14 Top Human Resources Skills Employers Are Seeking

The job profile of a human resource manager involves applying a multitude of human resource skills with a broad sense of applying technical as well as subjective knowledge. They need to be able to communicate well with the employee and the business, know the technical know-how of various hr techs like LMS and Hr software, they also need to well-versed with labor law, and take tough decisions without any biases. Today in this article we are going to look at 13 Human resource skills that a human resource manager needs to succeed in their role and what employers are looking for while hiring an hr manager.

Communication Skills:

It is one of the most important human resource skills of the human resource manager. Human resource management act as a link between the employer and the employee, they are also responsible for the interview and recruiting process, proper planning and onboarding of the candidate, and communicating the policies of the organization. This task requires you to have great communication skills as the Human resource manager act as the voice of the organization. They influence the culture of the organization and make new candidates feel safe and welcome in the organization. Not only candidates but one should also know how to communicate with the CEO, Department heads, junior employees, and laborers this is why the ability to get along with others on a personal as well as professional levels and to maintain a level of empathy towards each situation is necessary for human resource managers.

Storytelling Skills:

Another important human resource skill that a human resource manager is the ability to communicate data and information in a simple and compelling story. Human resource manager needs to have the ability to simplify data-driven analytics and findings into clear, easy-to-understand, and impactful stories for different stakeholders in the organization. Storytelling can help human resources to communicate to the employee and new joiners what the company stands for and in what direction the company wants to go, what they want to achieve, and how the employee fits into the picture.

Storytelling also helps in introducing new joiners to business practices relevant to their job role, this can give a broader understanding and provide insights into what the human resource department is trying to achieve across departments. It enhances knowledge and understanding to better communicate and create a productive workforce.

Decision-Making Skills:

Human resource managers are involved in a lot of decision making whether it is for recruiting new candidates or introducing organizational policies. Decision-making covers the employee lifecycle in the organization. Knowing how to make the right decision without external internal pressure not only save but also ensures the success of the organization in the long run.

Some examples of decision-making skills

Problem-solving skill: Employers expect hr managers to make a tough decisions. Good hr managers identify the problem and find a solution that benefits the company they look for possible alternatives and considers everyone’s opinion and minimize the risk and chances of the same problem occurring again.
Emotional Intelligence: Hr managers that have a high level of emotional intelligence is known to control their emotions and remove any personal biases while making decision These human resource skills also enable the manager to make an informed decision and empathize with the feeling of the employees and create a healthy and challenging environment where every opinion are respected.
Creativity: Sometimes hr managers are not required to make decisions based on facts and figures instead they need to brainstorm and think of a creative solution to a problem that is different from the traditional practices. This allows hr managers to come up with original solutions to other problems and are willing to try new things.

Training and Development Skills:

Training and development are vital functions of human resource management they are often required to plan, manage and create training programs for the employees in order to close any skill gap in the organization, train new joiners on the company’s new product and services and keep up with the latest technological advancements. HR managers should be capable of understanding the human resource skills required for the different job roles and focus on improving the overall productivity of the organization.

Here is some reason why training and development skills are important:

A good training and development program measure and develop skills and address area for improvement and increase employee performance
Having training and development skills help create a plan to divert employee mundane task to a place where they need more importance, this increase opportunities for the employee to try new things and takes up an innovative approach to customer satisfaction and organizational growth.

Technical Knowledge:

Currently, organizations are using hr software and learning management systems to manage the hr- related activities this software tracks and measures employee performance, attendance, recruitment and onboarding, and employee learning and development. These tools have become extremely important in the organization and HR is expected to know how to use these tools and communicate the data to higher-ups. These tools also help automate various tasks and made it easier for them to focus on other activities.

Strategic Thinking Skills:

Apart from being an administrative role HR also need to adopt a strategic mindset they need to understand the functional process of HR and how they can contribute to the success of the organization, understand the intent of the roles and responsibilities, and comes up with an execution plan. The ability to create, interpret and implement a strategy is vital to the success of the organization it gives a clear definition of the performance metrics to track and corporate strategy that needs to be assessed for long-term needs. Strategic thinking is necessary for HR managers at higher positions but learning to adopt a strategic mindset should be done from the start of the career.

Importance of having strategy skills:

Having a proper strategy in place for talent acquisition and management will help you avoid any talent shortage in the long run, it will reduce employee attrition and increase the number of talents working in the organization.
A proper strategy anticipates the needs of the workforce in all departments and comes up with a plan and suggestion to cater to all the needs of the employees.
For an organization to achieve its short and long-term goals they need to come up with a strategy that complements each other this strategy can include the implementation of a new organization policy, rewards and recognition program, and managing the KPIs and OKRs of the employee.

Recruiting Skills:

Recruitment and selection are one of the most common human resource skills that every HR manager must have. It involves finding the right talent, selecting the one that fits the role for the interview, and determining whether the candidate is suitable for the organization.

Recruiters write a compelling job description and state the human resource skills they expect in the candidate and also ensure the recruitment and selection process is fair, they asses different tools like job portals, and applicant tracking systems to select the employee, then depending on the organization there a technical round and final interview process and after all, this is over there’s a reference check to shortlist the right candidates. It is one o the most important human resource skills as one wrong hire can have a major impact on your team and the organization. The United States Department of Labor states that it cost 30% of the employee’s wage if you hire the wrong candidate.

