Human Resources Administration for Educational Leaders

This text addresses the major responsibilities of school administrators in the area of human resources administration by

• Emphasizing the increasing demands for accountability in the human resources function and ways in which the school administrator can deal with this new challenge.

• Considering the nature of human resources as a strategic rather than a maintenance function and the resulting need for improved knowledge and competency in human resources administration.

• Giving attention to the concept of human resources administration as an increasing responsibility of all school administrators and addressing the need for new HR knowledge and skills on the part of all school leaders.

• Addressing the issues, challenges, and trends related to the human resources function in education and the work of school leaders at all levels.

• Placing emphasis on effective human resources strategic planning and the importance of the internal and external environments in which the school and school system are embedded.

• Examining the historical evolution of the human resources function and the major contributions of many individuals who developed the foundation for contemporary HR practices.

• Describing the significant role of the central human resources unit in the school system and emphasizing its new responsibilities as a strategic unit in school district planning and program implementation.

• Addressing each of the major processes of the human resources function in detail and presenting relevant research and best practices as related to each process.

• Presenting specific examples of practice applications for meeting the personnel needs of enrollment forecasting, compensation scheduling, teacher workload calculations, accountability measurements, and support personnel classification procedures.

• Giving due attention to the nature and importance of the support personnel processes within the school district and underscoring the fact that classified personnel constitute a staff of approximately 50%–100% of the number of

certificated personnel.

• Setting guidelines in the form of operational models for use in the planning and implementing of the recruitment and selection processes of the human resources function.

• Underscoring the nature of the human resources function as a people consideration and addressing the importance of human motivation skills in working with employees as individuals with varying personalities and need dispositions.

• Discussing new approaches to staff development in school systems and giving special attention to mentoring, coaching, and the new emphasis on talent management in organizations.

• Supporting the increasing importance of the work of human resources administrators in facilitating a healthy climate for students, employees, and stakeholders of the school.

• Providing a comprehensive discussion on the matter of human resources policy and regulation development and its importance to the support and implementation of effective HR practices.

• Emphasizing the legal world in which the human resources administrator must operate. Employee rights, statutory rights, and contractual rights of employees, including ethical treatment, privacy, freedom of speech, and employee dismissal are discussed in depth.

• Providing examples of compensation approaches and drafting models of salary schedules that delve into the conceptual aspects of employee compensation and provide a foundation for better understanding of the compensation process.