9,047 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2020
    1. First, let’s figure out how you’re going to pay for it. If you don’t have insurance (or even if you do), there are resources available to you at no cost. Consider looking into Federally Qualified Health Centers, community-based centers that offer care including mental health and substance use services

      Services like [[InkBlot]], your works [[Health Care Spending Account]] - in the past I had good luck with the Aspiria - they got me setup with a good therapist from Shift Collab Therapy

      Even trying to figure out what my starting point was too much - but being able to use a service like that to help connect me was really important.

    2. The coronavirus pandemic has created a paradox in mental health care: Widespread social distancing means that more people are in need of support for anxiety and depression, and that more of those resources are harder to access in person. The past several weeks, though, have wrought a change in the national mental health care landscape — a big shift of services and social safety nets from face-to-face meetings to virtual ones.

      there are also some concerns around the safety and privacy of some of the online health providers.

      If they require a video call - high speed internet access can be a limiting factor.

      Some people may not be able to get the privacy that they need to take a call without a spouse or family member around.

    1. At this point, you start to engage your mind and dig into the work required to understand what’s being said. I highly recommend you use marginalia to converse with the author.

      From the linked article

      Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it— which comes to the same thing— is by writing in it.

      Really love that quote - the idea of [[marginalia]] is to write in the margins, take notes as you read - to ask questions and answer them, and context around the highlights.

      In turn, [[make the book your own]]

    2. Inspectional Reading We’ve been taught that skimming and superficial reading are bad for understanding. That is not necessarily the case. Using these tools effectively can increase understanding. Inspectional reading allows us to look at the author’s blueprint and evaluate the merits of a deeper reading experience.

      I think this is where I've been able to use #ADHD to it's advantages at times is with [[inspectional reading]] - being able to skim a large amount of content and get a sense of what I want to dig into later on or not.

  2. Aug 2020
    1. As a web designer, I hate that "log in" creates a visual space between the words. If you line up "Log In Register" - is that three links or two? This creates a Gestalt problem, meaning you have to really fiddle with spacing to get the word groupings right, without using pipe characters.

      Sure, you can try to solve that problem by using a one-word alternative for any multi-word phrase, but that's not always possible: there isn't always a single word that can be used for every possible phrase you may have.

      Adjusting the letter-spacing and margin between items in your list isn't that hard and would be better in the long run since it gives you a scalable, general solution.

      "Log in" is the only correct way to spell the verb, and the only way to be consistent with 1000s of other phrasal verbs that are spelled with a space in them.

      We don't need nor want an exception to the general rule just for "login" just because so many people have made that mistake.

    1. Ohhh, never thought of this hypothesis: that the act of getting drunk together might be a social technology that helps us verify the trustworthiness of others by inhibiting their higher cognitive functions and thus making it harder to consciously fake things.

      Proof of trustworthiness

    1. Where these systems most notably differ is in their units of volume. A US fluid ounce (fl oz), about 29.6 millilitres (ml), is slightly larger than the imperial fluid ounce (about 28.4 ml). However, as there are 16 US fl oz to a US pint and 20 imp fl oz per imperial pint, the imperial pint is about 20% larger. The same is true of quarts, gallons, etc.; six US gallons are a little less than five imperial gallons.
    1. Alfred Russel Wallace, who came up with the idea of natural selection independently of Charles Darwin, was an implacable opponent of the smallpox vaccine during the late 19th Century

      Being an anti-vaxxer makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint.

      Fixing any disease that could kill an individual before his/her childbearing age is only helping weaknesses (diseases) propagate in the human populous.

    1. Board to consider recommendations 19   A board must consider the recommendations of the general faculties council, if any, on matters of academic import prior to providing for                              (a)    the support and maintenance of the university,                              (b)    the betterment of existing buildings,                              (c)    the construction of any new buildings the board considers necessary for the purposes of the university,                              (d)    the furnishing and equipping of the existing and newly erected buildings, or                              (e)    the establishment of faculties, schools, departments, chairs, programs of study and any other activities the board considers necessary or advantageous.

