Organizations often utilize the services of a personnel analyst to determine the best use of employees and make the business as profitable and efficient as possible. As a valued member of the human resource department, these trained professionals focus not just on the employees but on the organization as a whole. Here is an overview of a personnel analyst’s duties, how to become one and career outlook.
What They Do
These analysts are responsible for many procedures and processes dealing with overseeing a business’s employees, such as policies and regulations, compensation, examinations and recruitment, organizational studies and equal employment opportunities, among others. Using analytical tools and their education, they determine how each employee will best fit into the company based on his or her life situation and personality. Their ultimate goals are putting employees in positions that are least harmful to them but most profitable to the company.
Their duties may vary depending on the employer, but they generally analyze both the employee and the company to ensure they’re using the best affirmative action and policies to help all the workers. Personnel analysts also use business analytics and psychology to help decide their course of action. Once they do this, they generally collaborate with management to offer advice in developing regulations and rules and offer their reasoning on their recommendations.
General Duties
This position has more than one specific job duty. While their ultimate goal is working with personnel to help the employees work to their full potential and make the organization efficient, they have several different duties to help them attain their goals.
• Conduct Personnel Studies – They conduct research on employee work assignments and report back to the organization with any recommendations regarding reassigning or downsizing the staff. Their decisions are often based on surveys, observation, and interviews.
• Advise and Assist Senior Management – Personnel analysts generally work in a specific area of human resources, such as health care, pensions or wages. They work with human resources and senior management and advise them of legal and operational guidelines applicable to the company.
• Create and Evaluate Examinations – Personnel analysts often design written examinations for various human resources activities. One example might be a project to analyze experience and education used when hiring employees.
• Present Reports – After extensive analyzing, consulting and research, the analyst writes up a report and must present it to human resource specialists and make appropriate recommendations.
• Train Personnel – They may assist in training and supervising personnel and handling specific instructional goals of the company. One example might be an analyst in charge of benefits explaining the benefits or compensation package to a new employee.
Training Requirement
Personnel analysts generally must have at least a bachelor’s degree in human resource management, public administration or similar field. Some companies might require a master’s degree. The individual may also be required to have at least one year of experience working in wage/salary administration, position classification, employee/employer relations or compensation.
Career Outlook
Personnel analysts are put in the category of human resources specialists by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which also predicts a seven percent job growth for them between 2016 and 2026. According to PayScale, personnel analysts earned a median annual wage of $61,492 as of April 2018 with wages ranging from $35,000 to $87,000 or more.
With so many companies facing financial hardship today, management is constantly looking for ways to cut costs and be profitable. Many have found the services of a personnel analyst to be invaluable.
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