HR professionals need a multitude of different skills to do their work well. We’ve had a look at skills and competencies HR generalists should have to succeed in their roles, and analyzed which are the most important. This article will provide you with an overview of the most sought-after skills in HR. The skills are listed in no particular order!
Contents
1. Communication skills
2. Administrative expert
3. HRM knowledge and expertise
4. HR strategy creation & execution
5. Managing priorities
6. Proactivity
7. Advising
8. Coaching
9. Recruitment and selection
10. Employee experience expertise
11. Command of technology
12. Being analytical and data-driven
13. HR reporting skills
14. Commercial awareness
15. Cultural awareness and sensitivity
16. Wellbeing evangelism
17. Active listening
18. Teamwork
1. Communication skills
The most frequently mentioned skill in HR job openings is communication. Communication skills are essential in Human Resource Management, as the HR professional is the link between the business and the employee. On the one hand, you are an activist for employees, and on the other hand, you represent the employer.
This requires great communication skills. You will be communicating with different stakeholders, and at different levels of authority and influence. How you communicate with the CEO of your company, and with junior staff would be very different. This is why the ability to connect well with all kinds of people, leaving a professional and positive impression, is an essential skill for HR professionals.
Another communication skill that is becoming more critical for HR professionals is storytelling. As data plays an increasingly important role in all aspects of the business, HR professionals need to be able to translate data into clear, compelling, and impactful stories tailored to different stakeholder audiences.
But of course, it’s not just stakeholders you need to reach: you are also a source of information for employees. Being able to efficiently handle their questions and complaints is key to most generalist roles. The ability to communicate both formally and informally in different ways (such as verbal and written, both in-person and online) is essential.
2. Administrative expert
Administrative tasks remain a major part of the HR role. These duties involve areas like employee leave, absence, absence files, the in- and outflow of employees, payroll, and other topics.
Despite the rise of digital HR and the increasing automation of HR tasks, administrative duties haven’t disappeared (yet). They are mentioned as an integral part of the job in many of the job postings. This is why being an administrative expert can be a huge benefit for any ambitious HR professional.
3. HRM knowledge and expertise
Unsurprisingly, HRM knowledge and expertise are also mentioned as essential HR skills. Previous work experience or educational background in Human Resource Management or Industrial and Organizational Psychology are very helpful.
HRM knowledge underpins many of the other skills and competencies mentioned in this article. It helps to understand recruitment, selection, absence procedures, data reporting, for instance.
4. HR strategy creation & execution
HR professionals need to adopt a strategic mindset. Even if you are not (yet) at a level where HR strategy creation is among your responsibilities, you still need to be able to understand the strategic intent and translate that into an implementable execution plan.
The ability to interpret and implement a strategy, as well as create an HR strategy that effectively supports the overarching organizational strategy, will help you make more impact within your organization and strengthen HR’s role as a strategic partner.
5. Managing priorities
To ensure your projects and initiatives are a success, you need more than just organizational knowledge and HR skills.
No matter how valuable or important a project is, there is a significant chance that your stakeholders will have a wide variety of opinions, priorities, and motives. Being able to manage conflicting ideas and priorities across stakeholder groups and navigate this complexity will help you avoid potential project pitfalls, and get the information and support you need to make your project a success.
6. Proactivity
Proactivity is often considered more of a personality trait than a skill. However, it is certainly something you can develop over time. As an HR professional, you are the connection between the employer and the employee. As such, proactivity can help you in spotting potential problems early and preventing them from escalating.
In line with this, proactive Human Resource Management is preferred instead of reactive HRM. To be proactive as an HR professional you must stay informed about current and emerging trends across not only HR but also technology and work culture. Additionally, HR skills training should be a continuous part of your career development.
Proactive and strategic HRM helps to plan and align the core HR tasks in a way that offers the most value to the business.
7. Advising
One of the key HR skills is being a credible and trustworthy advisor to different stakeholders. You need to be able to effectively advise employees, line managers, and senior managers on personnel issues.
