An Analysis of the HR Manager Role, Responsibilities, and Job Market

This report offers a detailed analysis of the HR Manager role, focusing on its importance in the modern business landscape, particularly within the banking sector. It begins with an introduction to the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the significance of choosing a suitable career path. The report then provides an overview of the HR manager's responsibilities, which include recruitment, employee training and development, and ensuring workforce efficiency. The role requirements, such as educational qualifications, skills, and experience, are examined, along with insights gathered from interviews with HR managers from leading UK banks like Barclays, Bank of England, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The report also explores the types of organizations that employ HR managers and the career opportunities available within the field, including roles such as training and development managers and HR consultants. The responsibilities of an HR manager, including designing HR policies, conducting HR planning, managing employee relations, and performance appraisals, are also thoroughly discussed, providing a comprehensive understanding of this critical role.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................................3
OVERVIEW OF CAREER AREA.......................................................................................................3
ROLE REQUIREMENT .....................................................................................................................3
TYPE OF ORGANIZATIONS HAVING THIS ROLE.......................................................................4
JOB HOLDER RESPONSIBILITY ....................................................................................................7
HOW HEALTHY IS THE JOB MARKET..........................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................................10
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1. INTRODUCTION
In the present era, large numbers of career opportunities are present within individual but
main issue is to decide specific areas in which career can be built and in turn selection of right area
supports individual in career development. Further, within the career area different job roles are
associated and individual has to take decision regarding acquiring educational degree for one's own
benefit (Grobler, 2005). Moreover, role requirement takes into consideration skills, knowledge,
experience, qualification etc through which it becomes easy to know the actual role which
individual has to play within the workplace. Moreover, before entering into any specific field it is
necessary to be well in advance as how healthy is job market for specific position and it also assist
in knowing the growth opportunities. The present study is based on the role of HR manager where
roles, responsibilities of individual have been discussed. Further, report covers various tasks such as
career opportunity, selection of one area etc.
2. OVERVIEW OF CAREER AREA
In the present research, career area chosen is HR management where role chosen is HR
manager. In the era of modernization, every organization recruits HR manager whose main
responsibility is to hire candidates as per requirement of the company. Moreover, it has to be
ensured well in advance whether the individuals hired are skilled or not. Main stress of HR manager
in every organization is to fulfil workforce requirement of enterprise in the best possible manner
and through this overall efficiency of the organization can be enhanced easily (Trotter, 2013). Apart
from this, it is the ultimate objective of every firm to appoint HR manager who is efficient enough
in ensuring that individual appointed in the company is fit for the position. HR manager recruits
different types of employees who are from different background such as marketing, finance etc.
Every organization on continuous basis sends requirement to its HR manager and it has to be met
timely.
3. ROLE REQUIREMENT
The educational qualification required to apply for the position of HR manager in bank is
Master degree in the field of Human resource. This qualification is must in every bank and by
pursuing master degree it becomes easy for the individual to enhance knowledge level along with
skills. Apart from this, graduation is also acceptable for this position but in case when individual has
done master degree then preference is given to that individual. Skills required in a HR manager are
communication, negotiation, multitasking, employee evaluation, training and development etc
(Human Resources Salary and Job Outlook., 2015). All these skills are required to be present in HR
manager and it is necessary for the individual to ensure well in advance that HR manager appointed
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for enterprise must have all these skills. Further, knowledge is essentially required linked with
hiring employees within the workplace. HR manager must have full knowledge regarding different
fields such as when employee associated with the field of marketing has to be appointed then HR
manager must have full knowledge regarding the marketing sector so that skilled workforce can be
hired easily. Same is the case when employee linked with finance filed is appointed by HR manager
then knowledge linked with same must be present with the manager (Renwick and MacNeil, 2002).
