Working in the Human Resources Department: studies, roles and salary (2023)

Following the path of people in the company is certainly challenging, but it can also give great satisfaction. Practical guide for those who dream of pursuing a professional career in this field

For the address bookIdentikit Professionswe tell you what it meanswork in the HR Department of a company.

If your desire is to work with people and for people, helping them to fulfill themselves within their professional career, if you like challenges, real ones, why juggle the world of work by bringing together the needs of companies and those of people today is far from simple, if you want to make a difference in society, well, working in the Human Resources or HR Department (acronym of Human Resources) could be made just for you.

So let's try to understand together how this sector works, which are the most suitable studies, the tasks that should be carried out, the roles to be filled and, of course, how much a Human Resources employee earns.

What are the main tasks of HR

Working in the Human Resources Department involves a very wide range of activities. Obviously, the smaller the organization, the more a single employee will be required to be able to deftly juggle all functions. Larger and more structured HR departments, on the other hand, provide for a greater specificity of roles. So let's see what the tasks are:

• Let's start frompersonnel selection(in Englishrecruiting), which must be managed in all its aspects: from the analysis of the profiles to be searched for in the short and long term, to the creation of the advertisement up to the accompaniment of the selected candidate in his entry into the company (called theonboarding). However, recruiting is only the first step in a series of activities to support the entire journey of people in the company.

How to prepare for a job interview

• To elaboratetraining programsbased on the needs of the organization and individuals and identify paths for thecareer developmentof workers are two strategic tasks of the HR management, "strategic" because they look to the future of the company.

• Payroll processing, bonus management, holiday management, hiring and dismissal procedures: these are theadministrative taskswhich the HR management is called to deal with.

• Today more than ever thephysical and mental well-beingof the worker has assumed a leading role. Health problems, stress, difficulties in family management, are all elements that can compromise the relationship between the worker and the company up to lead to the resignation of the resource. For this reason, those who choose to work in the Human Resources Department must be prepared to help support employees in these circumstances, also identifying paths and initiatives that can be of support.

• Minimize the risk of accidents within the workplace by verifying the continuous adaptation of spaces and equipment to current regulations on safetyoccupational health and safety, as well as taking care of the training of workers in this area so that they know how to recognize risks and protect themselves from them, is one of the responsibilities of the Human Resources officer.

What are the roles within an HR department

As we have just seen, the tasks entrusted to those who decide to work in Human Resources can be really many and different from each other. For this reason, in HR departments, especially the broader and more structured ones, there is a hierarchy of roles. Simplifying the pyramid we can say that we have at the topl’HR Manager, they followl’HR Generalistel’HR Specialist.

• L’HR Manageris the one who has the task of managing the HR department by coordinating all the activities within it.

• L’HR Generalisthe is the one who has a broad knowledge of all the aspects dealt with within the Human Resources division, from selection to administrative management.

• L’HR Specialist, as the word itself suggests, has a specialized and in-depth knowledge of a specific aspect dealt with within the HR division. I amHR SpecialistiRecruiter(people who deal with personnel selection), HR Trainers (people who deal with training), HR Payroll (people who deal with payroll management), and so on.

The training path to work in Human Resources

It is possible to acquire the preparation necessary to work in the HR Department by attending specific degree courses, such as the master's degree course held by the University of Milan inManagement of Human Resources.

However, even those who have already completed a job in the humanities − psychology, sociology, educational sciences, philosophy and literature −, but not only that, can think of building a professional career in this field by attending one of the various and qualified Masters in Human resources. Among those available today we point out, by way of example, iHR masters organized by the 24 Ore Business Schooldesigned for different levels of learning and availability of time.

How much does someone who works in the HR Department earn

Naturally, the salary of a Human Resources expert depends on the role covered and the level of seniority. In general, based on the information reported by the Glassdoor platform, we can say that in Italy it isaverage annual salary of an HR Specialistis 30,000 euros, loaverage annual salary of an HR Generalistis 36,000, while loaverage annual salary of HR Manageris 50,000 euros.