ARE YOU a people person, enjoy organisation, and need variety in your work? Then you may well love a role as an HR manager. While often challenging and demanding, HR is nevertheless an important department that keeps a company running smoothly at all times. The right person with the following valuable skills could find themselves with a great opportunity for a role as an HR manager.

Public speaking and communication skills

Talking in front of groups and attending interviews with potential applicants are common tasks for an HR manager, which means you have to be comfortable chatting with people you don’t know very well. In addition to casual communication skills, talking formally and being eloquent are definitely important, as you’ll need to talk about office policies, business practices and even legal matters while providing onboarding for new members.

Throughout the day, you’ll probably have to answer similar questions from employees, so being patient and responsive is necessary. As well, you might have to talk about some delicate subjects at times, such as harassment in the workplace, so knowing how to be compassionate and to listen intently is vital. Of course, it goes without saying that solid writing skills are needed, as there will be many emails and messages to reply to during the day.

Embrace new technology

The landscape of human resources has changed quite dramatically in recent years because of new advances in software. Even Office 365 has radically altered business processes for the better. In terms of HR software, long, complicated tasks are mercifully easier now, such as monitoring where an applicant is in the hiring process, what stage of on-boarding a new employee is at, as well as managing payroll, vacation days, taxes, and even observing employee performance. Getting to grips with HR software requires a skill in of itself, as every company will either have their own in-house software, or even use a third party software.

Organisational skills

HR managers typically have a lot to juggle over the course of the day.  The role can involve anything from recruitment to training and employee relations, and of course performance appraisals. There will also be a lot of paperwork and likely the need to perform background checks and get in touch with references in some cases when hiring new employees. If multitasking sounds like a walk in the park for you, then an HR role should be easy enough to handle.

Decision-making skills

While the final decision on an applicant will rarely come down to one person, the opinion of an HR manager is still valuable. You’ll have to decide if the applicant not only has the right talent and longevity for the department they’re interviewing for, but if they have a good attitude and would fit into the company ethos. Having an eye for talent takes time, as you’ll need practise and some awareness of what makes someone right (or wrong) for the business or organisation.

Being an HR manager provides enthusiastic and energetic people with a great opportunity to succeed in a thriving career. If you are a “people person” and think you can handle many tasks at once, then look into HR training in the UK.