Let us Know ‘HR Coordinator vs HR Assistant’ in this article.
Emerged as a specific field in the 20th century, Human Resources has become vast now. Activities of the human resources department are now not limited to hiring and firing; in this globalized economy, Human Resources has widened its scope as a by-product of the pandemic, Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, and automation.
In this extensive area of business, there is a massive list of roles as part of the system. The same role can be defined differently by several organizations. This extensive list can be overwhelming for professionals from different domains or novices in the field of HR and potential HR professionals. Let us look at two of those roles that can be mistaken as interchangeable.
While seem like confounding terms, Human Resources Coordinator and Human Resources Assistant both support HR management to function smoothly, yet can be differentiated in terms of the hierarchy of the organization and role description & specification. As a consequence of the organization structure, other specificities of the job like remuneration, day-to-day tasks, and accountability would also differ on some level. Go on and read the whole article to get rid of the ambiguity.
Functions of Human Resources Management
The Human Resources department is ought to do every activity to support the functions of all the other departments to reach the organizational goal without any turbulence. Because of its supportive nature of work, HR officials look after the employment cycle of employees and every task that is required to fulfill that job. Here are some of the major functions of HR:
- Job Analysis
- Recruitment and Selection
- Training & Development
- Performance Management
- Employee Engagement
- Industrial Relation
- Succession Planning
- Grievance Redressal
- Compensation & Benefits
Structure of the Human Resources Department
In the organizational structure of the human resources department, the top post is for the Chief level, i.e. Chief HR Officer or Chief People Officer.
The immediate subordinates to the chief are the Vice Presidents of different sub-functions, i.e. Talent Acquisition, Talent Management
Then comes the middle management which is comprised of Directors and Managers that look after further categorized sub-functions, i.e. Staffing, Performance management System, Training, etc.
At the end comes the lower management which is mainly filled with entry-level jobs.
Who is an HR Coordinator?
As mentioned in Chron, “The Human Resources Coordinator is a hands-on representative of the Human Resources department whose job is to help facilitate all basic Human Resources functions”. HR Coordinator aids the functions of the human resource department, predominantly works with the management, and is part of the implementation of codes and policies.
What does an HR Assistant do?
Administrative and organizational activities within the HR department are mainly done by Human Resources Assistant. This role is designed to support human resource management as well, but it is more on a micro level.
How is HR Coordinator & HR Assistant different?
Organizational Hierarchy
The foremost element that differentiates HR Coordinator from HR Assistant is the hierarchy. Though both the positions are offered on an entry-level HR career, HR Coordinator fits a little higher in the hierarchy of job titles. HR Assistant sits at the bottom of the pyramid while HR Coordinator comes in the slab above that comprises individual contributors to the HR.
Pay Scale
Based on their position in the hierarchical structure, offered salary in the market is also different. Although the pay range, when compared closely, does not have a significant gap, yet HR Coordinator has a higher pay scale than HR Assistant.
Roles & Responsibilities
The job description and day-to-day activities also differ for both positions. HR Coordinator works on a higher level, and the tasks done by him/her have a wider scope and crucial importance. As the name suggests, their work involves coordinating the different functions and sub-functions to ensure smooth running. As compared to that HR Assistant’s regular tasks lean more towards the administrative nature of work within the HR department. Their focus is more on providing and managing the resources and plays an important role in times of adversity.
Scope of Work
As mentioned above HR Coordinator’s job has a wider scope, it is because the coordination is not limited to the HR but also required to oversee the needs of other departments. On the contrary, the HR Assistant’s scope of work is restricted to the HR department or a leader of an HR department or certain HR sub-function.
Defined Duties
The demarcation of job roles is clearer for HR Coordinators while HR Assistants might have to face a little ambiguity as their work can be more impromptu because of sudden delegation by the superiors.
Reporting Structure & Accountability
Both HR Coordinator and HR Assistant report to their immediate superior. For the former, immediate authority in command would be Vice President or in some organizations, Chief Officer as HR coordinator works directly with top management; for the latter chain of command would depend on the scope of defined jurisdiction. If the HR Assistant is responsible for the admonition of the whole department, he/she would report directly to the Chief People Officer of the immediate subordinate, in case of responsibilities to some specific function(s), the reporting would go to the respective manager or director, and if he/she is to assist specific leader, the only person to be reported would be that leader.
Since the Human Resources Coordinator plays a slightly more vital and higher-level role, the accountability of such professionals would be more rigorous and pivotal than that of the Human Resources Assistant,
Cases in Point
To give an instance of Hiring, HR Coordinator would be involved in higher-level tasks such as getting specific requirements from the heads of departments about vacancy & job descriptions, screening process, and legal aspects of employment; while HR Assistant’s duty would be to help the Staffing expert in sourcing the candidates, scheduling interviews and assisting the new joiners in on-boarding and paperwork.
To bring in more clarity in terms of real-world scenarios, let us look at the responsibilities of both the roles in Performance Management System – Appraisal:
HR Coordinator would be the one to keep all the departments on board for successful interaction and assessment of all the employees. They would also keep communication clear within the department as well as with other managers and leaders. They might also be part of meetings with managers and assesses.
On the other hand, the HR Assistant of the department of PMS function would help with scheduling appointments, keeping track of the completion rate, storing the data, and doing basic analysis to aid the decision making my top management.
As has been demonstrated in this article, similar to various job titles, a clear distinction between these two positions is difficult, too as the responsibilities of the same overlap most often than not. Nevertheless, it is safe to state that HR Coordinator has more to do with higher management while an HR Assistant’s job requires more attention to HR Administration because of functional ranking. Though there are no water-tight compartments, a closer look and deep understanding are helpful to understand the differentiation.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the job description of an HR Assistant?
Job Descriptions can differ from company to company, yet the general idea of HR Assistant’s roles and responsibilities.
- What is the qualification to become an HR Coordinator?
Based on the company’s specification for the role, the eligibility can differ. In most cases, a bachelor’s degree or equivalent diploma in human resources is considered for the position. Since this is an entry-level job in an HR professional’s career path, the experience requirement in the field is not stringent.
- What are the skills required in Human Resources Department?
General Abilities:
- Interpersonal communication
- Written communication
- Organization and coordination
- Microsoft Office software
Functional Abilities:
- Understanding of the recruitment cycle
- Sourcing right candidates
- Onboarding
- Human Resources Management System | Human Resources Information System
- Organizational Development
- Learning & Training
- Performance Management System
- Human Capital Management
- Labour Laws
- Compensation and Benefit
- Human Resource Compliance
- Is HR Analytics a good field?
As in every other area, HR has also become fond of AI and automation. Human Resources Analytics is a newly emerged area of HR; it has a wide scope and vast acceptance across the world. The HR Analytics market is growing fast and strong, hence the demand for the right talent in this segment is increasing significantly.
- What are the emerging trends in Human Resources Management post-pandemic?
As a result of the Pandemic, the biggest and widely accepted trend in the field of human resources is Remote and Hybrid working. With the help of technology and AI, connectivity has increased drastically, hence providing more flexibility and autonomy has become a trend.
Employee Well-being has also become a focal point for organizations with the surge of the pandemic. Employee well-being does not only include physical health but also emotional and mental health. Several organizations started providing paid leaves in addition to the national holidays and vacations to spend time with families and give attention to themselves.
