Human resources is responsible for people operations broadly, including the four primary functions:

1. Staffing. A job and employee-lifecycle function that starts with job development or analysis and continues through job elimination or separation. This function may also include employer branding. (This function is discussed in depth in Module 6: Recruitment and Selection).
2. Training & Development. This function includes socialization, training & development activities from hire to separation, including onboarding, employee training, reskilling & upskilling, employee development and career management. It also includes organization-wide change management, learning & development initiatives. (This function is discussed in depth in Module 7: Onboarding, Training, and Developing Employees).
3. Compensation (also referred to as motivation). Responsibilities in this function include factors that influence motivation ranging from job design, compensation and benefits, performance appraisal and related administration (e.g., payroll). This function will be discussed further in Modules 2, 8 and 10.
4. Administration (also referred to as maintenance). The administration function includes regulatory compliance and employee relations, including associated communications, records management and reporting.

The table below shows the various functions of human resources management that consist of four categories: staffing, training/development, compensation, and administration.