Gone are the days when HR management was the main skill that HR professionals needed to master.
To succeed in our current dynamic and volatile business environment,
Human Resources professionals need to have a broad set of general skills,
as well as a deep understanding of their functional expertise.
Which skills exactly? In this episode,
we’ll talk about the top five HR skills that every HR professional should have.
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Hi there, I’m Neelie and welcome to a new episode of Learning Bites. Before we get started with the
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Without further ado, let’s start with the first HR skill.
1. Communication skills
Communication is essential in Human Resource Management,
as the HR professional is the link between the business and the employee. On the one hand,
you’re a people advocate, and on the other hand, you represent the employer.
This requires great communication skills. You need to be able to communicate formally and informally,
and in different ways - in both verbal and in writing, and both online and in person.
Here are 3 essential communication skills that you should master:
Clear writing: this will help you avoid miscommunication, which is especially important
when dealing with matters that have a huge impact on your employees, such as employment contracts,
job vacancies, or company policies. Critical listening: being a people
advocate means understanding your employees’ perspective and helping them overcome
challenges at work. An important part of this is being able to listen clearly and critically.
Conflict management: HR professionals need to be able to handle uncomfortable situations with
sensitivity. Thank for instance of grievances, exit interviews, and salary negotiations.
2. Digital skills
HR professionals who understand new technology and actively integrate it into their organization
are able to make HR and the company run more efficiently.
Let's take Human Resource Information Systems (or HRIS for short),
for example. Most information regarding hiring, performance evaluation,
payroll, rewards and benefits, and more is registered in an HRIS. HR professionals need
to understand how to navigate these tools and interpret the data within.
There are also many other tools and systems that HR can leverage,
from social media platforms like LinkedIn to Applicant Tracking Systems,
with more being developed all the time. HR professionals need to be digitally savvy
enough to keep up with the latest developments and understand how to use these to their advantage.
3. Data literacy and reporting skills
The work of HR is becoming more and more defined by data. Most HR
generalists are now required to be analytically-driven and oriented.
Now, this doesn't mean you need to be a data scientist. But you should be able to read,
apply, create, and transform data into valuable
information to influence decision-making processes.
One example of data literacy in Human Resources is understanding key HR metrics. This includes
metrics such as recruitment, engagement and retention, and employee value and performance.
Having some knowledge of data processing tools such as Excel is also a great advantage.
Being able to use metrics, KPIs, scorecards,
or dashboards lets you take an evidence-based approach will help you make better decisions,
for example when advising managers and employees, and creating people policies.
4. Advisory skills and business understanding
One of the key HR skills is advising different stakeholders. You need to be
able to advise employees, line managers, and senior managers on personnel issues.
Here are some issues that you might come across:
Operational problems: for example, creating a reintegration plan for an
employee or helping a senior manager formulate an email to the department.
Tactical issues: such as the organization of and advising in restructuring efforts.
Strategic advice: this involves the alignment of HR practices with the business’ strategy.
To be able to add value to your organization, you need to understand the business.
This is where business acumen comes in. Being able to understand the business,
its customers, and its shareholders is a must for HR professionals.
This will help you better understand the problems
that line managers and executives are trying to solve. Additionally,
you’ll have an easier time positioning your business to win in the marketplace.
Want to know more about how you can develop
business acumen? Check out our Learning Bite on this topic.
5. Intercultural sensitivity and inclusive language skills
This HR skill depends on the specifics of the organization. Especially for
larger multinational companies, intercultural sensitivity is a must. When you’re in touch with
managers and employees in different countries, you need to be aware of intercultural differences.
For example, practices for managing and retaining people can differ
tremendously between cultures. In India, it’s common to get a promotion every year,
while in the Western world, this happens on average every 3 to 5 years.
Be aware also of communication differences. For example, in some countries, such as the
Netherlands, direct communication is the norm, while other countries,
such as Japan, tend towards more indirect communication. Using the wrong communication
style may result in your message not being perceived as important or even being offensive.
A tool that you can use to navigate intercultural communication is Hofstede's 6 dimensions model.
With this model, you’ll get insight into the levels of power distance, individualism,
uncertainty avoidance, masculinity, long term orientation, and indulgence of a culture.
Another aspect of communication that you should pay attention to is using inclusive language.
The kind of language that you use to communicate with your employees can have a direct impact on
how respected and valued they feel. Consider this: survey results from LinkedIn show that
in the U.S., 1 in 4 LGBTQ employees have left a job because they don’t feel accepted.
Using inclusive language is a crucial step in creating a more inclusive workplace. There are
several things that you can do to facilitate this, such as offering training and education, creating
bias-free language guidelines, or using AI tools to help you detect language that isn't inclusive.
And there you have it, the top 5 HR skills every HR professional should have.
These are crucial generalist skills that form our T-shaped
HR competency framework that will help you become future-proof.
Curious to see how T-shaped you are? Take our T-shaped assessment
See you next time!