      Board must consider recommendations of GFC on the support and maintenance of the University and a variety of other things.

      • friendship driven participation-hanging with friends online
      • messing around-creative, geeky, interest driven, develop sophisticated forms of media literacy
      • think critically about privacy and identity
      • generational gap in online use and activities How will this be addressed in our technologically influenced world? How can teachers reach out to the friendship and messing around groups of students? What does it mean to participate in society?
    1. Learners are encouraged to be creative as they build and revise content. They should look to see if it meets their needs and how representative it is to other elements of online information. But, most importantly, they are to use the expertise of other students and the teacher in the classroom. I would also suggest including elements of abstracted replay, or viewing the work of experts as they revise and edit their own work process and produ

      Work collaboratively and smart not hard

    1. I honestly don't know what you find unclear about this question. I think you initially misread. I edited out your title change because it wasn't what I'd intended and it misled others. I edited in two more sections to clarify. The last section makes it as clear as I can: A single question provokes 1 of 3 responses (not necessarily answers). To chose between them I need to understand acceptable scope of both question and answers. Yes this topic is a muddy one, that's why I'm asking! I want others to help me clarify the unclear!
  3. Jul 2020
    1. OK is technically an acronym. It comes from the phrase "oll korrect," a humorous alteration of "all correct."

      Was "oll korrect" intended to be a humorous alteration of "all correct" or is it simply due to variations in language? (korrect looks a bit like German. What language could oll be?

    1. "that text has been removed from the official version on the Apache site." This itself is also not good. If you post "official" records but then quietly edit them over time, I have no choice but to assume bad faith in all the records I'm shown by you. Why should I believe anything Apache board members claim was "minuted" but which in fact it turns out they might have just edited into their records days, weeks or years later? One of the things I particularly watch for in modern news media (where no physical artefact captures whatever "mistakes" are published as once happened with newspapers) is whether when they inevitably correct a mistake they _acknowledge_ that or they instead just silently change things.
    1. Defamation law walks a fine line between the right to freedom of speech and the right of a person to avoid defamation. On one hand, a reasonable person should have free speech to talk about their experiences in a truthful manner without fear of a lawsuit if they say something mean, but true, about someone else. On the other hand, people have a right to not have false statements made that will damage their reputation.
    1. Controllers are free to develop methods to comply with this provision in a way that is fitting in theirdaily operations. At the same time, the duty to demonstrate that valid consent has been obtained bya controller, should not in itself lead to excessive amounts of additional data processing. This meansthat controllers should have enough data to show a link to the processing (to show consent wasobtained) but they shouldn’t be collecting any more information than necessary.
    2. t is up to the controller to prove that valid consent was obtained from the data subject. The GDPRdoes not prescribe exactly how this must be done. However, the controller must be able to prove thata data subject in a given case has consented. As long as a data processing activity in question lasts, the
    3. As mentioned earlier in these guidelines, it is very important that controllers assess the purposes forwhich data is actually processed and the lawful grounds on which it is based prior to collecting thedata. Often companies need personal data for several purposes, and the processing is based on morethan one lawful basis, e.g. customer data may be based on contract and consent. Hence, a withdrawalof consent does not mean a controller must erase data that are processed for a purpose that is basedon the performance of the contract with the data subject. Controllers should therefore be clear fromthe outset about which purpose applies to each element of data and which lawful basis is being reliedupon.
    4. In cases where the data subject withdraws his/her consent and the controller wishes to continue toprocess the personal data on another lawful basis, they cannot silently migrate from consent (which iswithdrawn) to this other lawful basis. Any change in the lawful basis for processing must be notified toa data subject in accordance with the information requirements in Articles 13 and 14 and under thegeneral principle of transparency.
    1. Some vendors may relay on legitimate interest instead of consent for the processing of personal data. The User Interface specifies if a specific vendor is relating on legitimate interest as legal basis, meaning that that vendor will process user’s data for the declared purposes without asking for their consent. The presence of vendors relying on legitimate interest is the reason why within the user interface, even if a user has switched on one specific purpose, not all vendors processing data for that purpose will be displayed as switched on. In fact, those vendors processing data for that specific purpose, relying only on legitimate interest will be displayed as switched off.
    1. Connected learning is realized when a young person is able to pursue a personal interest or passion with the support of friends and caring adults, and is in turn able to link this learning and interest to academic achievement, career success or civic engagement

      this is greatly connected to the RSA Animate video on what motivates us. Working together can help us find the purpose in what we are doing in the class.