Data Analytics Skill:

HR Analytics has changed the way HR Manager operates it has introduced a data-driven approach to human resource management that focuses on modern problems in order to create a sustainable workforce. It includes development through HR metrics like calculating hiring costs, identifying patterns for employee turnover, and managing and tracking employee performance. A competent HR Manager should be able to understand these HR metrics and able to take make decisions backed by data. This also involves using predictive analytics to take better future decisions.

Importance of HR Analytics skills:

You can use hr analytics to collect data like time to apply for the role, time taken between selecting and hiring, and cost incurred in hiring from the hiring process to derive key points on how successful your hr team is in hiring “ ideal” candidates.
HR Analytics help identifies resources needed for employees to perform better, how to maintain work-life balance, and offer flexible schedules to employees by analyzing the metrics such as absenteeism rate, overtime, and productivity of the team.
HR Managers can use hr analytics skills to reduce the attrition rate in the young generation who frequently change jobs and provide them with opportunities and skills for them to stay in the company.

Multi-Tasking Skill:

Multi-tasking means prioritizing and organizing your work as per the importance. It has become one of the most important human resource skills in the modern-day workforce where people have to work under extreme pressure to complete tasks on time. HR managers must be able to multitask and do a variety of tasks like hiring and onboarding candidates, taking interviews, handling grievances, benefits, payroll, and working on employee training programs.

Importance of Multi-tasking:

Multi-tasking reduces the cost of hiring and training new employees as one individual can do many tasks.
An HR manager who is capable of multitasking increases the productivity of the organization and provides more output with minimum resources.
Not only they are able to do a lot of tasks they can also help other complete other people’s task this help in case other employees are on leaves and there is a task needed to be done.

Advising Skill:

HR managers have to constantly interact with the employees, managers, department heads, and higher-ups they need to act as an advisor to help develop hr policies, improve employee relations and work with management in implementing hr policies and outline suggestions for improvements. To be successful as an HR you need to have advising skills along with strong communication and interpersonal skills and knowledge of employment legislation.

Importance of advising skills:

You need to deal with various hr issues throughout the business.
You need to advise managers and higher-ups on why a certain policy should be implemented or what they should do to improve productivity.
Negotiating the terms of employment with employees
Working as an advisor in work reviews and change management.
Suggesting new technology like hr software for improving the quality of management in the organization.

Teamwork:

Teamwork is what is expected in every employee not specific to hr. Still, as an HR you are expected to work with your colleagues, other employees, line manager, CEOs, and director so if you are not collaborative with anyone not only does it hamper the growth of the organization but it also hampers your growth as an HR manager as no will be willing to appreciate you during performance appraisal. Because Human resource is focused on building and finding the best workplace collaboration and teamwork is necessary for increasing the productivity of the organization.

Financial Skills:

An organization performs better when they understand the financial success of the company and how its work has contributed to it. By having skills in finance HR managers can gain insights into the company’s long-term plan and use the hr department into creating a competitive advantage for the company. Using finance skills in areas such as budgeting, forecasting, and planning the Hr manager can derive a meaningful and well-thought plan on how to utilize HR budgets and develop key metrics and KPIs for the hr department. They can also properly manage employee compensation and benefits and create a strong performance appraisal program.

Active listener:

HR Manager who is an active listener has the ability to listen to other without any prejudice, they hear every employee’s feedback, questions, and concerns and create an environment for active two-way communication among employees. Without strong active listening skills, it will be difficult to navigate issues, understand the problem and solving problem will be difficult, it will be harder to resolve conflicts, effectively train employees and reduce employee attrition.

Importance of active listening skills:

HR needs to document and pay close attention to what’s going on in the organization and write a report on this to report to higher-ups, for this they need to listen to employee problems actively.
One of the reasons why an employee leaves their job is due to the fact HR dont bother listening to employees and only care what higher-ups have to say to reduce employee attrition HR needs to make sure that the employee needs are heard and their issues are being communicated to their respective line manager and they are focused on resolving.

Administrative skills:

HR is an administrative job one needs to regularly maintain employee records and properly document information such as employee contact details, bank info, payroll data, performance reviews, etc. The HR professionals must ensure that they properly input the data and prepare important HR documents correctly. The role also requires you to be well versed in record keeping, and internal and external communications, and also analyze and report external as well as internal employees. Having administrative human resource skills help the employee perform their duty and assist the HR manager in performing their daily task.

Importance of Administrative skills:

HR is responsible for managing the personal records and updating employee information in the hr database, without the ability to properly manage and safely keeping of data can result in information theft.
HR needs to prepare hr guides, documents and policies, employee contracts and compensation plans, and many more for the organization. Those who are not adapted to writing or maintaining one will end up creating confusion and conflict in the organization.

Wrapping up:

Human resource job depends on various human resource skills to stay at the top of your job you need to keep on updating and learn new skills. These human resource skills can be obtained by pursuing a specific degree through higher education from accredited institutes while others are obtained through experiences on the job. Since HR is a popular field having credentials beyond work experience can help differentiate yourself from others.