You won’t hear about the soccer team or the basketball team playing a match without the manager or the coach. It’s because the team can’t function properly as one unit without its coach, and the same goes for the functionality of an organization without its HR department. Today, we’ll discuss swot analysis of human resource department, and it’s going to focus on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the HR department faces.
You may be wondering that HR has nothing to do with sports. But there is a close resemblance in their roles and work. For instance, a coach has to choose the best team players that would perform well. Similarly, an HR manager has to hire the best employees that would perform well and help the company to achieve its organizational goals.
The responsibility of HR (human resources) is to manage the employee operations of the company. For instance, if the workforce of the company is decreasing, then the HR manager would have to recruit the most suitable employees by conducting interviews and evaluating their skill levels and setting their salaries.
The focus of the HR department is to lay the foundation of such a culture that would help employees to solve their daily problems. Let’s dive into the study of swot analysis of human resources, and it would analyze the internal/external factors of the company.
Here’s the swot analysis of HR as follows;
Table of Contents
Strengths of HR
Using Technology
We’re living in the world of technological advancement. Many HR tasks used to be highly time-consuming, but the technological tools have reduced their processing timing to a great extent. However, the usage of technology in HR operations would help the company increase the efficiency of operations and save a lot of time.
Recruitment web platforms where you can find the relevant workforce and employees are the best examples of the usage of technology. There are many other automated HR software and applications that would help you to manage the daily operations and amplify the productivity of the company.
Protecting Rights of Employees
The biggest concern of employees is that the company is not exploiting their rights and interests, and they want the protection of their rights. Regardless of the proclamation of equal rights, many people experience discrimination of religion, gender, and ethnicity in their workplace environment.
The responsibility of HR managers is to protect the rights of employees. When you protect their interests and rights, then it strengthens the relationship between the organization and its employees. It would result in the form of higher productivity.
Cooperation with HR
The other problem employees face is the non-cooperative attitude of employees. Usually, the HR department remains in with employees, and they should develop a better relationship with them. If they have got a cooperative attitude, then it would make employees feel happy and satisfied. Resultantly, positive word-of-mouth marketing would send a good image of the company.
Compensation Package
It doesn’t how good the workplace environment is and the benefits you’re offering, the focus of employees is always on the salary at the end of the month. If the HR management offers good salaries to its employees along with other compensations and benefits, then their job satisfaction and work performance would improve to a great extent.
Low Turnover Rate
Employees’ turnover rate means the number of the workforce is leaving the company in a specific time period. If the turnover rate of the company is higher, then it means that the company is failing to retain its workforce in the long term.
It’s difficult to keep your workforce satisfied, and employees leave the organization for reasons like poor management, low compensation, and poor communication channels. In order to reduce the turnover rate, successful HR managers focus on solutions rather than on the problems.
Weaknesses of HR
Power can backfire
It won’t be wrong to say that HR management has the power to sail the entire organization. It’s because the HR department recruits and hires the type of employees that the company needs. They also have the power to terminate the contract of any employee based on any valid reasons.
If the power goes in the wrong hand, then it would jeopardize the productivity and growth of the company when they use favoritism. Their focus is on satisfying the few rather than keeping in mind the goodness of the entire organization.
Bad Reputation
If the company has a bad reputation in the market because of any reason, then HR management would have to work extra hard to bring out a good image by hiring qualified employees and improving productivity.
The problem when the company has a bad reputation, then people won’t like to join such an organization and that makes the HR jobs even more difficult. It’s because the workforce wants job security and the non-serious attitude of the HR department would push people away.
Not motivated Employees
Ideally speaking, every company wants efficient and motivated employees, but this is not the case in reality. Some of the employees are highly demotivated and disappointed, and changing their attitude is the biggest challenge for the company. It’s because such disappointed employees would spread their negative energy and impact the overall workplace environment.
Limited Budget
The main goal of the HR department is to allocate resources and improve the productivity of the entire organization. Some companies have got the limited budget issues, and it would become challenging for the HR management to carry out their operations.
When the HR department has got a limited budget, then HR operations like performance appraisals, recruitment, and others would become difficult. It would cause dissatisfaction and disappointment in employees relevant to their job and resultantly impact the entire organization.
Opportunities of HR
HR Policies
Updating the HR policies and following them over time would help the company to improve its productivity of the company. If the HR department conducts thorough research and development, then it would allow the company to amplify productivity and customer satisfaction levels.
Skilled Labor
The total number of skilled labor is increasing in the market due to the high number of educational institutes. It provides a great opportunity for the HR management to hire skilled professionals in their organization in order to amplify their productivity and growth.
High HR Budget
The core function of the HR department is not to generate profit rather it focuses on the allocation and distribution of the company’s resources. When the HR department has got limited funds, then it creates problems for them. When HR has got greater access to funds and resources, it would allow the company to perform well in the future.
For instance, if HR has got more funds and resources, then they would hire skilled professionals that would amplify the growth and productivity of the company. They can also increase the salaries and benefits of employees based on their performances.
Tech Advancement
The HR department should adopt the available technology and improve the overall efficiency of the organization. AI (artificial intelligence) can greatly help the company to amplify productivity. For instance, virtual reality technology also presents a lot of opportunities and possibilities. Instead of spending funds on the training and development of employees, you can better train them with virtual machines. The HR department could gain a competitive edge in the market by employing technology.
Threats to HR
Data Privacy
People are getting cautious about their data privacy and they have got a right to the protection of their data. It puts a great responsibility on the HR management relevant to the protection of their private data and personal files. For instance, if the company doesn’t comply with the regulation and legislation regarding data privacy, then it would result in the form of heavy lawsuits. Like Meta got to pay a fine of 1.7 million Euros for the complaints of data breaches.
Demand for Employees
If other competitors start hiring similar types of employees whatever you’re looking for, it would result in the form of a shortage of workforce. In such a competitive workforce shortage environment, HR management would have no other choice but to offer them better salaries and benefits in order to retain them.
It’s a very difficult situation for HR management because it would increase the employees’ turnover rate. HR management would have to offer better salaries in order to retain them.
Technology
Technological development and advancement have got both advantages and disadvantages; strengths and threats. We’ve already mentioned before the harmful impact of technology on the HR department and the entire organization. It would be in the form in the form of data breaches, privacy issues, and others.
As we are aware of the fact that technological tools automate many HR operations and functions. The usage of AI and technological tools limits the role of HR.
