How to Become Successful in an HR Career

HR or Human Resources refers to the employees and humans involved in an organization. To manage the human resources of a company, an HR department or the Human Resources Management team is formed. This department is responsible for managing all things related to human resources and is a crucial unit in a company.

 

What is HR 

HR is used to describe both the employees within an organization as well as the department that looks after them. In this article, we primarily focus on the HR department of a company. 

 

The HR in a company manages all human resources. This department is in charge of hiring, firing, and sustaining human resources within the company. The HR managers in a company coordinate and direct the administrative functions of the organization as well. Below are a few roles and responsibilities of HR.

HR as a career; roles and responsibilities 

• Recruitment and talent acquisition process management and conduction.
   

• Managing and improving employee performance, appraisal, and troubleshooting.
   

• HR also is responsible to establish an ideal organizational culture.
   

• HR has to maintain a balance between the expectations of senior management and employee satisfaction.
   

• HR is a prime communication channel inside the organization for everyone in the chain of command.
   

• The HR is also in charge of compensation and benefits for the employees.
   

• The HR analyses the data and performance of all employees keep performance records for references too.

• The HR monitors and forms company policy and the code of ethics within the organization.
   

• HR also acts as a support system for any issue faced by the employees, laborers, and the operating staff.
   

• HR also promotes communication and interpersonal relationship building between employees.
   

• HR also provides employees with an ideal work environment to make employees more efficient and effective.
   

• HR makes sure that employees are working at their best and the company goals are being met.
   

Soft skills needed in HR career 

 

Flexibility 

 

Flexibility refers to the capacity to bend and change according to the situation's demands. As an HR professional, you need to learn how to be flexible since situations and people may not perform exactly the way you want. Thus, you need to learn to adjust to a change very quickly.  

 

Employee relationships

 

As an HR professional, you need to learn how to form harmonious and good relationships with all the employees of the organization. There needs to be a relationship of trust, respect, and goodwill between you and everyone in the company for you to do your job smoothly and effectively. 

 

Negotiation

 

The skill of negotiation is extremely important in an HR career. As an HR professional, you need to keep your employees happy and satisfied while making sure the company goals are being met.

 

You will also be in charge of the onboarding and recruitment session. During these times, the skills of negotiation will be very much needed to reach an agreement which will be beneficial to both the employees as well as the company. 

 

Effective communication

 

Effective communication skills are not only important in an HR career but will make your life better. It is really important to be able to communicate effectively so that the right message gets across and you get your desired outcome. Effective communication also reduces the chance of conflict and misunderstandings in the workplace. 

 

Learning 

 

As an HR professional, the ability to learn new things and being open-minded is crucial. Being a constant learner will help you be updated about the HR changes, learn how to form better relationships, set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.) goals and plan efficiently. 

 

Problem-solving

 

As an HR professional, you need to have impeccable problem-solving skills. You need to be able to identify hidden problems in a situation, analyze the problem, be able to communicate the problem to other employees, identify the root cause and come up with detailed and effective solutions to the problem.


Critical thinking

 

As someone who has a career in HR, you will need to always think critically. In any situation, you need to be able to analyze the situation and give your judgment objectively. Your thinking and judging process needs to be intellectually disciplined and sharp. 

 

Visionary thinking

 

As an HR professional especially in managerial positions, you will not just be leading a department but the company as well. The productivity, satisfaction, and progress of a company may excel or degrade depending upon the plan of actions and activities you conduct.

 

Therefore, an HR professional needs to have a high vision for the organization and plan for success. 

 

Empathy

 

One of the key soft skills which will give you a superpower in forming great human connections is empathy. As someone with a career in HR, your ability to stand in the other person’s shoes and understand where they’re coming from will help you communicate more effectively, negotiate and get desired outcomes from conversations with just anyone. 

 

Teamwork

 

In an HR career, the team won’t just be the people who work in your department but the whole organization will be your team. HR professionals work with everyone in the organization at every level of the chain of command. Thus,  your ability to work with teams together to complete company goals is very important. 

Strategies to become successful in HR career

 

Mentorship programs

 

Organizing mentorship programs for employees in the organization is a great strategy that can be implied by HR. Mentorship programs help the employees tap into their hidden skills and potentials, improve their existing skills and enhance employee performances in general.

 

These programs also help employees grow in their careers, increasing employee satisfaction. 

 

Ethics training during onboarding sessions

 

Ethics are crucial in any organization. A company with an ethical work environment is safe, secure, and motivated to work in. However, every organization is slightly different in terms of company culture and ethical codes may be customized as per the need of the company as well.

 

Thus, when a new employee is on board, they should receive ethics training as part of their orientation session. Proper knowledge of ethical codes and what is and is not acceptable in the company will help the employee adjust and work in the new work environment better. 

 

Planning ahead

 

In an HR career, you need to have visionary thinking and plan. Planning things gives the whole department and the organization a direction. Achieving goals will be easier and potential problems can be solved early on as well. 

 

Talent acquisition 

 

Talent acquisition refers to finding talents for strategic onboarding of specialists, leaders, executives, etc for the company.  Since HR is in charge of recruitment and hiring, finding talents that best fit your company and will lead the organization into success is extremely important. 

 

You need to make sure that you find the talents with the most potential and bring them to your company as a part of the team. 

 

Transparency 

 

Transparency in an organization increases the trust, reliability, and goodwill of a company. Being open, honest and transparent about major details of the company and the status of the company will help employees work even harder in the time of crisis. The feeling of trustworthiness and respect will increase as well. 

 

Involvement beyond HR

 

In an HR career, you don’t just have to stick to the tasks that are specified in the job description. Versatility and dynamism in the workplace can help you know the employees and the organization better, form better employee relationships, identify hidden problems in the workplace and help the team get their work done easier. 

 

Upskilling programs for employees

 

Similar to mentorship programs, upskilling programs help the employees grow in their careers and keep them happy and satisfied. Upskilling programs also benefit the organization immensely since a more skilled workforce will be more efficient, effective, and productive.

 

Also, the company won’t have to hire additional employees for minor tasks reducing the payables for the company. As an HR professional, upskilling programs are one of the best ways to advance the human resources in an organization. 

 

The perfect organizational culture

 

An ideal organizational culture can lead the organization to success. As an HR person, you need to establish an organizational culture that thrives on ethics, achieving goals, productivity, teamwork, and efficiency.

 

 If the culture in the organization is based on laziness, irresponsibility, immoral activities, and negligence; your company will be doomed. 

 

Open discussion and feedback sessions

 

Having open discussion, feedback, and appraisal sessions is a very important task that should be conducted by HR. Sessions like these help the employees understand their situations better, identify problems, find solutions and perform better. 

 

Having open discussion for problems also helps the team get new insights and ideas which may even turn out to be revolutionary for the company. 

 

For someone who has a career in HR, the job will always revolve around people. Your social skills, leadership skills, communication skills, negotiation and problem-solving skills and so much more will be tested daily.

 

To be successful in an HR career, constantly learning new skills, sharpening your existing ones, and strategizing for upcoming goals is extremely important. You need to be a constant learner and researcher in this career choice. 


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