Human resource management is needed by every organization to help improve the effectiveness in the work environment. HR management ensuring high performance standards, improving company morale, resolving any employee conflicts, maintaining company budgets, and many more. Before you apply for a human resource management position, you must understand what HR skills you need to have.
Human resource management plays a key role in business, such as reinforcing, developing, and changing an organizational culture. If you want to learn what it takes to become HR in a company, read this article to the end.
What does a HR do?
HR departments exist to provide objective guidance to all employees on people-related matters. Simply, the HR department is looking for the right talent or guide people to do the job and keep them content and productive. There's a lot of HR do, including recruitment, compensation, benefits, training, and development. Human resources work as supporters of employees to get training, education, health and their well-being. Good human resources are the key to employee morale and satisfaction.
Why is HR role important?
HR matters more than other departments because it plays a crucial role in creating a positive workplace that is engaging, productive and inclusive. Human resources handles many tasks and is responsible for the company's progress. Almost all aspects will be supervised by HR, because HR departments help to develop teams throughout the company.
What are HR skills and competencies?
Being a human resource must have skills and competencies. HR skills are the ability to help others in achieving interpersonal skills, effective communication, and selecting the best talent through recruitment. Being a human resource is a difficult position because the company's progress depends on how HR oversees the department. Let's see what skills are required for HR as well as their competencies.
15 best HR skills that every HR professional needs
Have several key competencies below to become a human resource professional.
- Interpersonal skills
This is the most important HR soft skill. As the name suggests, human resources is focused on humans. HR officer's job is interacting with employees. Sometimes HR staff are the first people every applicant meets during the hiring process, and they must show a positive impression as the face of the company.
The HR department becomes the voice for the organization and as an employee advocate. HR staff have a great influence on company culture, and help employees feel welcome and safe while in the organization. One important skill to have is being able to chat with coworkers about anything outside of work, but not too deeply into colleagues' personal lives. HR professionals need to show social skills, because interacting with coworkers is a major part of being HR.
- Confidentiality
Being an HR professional you must be able to maintain confidentiality. The human resources department has sensitive information such as employee's details and personal records, payroll information, and performance evaluations. Employees sometimes talk about their personal problems such as unstable living situations, medical problems, or family disputes.
Whatever conversation occurs in the HR department is private, and no one should know. All information must remain private, and it is the job of HR professionals to build employees' trust and confidence by guarding their secrets.
- Emotional intelligence
This is an ability to accurately respond and identify to emotions. HR departments must have this skill because it is the most valuable skill for better understanding with employees. Acknowledging and recognizing employee's feelings and experiences makes HR staff trustworthy.
Workers don't easily talk about what they really feel, or maybe they have told the story but no one recognizes it. HR professionals who have emotional intelligence can pinpoint the emotional drivers and get straight to the root of the problem quickly.
Emotional intelligence makes a person more aware of how they behave with coworkers, thinks about the reactions and feelings of the person they are talking to, and helps the individual to respond to the situation calmly.
- Event organizing
Organizing skills are useful for becoming an HR professional. HR staff are often appointed to be in charge of employee engagement campaigns, such as holiday parties, health fairs, outings, recruitment fairs, trainings, staff appreciation days, onboarding, etc.
HR staff must be able to organize vendors and materials, build solicit signups, design a schedule, and run the event. After the event is over, HR will gather feedback from post-event staff to improve the next event.
- Active listening
Listening skills are crucial if you want to be in the HR department. HR staff are the ears of the organization. They hear employee's complaints, questions, and ideas. Human resources gather feedback from staff through meetings or engagement surveys. HR council is a place for teams or individuals to experience and resolve problems.
The two most important reasons why human resource staff must have active listening skills is because listening to what employees say makes them feel heard and valued. Also HR needs to pay attention to write detailed reports by listening carefully to every document conversation.
- Conflict resolution
Resolving company disputes is one of the main functions of the human resources department. The department provides employees with a safe place to work by mediating arguments between team members and working through issues together.
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The HR staff needs to solve problems calmly and reduce tension in the room, listen to each problem clearly, negotiate compromise, and direct the conversation until a solution is found. The human resources crew acts as a mediator on every issue, giving each party time to convey their point of view.