    1. LoD = LoB + 1.645(SD low concentration sample)

      LoD is the lowest analyte concentration likely to be reliably distinguished from the LoB and at which detection is feasible. LoD is determined by utilising both the measured LoB and test replicates of a sample known to contain a low concentration of analyte.

      LoB is the highest apparent analyte concentration expected to be found when replicates of a blank sample containing no analyte are tested.

      LoB = meanblank + 1.645(SDblank)

    1. As Shneiderman claims, experienced users strongly desire the sense that they are in charge of the system and that the system responds to their actions. As designers, it is our duty to design the system to make users the initiators of actions rather than the responders.
    1. This model is the most flexible and open-ended of the four; your goal as an instructor is not to design a full-fledged semester of material, activities, and assessments. Rather, your goal is to work with your class to design and become a learning community, working collaboratively and individually towards your determined learning goals. For this to work you should have: a set of possible/preferred learning objectives for your classa library of course materials, preferably with as much as possible in digital formata suggested list of digital tools and technologies that you’re comfortable from with a list of possible assignment/project/assessment ideas that are related to your learning objectivesa willingness to experiment and invite your students into the teaching & learning process. At the onset of class you will need to facilitate a conversation among you and your students about how the class will unfold. This can be done in small groups f2f, via an online communication tool, or in a hybrid mix of both. As a community you should plan on addressing the following: what are our objectives as a learning community? what kind of work could we engage in to meet these objectives? what physical/virtual spaces would we like to work in? how/when do we want to meet in these spaces?how do we want to measure (assess) if an objective has been met?what rules and policies should govern our work? how will we work virtually and respect everyone’s boundaries and personal situations? how will we work f2f and respect public health recommendations and personal situations? You will probably need to spend at least the first 1-2 weeks answering these questions together and then designing a plan for your course. Make sure you and your students talk through various complications: what if the university’s policies about meeting f2f change? what if classes are forced to move entirely virtual/remote? what someone (students or professor!) gets sick?

      This is the one for me!!!!

    2. Finally, these are NOT meant to be comprehensive. Instead, imagine these models along a continuum of opportunity. Your challenge is to determine where your courses could fit between and among the proposals.  

      I'm wondering how much or how little faculty will need to change their curriculum/delivery depending on the various inevitable changes that we can't exactly predict will happen this school year. For those faculty member purposefully switching online, what changes have they made already, and what changes will become necessary in the near future?

    1. Creating and calling a default proc is a waste of time, and Cramming everything into one line using tortured constructs doesn't make the code more efficient--it just makes the code harder to understand.

      The nature of this "answer" is a comment in response to another answer. But because of the limitations SO puts on comments (very short length, no multi-line code snippets), comment feature could not actually be used, so this user resorted to "abusing" answer feature to post their comment instead.

      See

    1. Most of Algol's "special" characters (⊂, ≡, ␣, ×, ÷, ≤, ≥, ≠, ¬, ⊃, ≡, ∨, ∧, →, ↓, ↑, ⌊, ⌈, ⎩, ⎧, ⊥, ⏨, ¢, ○ and □) can be found on the IBM 2741 keyboard with the APL "golf-ball" print head inserted; these became available in the mid-1960s while ALGOL 68 was being drafted. These characters are also part of the Unicode standard and most of them are available in several popular fonts.
    1. Can explain concepts, principles, and processes by putting it their own words, teaching it to others, justifying their answers, and showing their reasoning.• Can interpret by making sense of data, text, and experience through images, analogies, stories, and models.• Can apply by effectively using and adapting what they know in new and complex contexts.• Demonstrate perspective by seeing the big picture and recognizing differ-ent points of view.• Display empathy by perceiving sensitively and walking in someone else’s shoes.• Have self-knowledge by showing meta-cognitive awareness, using productive habits of mind, and reflect-ing on the meaning of the learning and experience.