Further, experience of 2 to 3 years is required when any individual applies for the position of HR
manager in a bank. Through this experience, it is ensured that level of skills and knowledge in an
individual is up to the mark and person appointed can easily carry out its operations within the
company. So, these are some of the role requirement of HR manager in a bank.
In order to get the clear picture of opportunity in a bank the Bank managers of Barclays,
Bank of England, Royal Bank of Scotland Group UK are approached (Paauwe and Boselie, 2005).
For this a questionnaire is designed to known their experience in Banks as HR managers and sample
size is 1 managers of every bank.
Role Requirements
Role
Requireme
nts
Secondary Data Primary Data
Barclays
Primary Data
Bank of England
Primary Data
Royal Bank of
Scotland Group
UK
Qualificati
ons
 Post
Graduation
or Master
Degree
 MBA Degree in
HR
 MA Degree  MHRM
Degree
Skills  Decision
making,
time
managem
ent and
communi
cation are
required
 Decision
making and
communicatio
n skills
 Motivation
and
communic
ation skills
 Decision
making
and Time
managem
ent
Knowledge  Recruitment
process and
HR policies
 Training and
development,
recruitment
 HR policies
is must
 Training and
development
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process
Experience  2 to 4 years  1 to 2 years  2 to 4 years  4 years and
above
In the secondary investigation, it has been found that to apply for the position of HR
manager in any bank individual must have. Without having qualified and skilled HR managers no
company can survive in competitive market. However, the collection of primary data represented
that collection of primary information from Barclays bank stated that MBA in HR is required for
the position of HR manager. In addition to that Manager of Bank of England replied that MA as a
qualification is required for job role. Manager of Royal Bank of Scotland Group UK replied that
MHRM qualification is must. However, it has been found that HR manager of first bank has shown
that knowledge linked with training and development, recruitment process is must whereas HR
manager of second bank replied that knowledge regarding. Generally experience of 2 to 4 years is
required in order to apply for the position of HR manager.
4. TYPE OF ORGANIZATIONS HAVING THIS ROLE
The role of HR manager is vital for every kind organization as the human resource aspect is
the most important aspect of business entities. In today's competitive era, employees are seen the
most important resources of the company, hence considered to be assets. The human resources
department of companies are committed to hire the best candidate. The major role of manager is to
guide and command the people. Here in the present case the role of HR manager is described in
respect with a banking industry. The role of HR manager is to hire, train, motivate and retain the
people so they can contribute in the organizational success ( Werner, 2011).
Every banking organization employs the managers in HR department so they can help
Banking organizations to identify the best talent pool from the external market. The role of HR
manager is important in private as well as public banking organizations. The mangers are
responsible for preparing effective plans so as to enhance business effectiveness. Within UK there
are number of banks who are having position of HR managers i.e. Barclays, Bank of England and
The Co-operative Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, HSBC etc. However, to get hired by such
banks individual need ton have some specific qualifications and experience. All of these banking
organizations in UK have an aim to become the market leader by providing quality services to the
people (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). This is important to have HR managers who can make is easy
to hire and retain candidates for helping organization to get desired success. In addition to that, the
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companies are providing theory internal talent to get to the managerial positions that is a threat to
external candidate. However, there are many of banks in UK who are looking for the external
candidates for HR manager positions. Thus, a candidate applying for the HR manager position must
have master degree from recognized university and should have sound knowledge of banking
industry.
Type of organizations which have HR job role
Secondary Data Primary Data
Barclays
Primary Data
Bank of England
Primary Data Royal
Bank of Scotland
Group UK
 Companies
operating on wider
basis usually hires
HR manager
 Large sized
organizations
 Large sized
organizations
 Both large
and small
sized
organizations
The secondary investigation has witnessed that every type of organization has job role of HR
manager. The role of manager is important in every organization whether it be a banking, retailing,
hospitality and any. However, the size of organization matter a lot for the role of HR manager. The
primary investigation represented that Barclays, Bank of England and Royal Bank of Scotland
Group UK are large scaled organization hence, it has proved that large sized organizations require
HR to handle the operations of human resource department.
5. CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Human resources management is a wide field and there are many of career opportunities that
are available to the employees. While working in this field one can enhance the knowledge in
relation to hire a candidate and provide him / her training. Human resource is a wider field and
specially banks require people who are having analytical and problem solving skills hence the
responsibility of HR manager is to get in the filed and look for the people who are suitable for the
job positioning. The HR filed has various career opportunity of being trainer in a bank and to get
international exposure. In the present era, each and ever organization has issues related to human
responses, hence, the demand of HR managers are must in the organization. The following table
represents the questionnaire responses designed for HR managers in Bank.
Career Opportunities/Progression for HR Manager
Secondary Data Primary Data Primary Data Primary Data Royal Bank of
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Barclays Bank of England Scotland Group UK
 Training and
development
manager,
 HR
consultant
 HR entrepreneur  HR consultant  Training and
development manager
Career opportunities to HR manager can be in the form of training and development
manager, HR consultant. The secondary investigation has represented that human resource is a
wider field and specially banks require people who are having analytical and problem solving skills
hence there are career opportunities/progression for HR Manager. In the primary investigation
major career opportunities found that are HR entrepreneur, HR consultant and Training &
development manager. In the secondary investigation , it was found that HR managers are satiated
from their current job positioning, however, they have got international exposure and training to
enhance your knowledge level.
6. JOB HOLDER RESPONSIBILITY
Here, in the present case the role of HR managers is taken into considerations. The major
role of human resource managers is to complete the strategic and functional responsibilities for all
HR disciplines. The HR managers of bank are having wide range of responsibilities that are
described in underneath points:
 The managers are responsible for designing HR policies that are suitable for the employees
of an organization.
 The HR manager has job role of reporting to the human resource director or a C-level
human resource executive
 The Bank managers have to provide equal chance to the candidate for being selected for the
vacant post (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
 The HR managers is accountable for conducting Human resource planning
 The responsibility such as recruiting and selecting people, providing them compensation and
benefits as well as training and Development.
 The HR managers are responsible for designing plan for improving employee Relations
 The managers of banks are responsible for designing effective performance appraisal
system and leading the group of people (Guest, 2011).
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What would be the job holder dealing with
Secondary Data Primary Data
Barclays
Primary Data
Bank of England
Primary Data
Royal Bank of
Scotland Group UK
 Senior
professionals
along with
subordinates
 New
employees
 Subordinates  Senior
professionals
In the secondary information various role and responsibilities of HR managers are studied
upon . The major role was found with designing HR policies that are suitable for the employees of
an organization as well as reporting to the human resource director or a C-level human resource
executive. In this sense, HR manager has to deal with Job holder has to deal with senior
professionals as well as subordinates. The manager of Barclays banks have said that HR manager
have to deal with new employees, whereas manager of Bank of England stated that Subordinates
are the people which whom job holder deal with on regular basis. Senior professionals are the
people with whom Bank managers heals as they have to report to human resource executive.
7. HOW HEALTHY IS THE JOB MARKET
Job market of HR manager is growing at faster pace where main focus of every bank and
other type of organization is on hiring skilled and efficient HR manager who is capable enough to
meet with the human resource requirement of the organization. Further, growth in overall job
market is providing ample of opportunities to the manager appointed by firm and is having
favourable impact on them in terms of career development. Demand for human resource managers
is around 13 percent and it is as fast as average (Human Resources Salary and Job Outlook., 2015).
Individual planning to apply for the position of HR manager in any bank will have bright career and
person can easily work on individual growth. No doubt HR manager are assigned various
responsibilities and same can be carried out if individual is qualified and has proper knowledge
regarding the field (Cappellen and Janssens, 2008).