- Communication
Communication is an HR competency needed to be a bridge for all members in the company. HR staff must be good at communicating, starting from the interview process until new employees learn company rules and carry out orientation. HR professionals not only deal with individuals during recruitment, but also conduct presentations and workshops.
Good communication skills will foster the ability to be good at conversational, written communication skills, and public speaking. Every HR professional understands how to communicate with the person they are talking to with warmth and empathy.
- Recruitment
HR professionals have an important role in recruitment. They understand how to create job postings, select qualified candidates, conduct interviews, and hiring decisions. Good HR staff collaborates with any department to adapt to the team's criteria and needs.
When carrying out recruitment, HR professionals will have many considerations such as how good the candidate is in terms of their attitude, technical skills and culture fit. They understand how to start an interview, find out information about candidates according to the office's needs, and what if someone makes an offer.
- Analytical ability
Human resources need to learn about analytical components. HR needs to collect and analyze what the office needs, such as anticipating hiring needs, monitoring employee needs, and company conditions. HR managers must be able to analyze what the best steps are for the future, whether staffing needs or adjusting the budget.
The data needed does not have to be numbers, but human resources must understand how to measure employee satisfaction and optimize their performance. All of these tasks require the ability to collect and analyze information.
- Critical thinking
Each individual has their own thoughts to solve problems, but sometimes causes strong emotions and tension in a workplace. If there is conflict between team members, they will feel they are right and others seem wrong. As humans, we sometimes put forward biases, feelings, and assumptions. But to be an HR professional you have to put all that aside, because there must be fairness for all employees and think objectively.
HR professionals must have critical thinking not to jump straight to conclusions and make judgments from what each individual says. Human resources must be a neutral party and avoid favoritism.
- Research
Human resources staff must continue to learn new things to adapt to standards as society and corporate culture evolve. They must have research skills and the desire to continue learning new things. Human resource professionals need to keep updated on shifting regulations and industry trends. Higher ups will ask the HR department about what needs to be changed, and what parts need to be improved to keep up with the latest developments.
- Connectors
HR staff not only care about each individual, but also serve as connectors for the team. Human resources use team building skills for team bonding, planning fun team activities, and opportunities to foster team relationships. Each individual has their own skills and ways of communicating, but there is HR who has the task of transforming from a solo player to a team player.
This is different from the task of project managers who see team members on an individual basis, because HR has an important role in making each team member feel there and needed. Sometimes HR can be a coach to unite the team. HR experts can be good leaders to form a better team.
- Wellbeing evangelism
HR professionals have an important role in ensuring that each team member is healthy, happy, and productive. HR staff will listen to each employee's complaints and what they want for them. HR staff will talk to higher ups regarding the same problems, and look for solutions to increase employee retention.
Being an HR must have the skills to support wellbeing initiatives, making the organization an excellent place to work. This will have a good impact on employees, because they feel heard and try their best to achieve achievements and advance the company.
- Multitasking
The many responsibilities that human resources have require each staff member to have multitasking skills. Preparing interviews, training programs, guiding new employees, and other tasks requires having the ability to multitask and good time management to maintain good performance.
Human resources professionals will remain calm even when working under pressure, whether the pressure comes from any conflict, employees with concerns, or there are problems in event progress. HR staff as much as possible do not leave their work neglected, by multitasking and remaining on good quality.
- Change management
The HR team must understand when employees are not comfortable with their position, or managers lack chemistry with their team members, which has an impact on the results of task completion. Not everyone can get along with other people on the same team because there are many factors. The task of human resources is to select and place employees in appropriate divisions so that the employee's best potential emerges.
HR professionals always take part in more organizational changes, starting from changing team personnel, modifying policies, to creating new regulations for the company.
Human resources are a crucial position for business because there is a lot that can be gained for the company's progress, starting from a solid team, a comfortable work environment, ensuring employees get wellness, and analyzing how the organization should run in order to get its best potential. Everyone who applies to become human resources must be prepared to have several competencies and skills.
That's all about Human resource skills and competencies. You can see articles from SMEBrother for other amazing tips such as how to advance your business, important knowledge about licensing, leadership skills, finances, etc. Immediately visit the SMEBrother site and get information about businesses ranging from small-sized to large businesses.