      These six facets are crucial for students to learn not only the facts related to a subject, but how to properly using analysis when learning and writing about the subject. This is especially crucial as technology has become more integrated into the classroom as well as the real world.

    2. Effective curriculum is planned backward from long-term, desired results through a three-stage design process (Desired Results, Evidence, and Learning Plan). This process helps avoid the common problems of treating the textbook as the curriculum rather than a resource, and activity-oriented teaching in which no clear priorities and purposes are apparent.

      This is extremely important as the trend is shifting toward more online learning during this pandemic. Therefore, we as teachers must think even greater as to how to properly integrate technology as a tool for classroom usage over the more traditional usage of materials such as textbook. As well, it will be important to measure how technology as a tool affects how students successfully analyze materials in the classroom

    1. e

      (commenting the end of McCaffrey's because we can't highlight the text):

      I'm debating Helva’s access to independence--her life also prescribed and assigned like Delphi's, even to the practice of metaphorical marriage with the scout. But she could still choose Jennan, she could mourn his loss, and she was well aware of what she was programmed not to overthink.

      Perhaps McCaffrey celebrates the ambiguity of fate alongside programming, and the humanity of hybridity--embodied in Helva’s own voice, both beyond human capability and deeply moving to the ear. Perhaps not?

      I love when mechanized parts can invoke the indescribable, like the feeling of a song.

