Six Core HR Functions Ranked by Strategic Importance
This paper presents a Director of Human Resources' prioritized ranking of six core HR functions: Human Resource Planning, Recruitment, Training, Performance Appraisal, Employee Benefits and Compensation, and Equal Employment Opportunity. For each function, the paper explains why it holds its ranked position relative to departmental goals, outlines its key objectives and benefits, and provides a plain-language explanation accessible to non-specialists. The discussion draws on strategic HRM principles to show how each function contributes to organizational effectiveness, workforce development, and long-term goal attainment.
- Introduction to HRM and the Six Functions: Overview of HRM and ranking framework introduced
- Human Resource Planning: Strategic HR planning ranked first in importance
- Recruitment: Recruitment ranked second for workforce alignment
- Training and Development: Training ranked third for skill growth and performance
- Performance Appraisal: Appraisal ranked fourth for staff effectiveness
- Employee Benefits and Compensation: Benefits and compensation ranked fifth for retention
- Equal Employment Opportunity and Layman's Summaries: EEO ranked sixth; plain-language summaries provided
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What makes this paper effective
- Clear hierarchical structure: each function is introduced with a rationale for its ranking position, making the argument easy to follow.
- Practical orientation: the paper consistently ties abstract HRM concepts to concrete departmental objectives, such as skill-blending, teamwork culture, and measurable performance change.
- Accessible plain-language section: the layman's explanations at the end demonstrate an ability to translate technical HR terminology for a general audience — a useful academic exercise in applied communication.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied prioritization — the ability to take a set of established academic concepts and rank them against real operational criteria. Rather than simply defining each HR function, the author justifies each placement with reference to departmental goals, citing multiple sources to support each claim. This moves the paper beyond description into analysis.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief overview of HRM and announces the ranking framework. It then proceeds through six numbered sections, each covering one HR function with a justification for its rank, a list of objectives, and a summary of benefits. The final section revisits all six functions in simplified, layman-accessible language. The reference list follows standard citation conventions for web-sourced material.
Introduction to HRM and the Six Functions
Human resource management (HRM) encompasses issues regarding people management and development, ranging from traditional selection, training, compensation, and performance to the alignment of HRM functions and activities with strategic objectives. It is an acknowledged fact that people constitute the human capital responsible for everything that happens within an organization. Systems, tools, and techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated and useful, but ultimately it is people who use them — providing the right inputs and making decisions based on available information.
As Director of Human Resources, the following is a ranking of the six HR functions in order of importance: (I) Human Resource Planning, (II) Recruitment, (III) Training, (IV) Performance Appraisal, (V) Employee Benefits and Compensation, and (VI) Equal Employment Opportunity.
Human Resource Planning
An all-inclusive Human Resource Planning strategy contributes significantly to the attainment of an organization's overall strategic goals, demonstrating that human resources activity fully recognizes and supports the direction in which the organization is moving. A comprehensive HR strategy also sustains other specific strategic goals carried out by the marketing, financial, operational, and technology departments. The essence of an HR strategy must aim to incorporate the "people element" of what an organization expects to achieve in the medium to long term.
HR Planning is ranked first due to its critical importance to the department's achievement of goals and objectives, which include: (i) having the right personnel matched to the right job; (ii) having the correct blend of skills; (iii) ensuring the workforce exhibits appropriate attitudes and behaviors; and (iv) developing personnel in the proper manner.
No single approach exists for developing a Human Resources Strategy — the particular approach will differ from one organization to another. Nevertheless, an effective approach to an HR Strategic Management System involves achieving the following departmental goals and objectives: (i) setting the strategic course; (ii) taking the initiative to design the Human Resource Management System; (iii) planning out the complete workforce; (iv) producing the necessary human resources; (v) investing in human resources and performance-oriented programs; and (vi) evaluating and supporting organizational competence and performance.
Recruitment
Recruitment is a central sphere of HRM, though it is frequently discussed in a prescriptive manner. Recruitment is ranked second because of its critical importance to the department's goals and objectives, including: (i) selection of the best candidate for the job; and (ii) selection based on the best-person or psychometric model, which has attained the status of convention in free-market economies. Various models of resourcing have been developed with increased concern for personality and attitude, rather than competence alone. Recruits may be selected for their ability to fit within the culture of the organization and their willingness to build a career within it, thereby embracing the organization's objectives.
Recruitment is a significant component of effective HRM. It cannot be discussed in terms of how recruitment and selection occur without questioning why certain procedures are followed instead of others. Within the HRM model, recruitment is not merely a procedure to fill vacancies. Rather, recruitment and employment levels can be seen as important "push" and "pull" levers for organizational change. The importance of recruitment is also crucial to departmental goals because it allows management to identify and gradually change the behavioral characteristics and competencies of the staff. The approach to teamwork has shifted toward favoring people with an inclination for working with others, as opposed to the individualistic "stars" selected by companies during the 1980s. This shift is significant, as attention has moved away from rigid lists of competencies toward internationally relevant competencies, with greater emphasis on personal flexibility and adaptability.
The department will pursue e-recruitment — online recruitment through a web portal — as this makes the process of tracking candidates and new business opportunities simpler, faster, less costly, and more efficient. The department will use the "x-raying" and "peeling back" techniques, which are gradually reinventing the role of the conventional recruiter. X-raying involves using simple search commands in major search engines, while peeling back entails deleting the last portion of a web address up to the final forward slash (/), thereby revealing information stored in that folder.
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