Difference Between Human Resources and Human Services

  • Feb 01, 2021

It's easy to confuse these two terms, as they sound almost the same and deal with interacting with people. The field of human resources deals with recruiting employees for their appropriate roles and managing them in a company context. The field of human services deals with counseling and providing support to individuals or families.

Human Resources:

Human resource(HR) management is one of the most important departments in every business or organization. HR is about managing, developing, and overseeing a company's human capital. Human capital consists of all the employees in a firm, as well as the created knowledge & training required for these workers. One of the ways HR teams manage human capital is by assigning qualified employees to each role and task.

General job responsibilities of HRs are:

  • Tracking the company's requirement of human capital
  • Planning the recruiting process, and conducting tests and interviews of the candidates
  • Maintaining relations with all the employees
  • Coordinating =development & training programs to help employees upskill on the job

As you can tell, a company's success depends on its human resource management—ensuring the right people are doing the right job at the right time. As an HR manager, you will drive the company forward as you hire the right employees and develop their skills. With a degree in human resource management, you can also specialize in areas like recruitment and staffing, or training and development.

There has been tremendous growth in the human resources field, and this trend is expected to continue. The world of work is quickly changing, and so are hiring requirements. If you're a problem solver&a people person and can make efficient decisions, human resource management is a promising field for you. It's a fast-paced career that will bring many benefits.

Human Services:

Human services, on the other hand, is a field dedicated to providing aid and support to those in need. It's an interdisciplinary area focused on providing mental, physical, and emotional services directly to a group of people or an individual. It’s also about bridging gaps between communities to help solve problems.

Some jobs in human services are: -

  • Social service worker
  • Rehabilitation specialist
  • Child advocate
  • Disaster manager
  • Grief counselor

Working in the field of human services means dealing with sensitive cases, providing relief to disaster/abuse victims, and helping clients regain a sense of normalcy in their day-to-day lives. Many human services workers have a medical or psychology background.If you have a natural sense of compassion and are always ready to help others, this career is for you. Working in this field will give you immense satisfaction as your work has made a difference in others' lives.

Human services, among other service sectors, is seeing a lot of growth recently as well. A career in human services[link to careers in human services blog] will enable you to use your academic knowledge for the welfare of people.

Conclusion:

Human Resources and Human Services are both in-demand fields with abundant job opportunities. Though both deal directly with people, they are still quite different career options.

HR is a managerial position that every field requires. In fact, you can be an HR manager in the field of human services too!Human services, on the other hand, is a position in the healthcare & counseling services field that deals with providing support to clients.

Human Resources is a career path for those who think analytically, enjoy collaborating to solve problems, and have a business perspective. Human services will be a fulfilling career for you if you're empathy-driven, ready to help and care for people, and hardworking.

Of course, both careers are equally important and should not be weighed against each other. We hope this article clears up any misconceptions about the two!

If you're still not sure about your career, log in to InternMart and  take the Interest Mapper test to find the careers that best suit your interests. 

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