Essential Skills of Human Resources Management—How Many Do You Have?

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Essential Skills of Human Resources Management—How Many Do You Have?

by Jay Schleifer and Steve Bruce

Topic: HR Management

When we interview a potential new hire, HR professionals assess the candidate against a list of key skills and personal characteristics needed for the job. Let’s turn the tables and see what that list of key attributes would look like for an HR professional.

This is the 2013 version of our most popular article ever, written in 2006. In no way is our list authoritative, but it is the opinion of people, including BLR® Founder Bob Brady, who’ve spent decades meeting with HR professionals, supporting their goals, and reporting their achievements.
You may agree or not with our assessments, but either way, we’d like to hear about it via the “Share Your Comments” link at the end of the article.
That said, here goes:

HR Manager’s Key Skill #1—Organization

HR management requires an orderly approach. Organized files, strong time management skills, and personal efficiency are key to HR effectiveness. You’re dealing with people’s lives and careers here, and when a manager requests help with a termination or a compensation recommendation or recognition program, it won’t do to say, “I’ll try to get to that if I have time.”

HR Manager’s Key Skill #2—Multitasking

On a typical HR day, an HR professional will deal with an employee’s personal issue one minute, an intermittent leave question the next, and a recruiting strategy for a hard-to-fill job the minute after. And that’s to say nothing of social media, wage/hour, engagement, retention, and a whole host of other things, every one critical to someone.
In HR, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. Priorities and business needs move fast and change fast, and manager A, who needs someone hired, doesn’t much care if you’re already helping manager B, who needs someone fired. You need to be able to handle it all, all at once.

HR Manager’s Key Skill #3—Dealing with Grey

A surprisingly large percentage of the issues HR managers face are in “the grey area.” Is it discrimination? Is it harassment? What’s a “reasonable” accommodation? How far over backward do you have to lean to approve intermittent leave? HR managers have to be able to act with incomplete and “best available” information, and they have to know when to seek the professional help of colleagues, attorneys, and other experts.

HR Manager’s Key Skill #4—Negotiation

Along with grey comes the need to negotiate—there are often two or more opposing views, and the successful HR pro can find an acceptable middle ground. Remember, the goal of negotiation is to end up with two parties that are satisfied with the outcome, and that’s often not easy to achieve.

HR Manager’s Key Skill #5—Communication

HR professionals have to communicate up to management, over to managers, out to potential employees, and down to all levels of current employees. And they have to do it in writing, while speaking to large and small groups and, increasingly, through social media. They have to be convincing, caring, and believable.