9 of the Most Important Competencies for Any HR Professional

Jason Hanold
4 min readMay 23, 2024

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Human Resources (HR) roles present opportunities for a fulfilling career helping and supporting employees while furthering the overall goals and objectives of a business. With HR professionals involved in planning, coordinating, and overseeing various aspects of employee recruitment and management, working in HR demands a spectrum of competencies.

1. Organization

HR managers are required to juggle numerous different tasks. Keen organizational skills are therefore very important, enabling them to improve their workflow, prioritize their day, and remain on track to meet goals despite any interruptions that occur.

2. People Management

Good people management skills are essential for success as a HR professional, as this field inherently involves working with people and dealing with interpersonal issues. This profession demands the ability to demonstrate proficient leadership, as well as foster trust, honesty, accountability, and motivation among all teams and personnel.

3. Communication

A basic tenet of managing staff is the ability to communicate effectively. As a source of information for employees, HR professionals must know how to handle queries and complaints from staff and communicate with managers, leadership, and other stakeholders. Communicating at different levels of influence and authority, both formally and informally, requires adapting language and tone accordingly.

Additionally, the increasingly prominent role of data in all aspects of business today has molded storytelling into a critical skill for HR teams. This enables them to translate data into comprehendible, engaging narratives and tailor presentations to different audiences.

4. Empathy

One of the core roles of HR is to support employees, making empathy a key quality for HR professionals to master. Practicing empathy and learning how to understand others’ perspectives enables HR professionals to build relationships and respond to the requests of employees equitably. In a dispute or a stressful situation, empathy is also a critical skill in quelling negative emotions and resolving conflict.

5. Confidentiality

In the exercise of their duties, HR teams manage a significant amount of personal information, ranging from pay rates to delicate personal matters affecting employees. Since they are privy to such sensitive information, HR professionals must maintain discretion. Failing to do so could not only put that employee in a troubling position, but also expose the business to legal risks. Additionally, HR team members with access to corporate information such as salaries, offer letters, budgets, and contractual terms have a duty to remain ethical, refrain from gossip, and maintain professionalism.

As the first point of contact for any employee experiencing issues with their manager or a company policy, HR professionals need to inspire trust from their colleagues. This helps staff feel secure enough to raise concerns without fear of it affecting their employment status.

6. Problem-Solving

HR teams are required to handle a multitude of different workplace problems. New employees may be unclear about workplace policies or their benefits package. Conflict might arise between employees. The business may need to develop more effective recruitment and hiring strategies. If the issue relates to talent recruitment or management, HR will be expected to find a solution. This places strong problem-solvers at a significant advantage. Nevertheless, even those lacking in this area can improve with time, training, and practice.

7. Difficult Decisions

HR managers will often need to prioritize the company’s best interests over personal desires, whether that involves scaling back employee benefits or assisting with unavoidable terminations. HR professionals need to be adaptable, making tough choices daily. This can be a daunting realization given the impact of their decisions on employees and their families. However, the ability to make informed, responsible choices that support the business’ interests is an essential skill for HR professionals.

8. Tech-Savvy

According to CIPD’s HR Outlook Survey, HR teams remain behind other departments when it comes to knowing how to use and optimize technology. Less than half of survey respondents said their HR team utilized data to attain and communicate insights to stakeholders. With modern businesses leveraging data analytics and other valuable technical tools to create and improve their competitive advantage, there is increasing impetus for HR managers to become familiar with the latest technological innovations and advancements.

9. Multitasking

HR managers are required to deal with numerous different issues during the average day, ranging from answering maternity leave questions to dealing with personal complaints from staff. They also attend to the business’s recruitment needs, creating recruitment strategies for difficult-to-fill positions and overseeing the onboarding process for new employees.

With so many demands pulling them in different directions, it is vital for HR teams to prioritize. Moreover, it is also imperative for HR professionals to keep in mind that every employee has issues that are important to them. When urgent or sensitive people-related matters arise, they must be addressed promptly and adequately to promote employee engagement, protect morale, and create a working environment that employees are happy to commit to for the long term.

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Jason Hanold
Jason Hanold

Written by Jason Hanold

Executive Recruiter, clients NFL, Google, Patagonia, Under Armour, Gucci, Nike, Northwestern, eBay, UFC, Vail, REI, Electronic Arts, Live Nation, #HR #Recruiter

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