CGC Oakgrove Ebook 3.0

Human Resources

Sector Outlook The Human Resources industry has gone through a vast series of changes in recent years as increasing legislation has brought many improvements to employment practice. HR Staff need an understanding of complex employment law such as welfare rights, equality, redundancy, discrimination and equal pay. The work could involve coordinating recruitment, planning training programmes, leading on staff inductions, tracking absence and sickness, managing relocations, tackling employee relations or advising on business change. Around 100,000 people are employed in HR across all industry sectors. Opportunities exist from SME’s to large corporates with demand coming from those who are headquartered in London. Graduate recruitment programmes exist with many multinational companies including Nestle, KPMG, Unilever and Barclays. There is a demand for talented individuals in human resources as companies look to improve their employee retention schemes. Some businesses have turned to upskilling employees due to the lack of skilled candidates which has meant an increase in HR budgets in learning and development. About 6 in 10 companies outsource elements of their HR functions such as payroll, recruitment or seek specialist consultancy services. To work in HR you need strong people skills, organisation, attention to detail, diplomacy, IT skills and a willingness to learn. Degrees in Human Resource Management and Higher Apprenticeship programme exists for the sector for those with A levels or equivalent but you could also start work at 16 with an apprenticeship in administration and progress from there. Jobs are advertised directly with companies, large sector organisations, HR recruitment sites such as michaelpage.co.uk or personneltoday.com. You can sign up for free to find out more with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).