People who choose Human Resources careers tend to be people persons. Maybe when you started your path in HR you felt that your ability to connect with others was your strongest career quality. Being an HR manager, however, requires more than just liking people.
To become a successful HR manager you have to work on a variety of skills. Having the right Benefits technology plays a major part as well. In today’s modern world when it comes to skills technology plays a major part. Many of these skills require intuition and emotional intelligence as well. Working on these skills can help you become a better HR manager.
It’s good to look at your position from a variety of perspectives. How can you be a better leader in your HR department and help your team be efficient in their work? Here are the most important HR manager skills.
Communicating
The easiest and hardest part of being an HR manager is communicating with others. Some of this skill may come easily to you, which is why you chose this career. But, there is more to communicating than simply talking.
There are three communication techniques: interpersonal, informational and decisional. Interpersonal is being a good listener, reading body language and asking questions. As an HR manager, you must have strong emotional intelligence.
Informational communication means delivering information in a timely and responsive manner. You need to be quick and concise with sharing important information. Employees depend on you to communicate facts and speak on their behalf.
Decisional communication is where the manager is the negotiator. You need to be able to manage your resources and allocate them as needed. Often an HR manager needs to decide on a fork-in-the-road dilemma, meaning either decision could be beneficial. It takes discernment and confidence to make these decisions.
Decision Making
Who to hire, who to fire, this method or that, how to solve that problem? These are all questions you’ll have to tackle with confidence. Your decisions affect the people you lead and the company you represent.
With decisions that directly affect personnel, take it slow. Look at their character and experience when hiring as much as you do their credentials. When letting someone go, look at how they affected others and the workplace. Is there attitude toxic or disruptive?
Organization
As an HR manager, you must be organized. You have to organize your HR team as well as organize personnel files. In order for things to run smoothly and efficiently, your organization must be on point.
You will have to be confident in time management, calendar management, and record management. You are the connection between the employees and the upper management in the company. So both levels are depending on you.
Problem Solving
One of the main jobs for an HR manager is to handle conflicts and provide solutions. Often times coworkers will have disputes. Or, they must just be a simple misunderstanding. You will be the mediator of these issues. They will look to you for support and problem-solving.
Multi-tasking
In most companies, you are expected to handle different facets of HR, not just one area. You must be able to handle things just as employee benefits and action reports while being pulled away to handle a crisis. Issues that come up in HR are not often planned, but they need to be dealt with quickly.
Understanding Benefits and Health Insurance
HR managers work alongside company management to choose employee benefits and health insurance. This takes a lot of research and understanding of different plans. You will also need to be familiar with the needs of your employees.
Delegating
You cannot do it all yourself, in fact, you shouldn’t be. there are many benefits to delegating. When you assign tasks to others you then are free to take on other important projects or focus on your own skill development. Delegating also tells your employees that you trust them and believe they can get the job done.
Often managers feel like they can do the job quicker and better. The problem with this is you will always be the only one who can do that task. If you don’t allow others to try their best, you will never know what kind of skills your team may have. Or, you won’t be able to build those skills.
Motivating
You want to have a positive professional relationship with your team and your coworkers. When you show positivity and encouragement, your team is more likely to trust you. Building trust gives you an edge that can inspire and propel the company forward.
Be a manager who is open to criticism without compromising your leadership. Be consistent in your reactions to employees and let them speak up when they feel something is off. When giving criticism, be fair and direct. It’s always helpful to throw in a word of encouragement with criticism.
At the end of the day, encourage a healthy work-life balance. You want employees that are rested and have adequate time off. As a manager, you can be an example by getting off work on time and taking your vacation time. You don’t want your employees overworked and stressed out.
Being a Good HR Manager Means Being a Good Leader
Lead your team with confidence and positivity. An approachable HR manager is very important for any company. Employees are more likely to communicate well with HR if the manager is organized and helpful.
As a manager, you want your team to be efficient and successful. You will lead a team of HR professionals who are meeting the needs of both the upper management and the employees. Build your team up by setting a high standard and sticking to it.
To be a successful manager you need to be a strong leader. Help your team reach their greatest potential through encouragement and support. Set yourself apart by being a leader who wants to see everyone succeed.