    1. Promotion of Employees in an Organization Leave a Comment / Blog Contact Promotion or career advancement is a procedure through which a worker of an organization is given a higher portion of obligations, a more significant compensation scale, or both. Advancement isn’t only gainful for representatives but at the same time is exceptionally essential for the business or entrepreneurs. It supports the confidence of advanced representatives, expands their efficiency, and henceforth enhances the general benefits earned by the organization. A Promotion is above and beyond that, a worker takes while working in an association to the extent his/her work, rank or position is concerned. Each association or work environment has a specific activity pecking order structure as per which a worker propels in that association and gets advanced. Promotion isn’t only a prize that a worker is given for his/her proceeded with great execution, however, it is the verification that a business imagines that the time has come to add more obligations to a representative’s current arrangement of duties. There are numerous kinds of Promotion – while some assurance headway in the activity position or rank, others may ensure an expansion in the compensation or pay. In some association, an advancement may bring about a simple change of obligations and duties. Advancing representatives for their greatness in execution is essential to esteem their endeavors and keep their assurance up. Significance and Benefits of Employee Promotions An Promotion isn’t just an approach to add more obligations to a worker yet is a significant type of boosting representative inspiration and assurance. This outcomes in high profitability and keeps your organization from losing its significant and significant workers. There are numerous advantages and preferences of advancing representatives normally for their endeavors, and coming up next are a portion of the primary ones: Perceives and Improves worker execution, desire, and difficult work: One of the most significant advantages of representative advancement is that it causes you to perceive and recognize the presentation and difficult work of your workers and therefore causes them to feel esteemed. At the point when a representative’s endeavors are esteemed, he/she will in general work harder and attempts to improve his/her presentation further which thus works for the business. Advancement likewise improves the desire of representatives and lifts their energy for arriving at their objectives just as the destinations of your association. Lifts inspiration and expands unwaveringness of representatives: A worker who gets elevated will in general feel increasingly enlivened and roused to keep accomplishing the great work, and this is one more motivation behind why advancements are so significant. This expansion in inspiration prompts better efficiency and execution that thusly works in the kindness of your association. In addition, an advancement likewise improves and builds faithfulness among the representatives since they will in general feel a feeling of having a place in the working environment and begin thinking in support of its. Energizes maintenance: When the correct ability is recognized by the administration and opportune advancement is drilled, the meriting and gifted representatives may not be driven away from the working environment. This improves the maintenance of the gifted and skilled representatives and in this manner benefits the work environment much further. By holding top-level specialists and workers, your association forestalls the requirement for recruiting new ability and afterward preparing them once more, along these lines setting aside time and cash. Creates serious soul at the work environment: When the better group individual gets advanced, the other colleagues might be charged and propelled to perform superior to them, and this assists with building up a sound serious soul at the work environment. This sort of a soul is useful for an association since it guarantees great exhibitions all around and consequently a general improved efficiency. Grooms pioneers for the future: When the administration chooses to advance representatives for their difficult work, they are fundamentally perceiving ability and discovering future pioneers. This recognizable proof of future pioneers empowers them to prepare representatives for the future and causes them to investigate their aptitudes and ability further. Preparing pioneers for what’s to come is gainful for the association and assists with improving the general efficiency. Decreases representative opposition and discontent: If workers continue buckling down with no gratefulness, applause, or evaluation, a feeling of discontent and obstruction may manifest, and this may not be useful for the association. This can even cause their exhibition to go down, consequently demonstrating negative for the organization. In any case, inside advancement can assist with lessening worker opposition and discontent. When to Promote Employees? For an association, choosing whether or not a representative is prepared for advancement can be a test. Not all representatives might be prepared for an evaluation or an advancement because of absence of the length of administration, the correct number of accomplishments just as absence of the required abilities and involvement with the given position. An advancement is a significant choice since it doesn’t just include change in rank yet additionally more obligations and duties and thus should be taken after cautious appraisal and assessment of one’s abilities, execution and a few different components, that have been given underneath: Execution — One of the most significant focuses for assessing when is the ideal chance to elevate a representative is to survey or assess his/her presentation over a given timeframe. Length of administration (status) – Another thing to think about for knowing when the worker is prepared for advancement or not is the length of administration. The quantity of years that one has additionally served decides the hour of advancement. Legitimacy and capacity – The legitimacy and the capacity of the individual, is additionally an extraordinary apparatus to gauge the general value of the worker’s advancement. Instructive/specialized capabilities – The instructive and specialized capabilities is additionally a measure or dynamic apparatus undoubtedly. Appraisal of potential – The measure of potential one has in him to act later on or at another position ought to likewise be surveyed before choosing about advancements. Dividing of the advancement and profession length of the individual – Another thing that must be viewed as while considering the advancement for a representative is the time since the last advancement. Preparing – The measure of preparing a worker has been given or the level to which he/she has likewise been prepped goes about as a central factor. The Most Effective Method to Promote Employees Since you realize how to distinguish whether a representative is prepared for promotion or not, the time has come to make sense of how you would advance him/her. Promotion isn’t only the upward or forward reassignment of a representative of your work environment however is an appropriately organized procedure that must stay inside the limits of the association’s chain of command. Consequently, an appropriate procedure of promotion of representatives must be followed which is reasonable for all and one-sided for none. The accompanying given data will assist you with realizing how to advance your representatives: Models and plans of promotion There are a few unique plans and models of promotions. Each association either picks one of these strategies or applies a mix of at least one such model to advance their representatives. How about we investigate the absolute generally utilized and well known strategies: Non-competitive model of promotion Promotions that depend on the standard arrangement of accomplishments and achievements of workers are known as noncompetitive promotions. In such promotions, representatives are advanced once they arrive at a specific achievement in their vocation venture, regardless of variable highlights like execution and devotion, and so forth. These kinds of promotions work flawlessly for all the representatives, and there is no degree for a predisposition or uncalled for examination. Time scale promotion (Based simply on status) A period scale promotion is a sort of a noncompetitive promotion that happens after the individual has spent a norm or fixed number of years working for the association or working at a specific situation in the association. Accumulation of Duties For the situation when an individual must be elevated because of an expansion in his/her remaining task at hand or obligations is additionally a non-competitive strategy for promotion. Adhocism now and again, an association may need to advance somebody without following any approach however just to address the issues of critical or dire occasions or circumstances. Serious model of promotion A serious model of promotion is a strategy wherein workers need to demonstrate their value to managers so as to be elevated to a higher position or position. In contrast to the noncompetitive strategy, this technique considers representative presentation, efficiency, aptitudes, experience, information and other such factors. There is a correlation of representatives based on their difficult work and execution in this model. Legitimacy based promotion – Merit-based promotions are serious kinds of promotions in which an individual is advanced based on their aptitudes, execution, information, difficult work, and capabilities. Legitimacy cum-rank – Merit-cum-position promotions are those sorts of promotions where harmony between the legitimacy just as the status of the individual is remembered before thinking about a promotion. Up-degree promotion or Out promotion This is the sort of a promotion technique where when the measure of boosts in salary without an adjustment in the activity or rank. If there should be an occurrence of Out promotion, a representative looks for work elsewhere as a result of being offered a superior compensation scale. Dry promotion For this situation, a worker is elevated to a higher position yet without an expansion in the pay. Paper promotion Paper promotion happens in government occupations that comprise of a few divisions. These kinds of promotions occur based on the rank of a worker and are the ones where the representative having a place with a parent office is given a promotion by another office from which it gets the climb in pay.

