The Department of Human Resource is one of the most critical departments in a company since it is responsible for an organization’s overall development.
As a Human Resource Director, you are also responsible for multiple activities, not overseen by any other working staff.
However, if you like people and want to work with them, manage and guide them through difficulties, and work under a company with a common goal, the HR’s job role is tailor-made for you.
In addition to knowing your job, you also need to have the proper skills to make you suitable for the role. This blog gives you a brief idea about the different skills you require to become a full-fledged Human Resource Director.
The Top-9 Skills Required for Human Resource Director in 2020
1. Communication
The harsh truth is, if you do not have decent communication skills, you are not cut out for the job as a Human Resource Director.
While communication is the key to working together in other departments, it is painfully apparent that it is the very foundation of human resource management.
You need to have good communication skills, both in written and oral formats since you have to address many issues. You must be tactful while communicating with others since you are the advocator of the organization’s people, but the company’s benefit is also the sole aim. Hence, you must be an effective negotiator as well.
In 2020, there is a shift to technology. Hence, you need to know how to arrange meetings over the internet and address the entire office over text about new changes.
2. Multi-Tasking
The job role of a human resources administrator is massive.
Recruitment, staffing, training, looking after finances and legal issues, documentation, looking after health and benefits of employees, and even taking care of emergencies – everything comes under the HR’s jurisdiction.
Hence, you need to multi-task and keep switching from one to another task based on their urgency.
For example, even if you are doing some severe documentation, you need to rush to the aid of an employee who might have faced an accident or sign essential papers that require your approval.
3. Human Resource Development Skills
HR needs to recruit new individuals through an interview process, enlist them for training, and develop them into useful assets for the company.
The most crucial skill of HR is to find and recruit good talented people to the organization. As an HR, you also need to terminate an employee from the organization when they have tactfully served their purpose.
You are responsible for the overall development of the employees’ skills, behavior, and physical and mental condition to be in peak form while at work.
Without proper training and providing development opportunities, you can upgrade your employees to take up responsibility and learn and master new skills, thus boosting your workforce capabilities. Organizing sessions on leadership and teamwork can benefit the organization immensely.
4. Compassion
Since you hold the position of an HR, people will often come to you to resolve their issues.
You must take the time to listen to their problems and try to offer reasonable solutions if possible. Compassion is one of the critical elements of being an excellent HR Director.
If you look after your employees, they will also stay free from stressors and provide the organization with a better quality of work. However, you must also pay attention that they do not try to take advantage of your compassionate side.
5. Decision Making
As an HR administrator, you need to make a ton of decisions, ranging from recruiting people, granting someone leaves or an early day-off, and even terminating someone.
You need to be a good decision-maker and have the skill to make on the spot decisions to resolve general problems within the workforce. Moreover, you also need to possess the ability to forecast the usefulness of a specific plan.
When it comes to decision making as an HR administrator, it is also good to learn some organizational psychology.
In 2020, the technology has advanced, and many HR directors use software to aid them with the decision making processes through previous statistics and data metrics.
6. Organizational Skills
As an HR administrator, you need to make sure that you have the details about everyone.
You also need to make sure that you have a built-in process for handling different standard processes within the organization.
In the current day, Human Resource Information Systems software like SAP, or Oracle, help make the organizational job of HR a lot easier. It can store essential details about every single employee, such as their employment details, time of joining, work and health benefits, attendance, performance, payroll, and even their pension details.
Moreover, you can retrieve and access the server’s data whenever required and make modifications to the same. Furthermore, it also handles a lot of your accounting needs.
7. Knowledge of Legal Issues and Health Insurance
As an HR director, you need to be aware of all the legislation and compliance rules, and make sure that your company follows them.
You should also upgrade your activities to new regulations of the governing bodies. You also need to be aware and understand the basic employment laws to make on the spot decisions about hiring or firing an individual, and how to go about the process.
The employees in the company will look up to you for compensation and health benefits. While the health insurance companies will assist, you need to be aware of the various rules and regulations and analyze how different plans can help your employees, and choose the best one available.
8. Advice and Teamwork
There are many times when you need to arrange meetings between groups to resolve mutual differences between groups of people and promote teamwork.
You can also take the role of a guide for employees and help them by providing valuable advice. Sometimes, all you need to do is motivate your employees to complete the job.
As an HR, you also help conduct essential meetings, brainstorm ideas, and collect data from people to use in your metrics.
9. Discretion
An excellent HR Director knows how to keep a company’s confidential details.
Since you will be working in a top position in the company, you will be privy to many secrets and confidential documents. You must have the ability to keep them tightly shut and not let this critical information slip into casual conversation.
Competitors are always on the lookout for information about your company. Hence, an HR director who cannot keep secrets will bring the company down.
Conclusion
The job scope of a Human Resources Director is massive and challenging. However, if you have the right skills, you can become a worthy HR director. It is a bonus if you like to be surrounded by people, work for them, and grab a top position in the company.
