Fundamentals of Human Resources Administration

Learn how an administrative HR role balances organization needs with employee welfare, administers benefits, updates policies, ensures compliance, and supports hiring, onboarding, and personnel files.

Build trust with employees by delivering courteous, attentive, empathetic, and solution-focused HR service from the first day. Practice active listening, consistency, fairness, and proactive problem solving.

Learn to conduct an HR audit using a checklist and an audit plan that defines scope, logistics, and timeline, ensuring compliance and proper exempt classifications.

Classify employees by hours and pay status—full-time, part-time, hourly, salaried, exempt or nonexempt—and determine overtime under FLSA, noting exemptions (administrative, executive, computer professionals, outside sales) and using the job aid.

Explore how to design pay and benefits that align culture, workforce needs, and internal equity, using base, flat, performance, and productivity pay with thoughtful rewards and payroll considerations.

Tailor your company policies handbook with templates, a CEO letter, and a clear code of conduct; revise, acknowledge updates, and consult an employment law attorney.

Document hiring, performance, discipline, and training to protect the organization from liability, maintain compliant personnel files, and log consistent, objective notes across all employees.

Understand core HR compliance by reviewing FMLA, ADA, OSHA, Title VII, and FLSA, and learn to protect employees, navigate protected classes, harassment, retaliation, and minimum wage rules.

Learn to write accurate job descriptions through job analysis and essential functions, align with ADA and performance objectives, and craft concise, unbiased, present-tense duties with action verbs, including revision details.

Treat recruiting like marketing by building an employment brand and crafting ads that attract top candidates. Be strategic, cast a wide net, and track the top three avenues that work.

Prepare thoroughly for interviews to avoid bad hires and wasted time. Use behavior-based questions and assess nonverbal cues, ensuring patience as a critical success factor.

Promote a diverse applicant pool, assess candidates' skills and fit, and maintain non-discrimination by asking only job-relevant questions, following background checks, drug screening, and assessment guidelines.

Master how to call the selected candidate, present a competitive offer, secure commitment, and guide a new hire through onboarding lasting up to six months for quick, meaningful contributions.

Learn how performance management drives organizational success by setting clear expectations, coaching for improvement, delivering ongoing feedback, and using evaluation forms and performance improvement plans to guide rewards or discipline.

Organizations design ongoing training and development guided by managers and supervisors, applying adult learning principles for on-the-job learning, implementation, and accountability, while documenting mandatory trainings in personnel records.

Learn how to support managers through a consistent, fact-based disciplinary process that improves performance, documents behavior, and guides conversations from verbal to written to final warnings toward termination.

Learn to manage grievances from intake to resolution by interviewing, maintaining confidentiality, practicing active listening, and applying a policy-driven process with investigations and follow-up.

Create an exit checklist and conduct confidential exit interviews to address resignation or termination, document outcomes, ensure legal compliance, transfer knowledge, and support remaining staff.

Manage employee exits with a structured process: complete an exit checklist and exit interview questionnaire to capture knowledge, assess training, and maintain confidentiality for compliant, smooth offboarding.