      Promotion is an achievement that only the best employee deserves. As an employer you must give the promotion as a token of appreciation. Find out how.

  4. idioms.thefreedictionary.com idioms.thefreedictionary.com
    1. Your Show Of Shows

      From the Wikipedia page:

      Your Show of Shows is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, baritone Jack Russell (singer), Judy Johnson, The Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza. José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series.

      In 2002, Your Show of Shows was ranked #30 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.[1] In 2013, it was ranked #37 on TV Guide's 60 Best Series of All Time.[2]

      In 2013, Your Show of Shows was ranked #10 on Entertainment Weekly’s Top 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

  5. Jun 2020
    1. Piketty’s account of the past 40 years is less a story of capital being unleashed (as most histories of neoliberalism have it) than of progressive ideologies running out of steam. The failure of communism played a crucial role in this, producing a new fatalism about the capacity of politics to deliver equality. Globalisation eroded national borders, while “hypercapitalism” delivered concentrations of wealth not witnessed since 1914. In the context of post-socialist ideological cynicism
    1. Prismatic gets a percentage of the revenue increase that it generates for publishers, while developers pay a flat monthly fee based on usage, Cross says. It’s still working out pricing for hedge fund API usage. (As a point of comparison, the revenue model for the old Prismatic was the same as the current model for publishers. “We just meant for it to be more like Adsense/Adwords where we ran all this in our own consumer products too,” Cross notes.)