How Healthy is the Job Market for HR manager
Secondary Data Primary Data Primary Data Primary Data
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Barclays Bank of England Royal Bank of
Scotland Group UK
 Overall
market is
highly
healthy
 Healthy  Market is in
growth stage
 Market is
healthy
In the secondary investigation, it was found that Job market of HR manager is growing at
faster pace and every company has this requirement. The bank manager of Barclays replied that t
they are getting many opportunities and overall market is healthy. On the other hand, bank manager
of Bank of England stated that market is in growth stage whereas manager of Royal Bank of
Scotland Group UK said that market is healthy. However, it can be said that banking companies
are ready to pay high salary to HR managers. Moreover, growth in the overall market will be
favourable for every HR manager but it is necessary for every individual to ensure well in advance
that level of skills along with knowledge allows to work as HR manager in any bank or company.
It has been witnessed that the major responsibility of Bank's HR managers is to recruit and
select people, providing Trainings to people, Motivating employers and well as designing plans and
policies. According to most of the respondents the bank managers need to have skills such as
communication skills, Decision making and well as leadership skills.
8. CONCLUSION
The entire study conducted has supported in knowing that large number of opportunities are
present in the field of human resource management and individual who is willing to work as HR
manager can easily grow in the field. Further, entire market is favourable where in banks and other
type of financial institutions demand for HR managers is rising at faster pace and companies are
searching for individuals who are having proper knowledge along with experience in the field of
human resource. Overall findings of primary and secondary study are same where it has been
analysed that majority of the HR managers are satisfied with the growth opportunities provided to
them within the workplace. Apart from this, they have to work in order to meet human resource
requirement of the enterprise and various sources are considered for selecting the best candidate.
Moreover, secondary analysis has shown that overall market of HR manager is healthy and this is
providing large number of opportunities to the HR manager working in bank or who wishes to
apply for this position in near future. Therefore, with the help of this it can be said that results of
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primary and secondary study matches with each other.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bowen, D. E. and Ostroff, C., 2004. Understanding HRM–firm performance linkages: The role of
the “strength” of the HRM system. Academy of management review.29(2).pp. 203-221.
Cappellen, T. and Janssens, M., 2008. Global managers' career competencies. Career Development
International. 13(6) .pp.514 – 537.
Grobler, A. P., 2005. Human Resource Management in South Africa. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Guest, D. E., 2011. Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human Resource Management Journal. 21(1) pp. 3-13.
Jackson, S., Schuler, R. and Werner, S., 2011. Managing human resources. Cengage Learning.
Paauwe, J. and Boselie, P., 2005. HRM and performance: what next?. Human Resource
Management Journal. 15(4).68-83.
Renwick, D. and MacNeil, M. C., 2002. Line manager involvement in careers. Career
Development International. 7(7) .pp.407 – 414.
Schuler, R. S. and Jackson, S. E., 2008. Strategic human resource management. John Wiley and
Sons.
Trotter, C., 2013. BTEC First Business Level 2 Assessment Guide: Unit 8 Recruitment, Selection
and Employment. Hachette UK.
Online
Human Resources Salary and Job Outlook., 2015. [Online]. Accessed through
<http://www.allbusinessschools.com/business-careers/human-resources/salary/>. [Accessed
on 2nd Dec 2015].
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APPENDIX
Questionnaire –Barclays HR Manager: Lynne Atkin
1. Name
2. Age
 18- 25 years
 26- 30 years
 31- 40 years
 40 years and above
3. What is your qualification ?
 MBA in HR
 MA
 MHRM
4. What are the skills required in managing HR operations
 Communication
 Motivation
 Decision making
 Time management
5. How much experience is required to apply for the role of HR manager in any
organization?
 1 to 2 years
 2 to 4 years
 4 years and above
6. Type of Organization having job role of HR manager?
 Small
 Large
 Both
7. What are the career opportunities provided to you?
 Training and development manager
 HR enterprenuer
 HR consultant
 All of the above
8. To whom you have to deal with on daily basis?
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