These issues can be operational, for example creating a reintegration plan for an employee or helping a senior manager with the formulation of an email to the department. More tactical issues are the organization of and advising in restructuring efforts. Strategic advice involves the alignment of HR practices to align more with the business.
But it’s not just what you advise your stakeholders, it’s how you advise them. To establish yourself as a trustworthy advisor, you need to continuously communicate and interact in a way that builds trust and strengthens your reputation as a credible practitioner. This is where the previously mentioned communication skills come in.
8. Coaching
Coaching skills are helpful when it comes to one-on-one or group sessions to spread information or train people. This can come in handy in training and development situations, but also in onboarding, re-integration, conflict resolution, and in assisting frontline managers with people issues.
These coaching skills are most often developed on the job or in external coaching training.
9. Recruitment and selection
Another often mentioned HR skill involves recruitment and selection. Finding qualified candidates, selecting the best, and determining if there’s a match between the candidate, the company (culture), and the manager is one of the most important HR tasks.
A substantial part of recruitment and selection is interviewing candidates. One of the competencies of an HR manager is ensuring that the recruitment and selection process is fair. In many countries, there are legal requirements for employers to treat all candidates equally. For example, in Britain, the Equality Act (2010) seeks to prevent discrimination across a range of factors including age, gender, and sexuality. Many companies will also have internal targets for diversity across the workforce.
HR professionals need to have at least a fundamental understanding of each stage of the selection process.
10. Employee experience expertise
In the face of the ongoing war for talent and the Great Resignation, employee experience expertise is more important than ever. In fact, 92% of HR leaders set employee experience or EX as a top priority in 2021.
HR professionals with employee experience expertise are able to use human-centric design thinking to design humanistic workplaces and focus on the employee as the center of the process. They understand the full employee lifecycle: the entire relationship between employees and the organization, from recruitment to becoming alumni. Thanks to this, they are able to create exceptional employee experiences that help attract and retain the talent organizations need to succeed in today’s ever-changing world.
11. Command of technology
A strong command of technology is essential for virtually all of today’s professionals, and HR is no exception. While you do not need to be an IT expert, being aware of and skilled in the use of the array of tools and systems available to you will help you do your work more effectively and efficiently. This is particularly relevant in organizations with international or remote/hybrid teams.
Additionally, HR professionals also need to familiarize themselves with a specific kind of tech: the HRIS. Human Resource Information Systems are the digital counterpart of the soft side of Human Resource Management. Most information regarding hiring, performance evaluation, payroll, rewards and benefits, and other areas is registered in one or more HRIS. It is essential that HR skills training includes guidance on HRIS navigation and how to understand and interpret the data stored there.
Being able to navigate the key functions of an HRIS is an essential skill for any HR practitioner.
Large organizations usually have standard providers like SAP (with SuccessFactors) or Oracle. Smaller companies often work with smaller providers. Knowledge of an HRIS is a prerequisite for most senior HR jobs and one of the top technology skills HR professionals need today.
It’s hard to understand these systems without having hands-on experience with them. They are, however, relatively simple and intuitive to work with.
12. Being analytical and data-driven
Skills related to data-driven working and analytics have emerged rapidly in the last five years. Most HR generalists are now required to be analytical and data-driven. The competencies of an HR manager must include the ability to understand key HR metrics, such as recruitment, engagement and retention, and employee value and performance. Having some knowledge of Excel is a great advantage.
There’s a push through all departments to leverage the power of data analytics to make better decisions. This can involve the use of complex predictive analytics on HR data, or the much simpler use of data to make better decisions. The latter is often referred to as evidence-based HR.
13. HR reporting skills
As HR analytics grows in importance, demand for HR reporting skills is increasing too. These skills include the ability to create, read, and interpret HR reports using data from different Human Resource Information Systems.
HR professionals with strong HR reporting skills are not only able to understand and interpret data, they are able to turn dry information into compelling messages using storytelling.