      the plague of monetisation

    1. It is not customary in Rails to run the full test suite before pushing changes. The railties test suite in particular takes a long time, and takes an especially long time if the source code is mounted in /vagrant as happens in the recommended workflow with the rails-dev-box.As a compromise, test what your code obviously affects, and if the change is not in railties, run the whole test suite of the affected component. If all tests are passing, that's enough to propose your contribution.
    1. 14 Essential Functions of the Human Resource Department Leave a Comment / Blog Contact According to Storey (1995), HRM is a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an integrated array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques. An efficiently run human resources department can provide your organization with structure and the ability to meet business needs through managing your company’s most valuable resources – its employees. There are several HR disciplines, but HR practitioners in each discipline may perform more than one of the more than six essential functions. In small businesses without a dedicated HR department, it’s possible to achieve the same level of efficiency and workforce management through outsourcing HR functions or joining a professional employer organization. In this article, we will go over the 14 essential Functions of Human Resource departments and explain how they help move the organization forward. These functions are as follows: Human Resource Planning The first function of HR is all about knowing the future needs of the organization. What kind of people does the organization need, and how many? Knowing this will shape the recruitment, selection, performance management, learning and development, and all other HR functions. Human resources planning is similar to workforce planning. Both focus on where the organization is today and what it needs to be successful in the future. Recruitment And Selection Recruitment process outsourcing is the process of captivating, screening, and selecting potential and qualified candidates based on objective criteria for a particular job. The goal of this process is to attract qualified applicants and to encourage the unqualified applicants to opt themselves out. The recruitment and selection process is very important to every organization because it reduces the costs of mistakes such as engaging incompetent, unmotivated, and under-qualified employees. Firing the unqualified candidate and hiring the new employee is again an expensive process. Training and Development Employers must provide employees with the tools necessary for their success which, in many cases, means giving new employees extensive orientation training to help them transition into a new organizational culture. Many HR departments also provide leadership training and professional development. Corporate training may be required of newly hired and promoted supervisors and managers on topics such as performance management and how to handle employee relations matters at the department level. Employer-Employee Relations In a unionized work environment, the employee and labor relations functions of HR may be combined and handled by one specialist or be entirely separate functions managed by two HR specialists with specific expertise in each area. Employee relations is the HR discipline concerned with strengthening the employer-employee relationship through measuring job satisfaction, employee engagement and resolving workplace conflict. Labor relations functions may include developing management response to union organizing campaigns, negotiating collective bargaining agreements and rendering interpretations of labor union contract issues. Compensation and Benefits Like employee and labor relations, the compensation and benefits functions of HR often can be handled by one HR specialist with dual expertise. On the compensation side, the HR functions include setting compensation structures and evaluating competitive pay practices. A comp and benefits specialist also may negotiate group health coverage rates with insurers and coordinate activities with the retirement savings fund administrator. Payroll can be a component of the compensation and benefits section of HR; however, in many cases, employers outsource such administrative functions as payroll. Labor Law Compliance Compliance with labor and employment laws is a critical HR function. Noncompliance can result in workplace complaints based on unfair employment practices, unsafe working conditions and general dissatisfaction with working conditions that can affect productivity and ultimately, profitability. HR staff must be aware of federal and state employment laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act and many other rules and regulations. Recognition and Rewards Rewards & Recognitions are a way of making employees feel worthy of their work as appreciation serves as the best motivation. recognitions and Rewards can be monetary or non-monetary. A task or goal or performance linked to rewards, and further evaluation and reward is usually the cycle.Rewards could be a sponsored vacation, raise in salary, bonus, performance-based pay. Recognitions could be a higher post, job security, growth opportunities, a good work environment, accolades, and offering credibility across the company. Rewards & Recognitions not only motivates employees but also helps to retain them. Long-term advantages of rewards and recognition are – Rewards and recognitions have a direct impact on attrition rates.Performance can be enhanced through rewards & recognitions.Higher loyalty standards can be established.Better teamwork can be best explored.Absenteeism and negative behavior can be curtailed.Employees are engaged and enjoy their work. Health and safety Health & Safety is a prime HR function in the entire landscape of Human Resource Management. Employees spend most of their time at work and to bring them a safe environment, that is amicable and guarded is the prerogative of the organization. Organizations should consider- Safety and health policies according to industry benchmarks.Safety and health training from time to time.Sexual harassment act for women employees.Health initiatives within the company premises. Companies should focus not only on a plush working environment too. From the health perspective, various drives, seminars and workshops are an undisputed need in the interest of the employees. Free health camps and paid medical insurance policies for employee& family are some of the initiatives companies can engage in for their employee health & safety. Maintaining Good Working Conditions It is the responsibility of the human resource management to provide good working conditions to the employee so that they may like the workplace and the work environment. It is the fundamental duty of the HR department to motivate the employees. The study has been found that employees don’t contribute to the goals of the organization as much as they can. This