7 Most Critical HR Skills and Competencies

The Human Resources Department is taking a shift. The HR managers now need practical HR skills and competencies to be excellent contributors to the business. Traditional HR responsibilities include recruiting, hiring, retaining talents, compensation and benefits.

But with changing times and demands, HR professionals now also participate as the organization's advocate, build employee relations, develop business strategies, and, more importantly, bring mediation between the employees and the employers.

But handling these diverse duties is not a cakewalk. It requires practical skills and competencies for any HR professional to keep their A-game on.

Here Are The 7 Core HR Skills And Competencies Every HR Professional Must Have

1. Effective Communication

Hr professionals must have impeccable communication skills. When the job is to deal with people, it becomes paramount for any HR professional to have strong communication skills. They constantly deal with people over the phone or email, draft company policies, and conduct interviews.

Therefore any HR professional must have excellent writing skills to avoid any miscommunication. They must actively listen to understand others’ perspectives and bring a more honest discussion between them and the managers.

Effective communication helps HR managers to handle employee grievances empathically and also manage any internal conflicts effectively.

Related: The 10 Secrets to Strong Communication Skills in the Workplace

2. Relationship-building

Building relationships between the HR group and other departments is one of the critical components to bring business together. This helps in maximizing the potential of the organization and its success. Relationships in the workplace often need a great deal of care and communication. There are also some casual relationships (think of vendors and dealers who deliver goods to your workplace) that need your attention. Therefore, HR professionals must emphasize building relationships among every department so that they can thrive together.

HR professionals must listen and respond to the concerns of the other departments and act as a glue to keep them stick together. Since a workplace has diverse individuals, HR professionals must introduce inclusive policies, and everyone feels welcomed in the workplace.

3. Adaptability Skills

The world of business is changing every day. And you cannot get too comfortable but adapt yourself to the changing times. These will allow HR managers to rethink their current company policies and curate new ones that are more relevant and effective. Since HR managers actively participate in decision-making and business strategies, they need to forecast the need for changes.

For fostering a healthy work environment, HR Professionals must develop new tactics to keep the employees engaged and actively invest themselves in finding ways to retain them.

4. Technological Skills

With the whole world going increasingly digital, HR managers need the ability to adapt to new technology. HR managers are expected to handle a variety of duties that includes-

• Recruiting talented employees.

• Managing onboarding and training for new hires.

• Tracking payroll.

• Handling employee grievances.

• Retaining good employees.

Technological skills give Hr professionals an edge while managing the above duties and more.

For example, social media tools help them posting job openings online and reach out to more potential candidates. And at the same, Talent Acquisition Software (ATS) makes their jobs incredibly easier while recruiting and hiring. Therefore, it is very critical for HR professionals to have good digital skills.

5. Keep Learning

As they say, learning is a never-ending process. The same holds for any HR professionals. The work culture of today’s organizations demands better management, support, growth, and development. Deepening your knowledge in the Human Resource Management field and applying new Hr trends will always help you become the front runner. Therefore, prosperous HR managers look to develop and understand the benefits of new Hr research outcomes and connect them to the current trends in the HR field.

6. Critical Thinking

Linder Elder, a prominent scholar, describes Critical thinking as “Self-guided, self-disciplined, thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way.

Critical thinking is one of the most essential attributes for anyone in HR. Whether you are hiring a new candidate, negotiating pay rises, or deciding how to deal with employee grievances, it is imperative to critically analyze the situation and make decisions.

Critical thinking helps bring a rational perspective and help HR professionals to deal with a difficult situation with ease. Either it is conflict resolution or addressing an issue with the employees, and critical thinking helps reconstruct or put forward views and ideas that work best for the work environment.

7. Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are the soft skills that hold great value to HR professionals. These skills include active listening, verbal and non-verbal communication, social awareness, self-management, accountability, and so on. People with high interpersonal skills are intuitively good communicators and efficient managers. They show the right attitude and aptitude while communicating. Interpersonal skills allow one to communicate successfully with others at work and in the broader community. Some people are born with this kind of ability, but they can all be enhanced with practice. Expressing respect, settling conflicts, and hearing well are all interpersonal skills worth learning for any HR professional.

Wrapping Up

Are your HR skills up to par? I hope the above listings give you the necessary insights on Hr skills and competencies and keep you ahead in the race.

This article is written by Braja Deepon Roy. He works as a Content Creator and Digital Marketer at Vantage Circle. He actively participates in the growth of corporate culture and keeps himself updated in this space. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com