This lesson explains what skills are required from Human Resources (HR) staff so that they may carry out their tasks effectively in relation to managing employees and HR administration. The main areas -- recruitment, compensation, performance evaluation, and training -- are discussed in terms of the skills required for tasks in each of these areas.

If someone asked you about the main tasks of an HR employee, what would be your response entail? Perhaps, meeting the needs of the staff or keeping company costs down. Possibly finding new employees and helping to retain existing workers.

An HR employee has to find the right person for the right job at the right time; and it doesn't stop there. HR must also assess employees' salaries, benefits, and make sure they are fair for all employees and acceptable to management. In some organizations, HR may even have the task of deciding if the performance of employees is up to standard. Of course, if performance is below par, HR might arrange training courses and development for staff. All in all, it seems like an HR employee's job is never done. However, all of these tasks are made easier if the HR employee has the right set of skills to deal with each task. Let's have a look at each of these areas.

Recruitment and Selection

A job advertisement requires significant writing skills. The HR employee has to write a job ad which doesn't just attract people but attracts those best suited for the job. It also will be the first time some people hear of the company so the ad has to present the company in line with its desired image. Job ads need to be visually pleasing and stand out from the crowd and require creativity and innovation from the HR employee when designing the advertisement.

Even before writing the job advertisement, the HR staff will need to design a job profile of the job vacancy and this requires good organizational skills to ensure that nothing is omitted and analytical skills to consider and discuss with the departmental manager what type of person would fit best in the company, department and the job itself.

During interview process, the HR employee needs strong decision making skills to select the best person for the job. Additionally, an HR professional needs interpersonal skills to make sure the best is brought out of people during their interviews. Imagine if you had to interview 50 or 60 applicants, what other skills would you need? Certainly strong organizational and communication skills as well as time management and persuasion skills to make sure you get the most suitable person for the job for a fair compensation package. You would also need analytical skills to help evaluate each person against the criteria you set for them.