is because of the lack of motivation. Human resource management should come up with a system to provide financial and non-financial benefits to the employee from the various departments. Employee welfare is another concept which should be managed by HR team. Employee welfare promotes job satisfaction. Administrative Responsibilities Another function of HR is its administrative responsibility. These include personnel procedures and Human Resource Information Systems. Personnel procedures involve the handling of promotions, relocations, discipline, performance improvement, illness, regulations, cultural and racial diversity, unwanted intimacies, bullying, and so on. For each of these situations, policies and procedures need to be developed and followed to successfully comply with the requests, or overcome these challenges. Career/Succession Planning As an HR function, succession planning is an initiative towards monitoring and working an existing employees’ growth path such that he can be promoted within. Companies can identify bright and promising employees inside an organization and work on developing their growth path. Employees who feel assured of a promising work environment within the company will not leave. Companies should work out strategies for individual development, engage employees in grooming and challenging activities to develop them towards a higher role.  Showing employees how their personal ambition can align with the future of the company helps to engage and retain them. For the organization, there are the benefits of better succession planning, higher productivity, and a stronger employer brand. Industrial Relations Industrial Relations as a HR function is primarily practised in manufacturing & production units. Unions rule industrial units with a motive that collectively speaks of the goodwill of the employees. A company in the production & manufacturing domain should have prevalent Industrial Relations practises and should continuously engage in talks with unions to maintain an amicable situation. Industrial Relations aims towards a continuous production process, reducing production time and resource wastage, reduce serious disputes including strikes and protests, better and safer working conditions, meeting wage standards and expectation. Industrial Relations if handled sensitively can avoid lawsuits, protests, walkouts, loss of production time, and money.Unionization is still very prevalent in Europe. In 2015, 92% of employees in Iceland were a member of a union, followed by Sweden (67%), Belgium (55%), Italy (37%), Ireland (27%) and Canada (27%). Maintaining good relations with unions will help to spot and resolve potential conflicts quickly and will also be beneficial in more difficult economic times when layoffs or other actions are required. Performance Management Performance management is essential in ensuring that workers stay productive and engaged. Good performance management involves good leadership, clear goal-setting, and open feedback. Performance management tools include the (bi)annual performance review, in which the employee is reviewed by his/her manager. It also includes 360-degree feedback tools in which peers, managers, subordinates, and sometimes even customers review the employee’s performance. These kinds of tools can be very helpful in providing feedback. Ideally, employees should be reviewed on a 360-degree scale, where peers, subordinates, seniors and even customers offer feedback on an employee’s performance. The performance management system is effective in identifying the gaps in performances that can be filled with training and skill enhancement. Performance management system, in the long run, is a profitable affair. Clear accountabilities, better productivity, reduced conflicts, job satisfaction and enhanced productivity levels all, in the long run, materialize to lesser attrition. Function Evaluation Function evaluation is a more technical role of HR that involves comparing various functions in terms of qualification, the quality, and availability of workers, job location, working times, the economic situation, job responsibility, and how much value this job adds to the organization. The idea behind function evaluation is that similar jobs should be rewarded similarly. There are different ways of internally ranking functions: Ranking Method: a method in which subject matter experts rank functions in terms of how much they contribute to the organization as a whole. Functions are paired and raters have to decide which one is more valuable. This is done with all functions and based on the outcome, a ranking is established. Classification method: jobs can also be classified in different categories using classification methods. In this case, jobs are categorized and then ranked within these categories to come up with a ranking. Categorizations can include education, experience, the degree of specialized skills needed to do the job, the degree to which these skills are in-demand, and so on. Points method: jobs are categorized according to the factors the organization believes contribute most to its success. Points are then awarded to each category for every job. These categories can include key competencies, like problem-solving, technical knowledge, communication and influencing skills, innovative capability, business acumen, and so on. These competencies will differ per organization Personal method: in this method, the job itself is not evaluated but the person doing the job is. Here, employees are rewarded based on their personal skills and competencies. Apart from the above, the HR function involves managing change, technology, innovation, and diversity. It is no longer confined to the culture or ethos of any single organization; its keynote is a cross-fertilization of ideas from different organizations. Periodic social audits of HR functions are considered essential. HR professionals have an all-encompassing role. They are required to have a thorough knowledge of the organization and its intricacies and complexities. The ultimate goal of every HR manager should be to develop a linkage between the employee and the organization because the employee’s commitment to the organization is crucial. The first and foremost role of HR functionary is to impart continuous education to employees about the changes and challenges facing the country in general and their organization in particular. The employees should know about their balance sheet, sales progress, diversification plans, restructuring plans, sharp price movements, turnover, and all such details. The HR professionals should impart education to all employees through small booklets, video films, and lectures. I hope this article helped you in finding out what main purposes do the HR have and you found out ways to accomplish those. All the best!

      The function of Human Resource department is one of the most important parts of a business, HR Department helps the business in managing employees. These are the 14 essential Functions of the Human Resource department.