but in this specific instance every department has a strategic plan of its own, which is presumably more specific than the general strategic plan of the entire organization. There is no singular prescription for how HR 'should be,' rather the mission of HR must be defined in the context of the larger organizational environment and structure.

3. The business I work for does not have an HR department; therefore I will be basing this class on my spouse's workplace.

The HR department has many roles and responsibilities in the MGM Mirage Organization. They act as a liaison between employees and management. They handle responsibilities such as tuition reimbursement, payroll, employee relations and policies. The HR department plays a large part in the strategic planning of the company. Due to the size of the organization the HR department has to have strong training techniques and be very efficient in the hiring process. Since MGM Mirage owns several hotels and casinos, each property must operate its own HR department to ensure that each property receives a proper amount of attention in regards to employee/employer relations. The human relations department also has the huge task of developing and maintaining the employee handbook.