HR Generalist Skills – 10 Important HR Skills to Master

When compared with the traditional HR Activities in the past, modern HR activities are totally a different realm. HR professionals need a multitude of different HR skills to perform their duties well. Even though administrative tasks comprise a massive chunk of their day-to-day activities, HR professionals are also required to take care of the requirements of the modern workforce.

If you are an HR generalist, you must upgrade yourself with the current day skills with the conventional responsibilities. We have created a list of the skills that HR generalists must have to succeed in their jobs and analyzed the most important ones.

So, below are the 10 must-have HR Generalist skills that are essential and how they contribute to an organization’s ability to maintain a motivated and productive workforce.

What is a Human Resources Generalist?

Before looking at the HR Generalist skills, let us first understand the generic definition of an HR Generalist.

So, a Generalist HR is a person who is responsible for a broad range of HR activities. Instead of focusing on just a single HR activity, they perform various duties like recruitment, administration, payroll, assessment, up skilling, attendance, and other processes.

In general, an HR generalist works on essential HR tasks like keeping track of employees, assisting employees with their questions and concerns as needed, handling employee payroll while ensuring legal compliance, and much more. They must therefore possess a wide range of abilities and skills to carry out their daily tasks effectively.

Let us dive deeper and have a look at the must-have HR skills required by an HR generalist.

Must-Have HR Generalist Skills to Master

1.     Communication Ability

Communication is one of the top most HR Generalist skills that are necessary because they are required to communicate with multiple departments of the organization. Being an HR you represent your company to the employees in fact you also act as the voice of the organization’s employees. To pull off this feat, fluent communication is a must.

Additionally, an HR Generalist would be required to communicate to the people of different designations from CEO to a janitor, while also maintaining professionalism. Therefore, clear and fluent communication is a must-have skill for HR Generalists.

2.     Employee Experience Expertise

Employee experience is one of the critical factors in the face of a continuous search for talent and great resignation. Human-centric design thinking can be used by HR professionals with experience in the employee experience to create workplaces that place the employee at the center of the process.

The entire relationship between employees and the company, from hiring to becoming alumni, is something they are fully aware of. This enables them to produce outstanding employee experiences that aid in luring in and keeping the talent that businesses require to thrive in today’s rapidly evolving environment.

3.     Mastery in Technology

The modern HR department is entirely different from the HR department of yesteryear. Efficient technological advancements have made it easier to perform day-to-day administrative tasks. However, it also requires the HRs to be tech savvy. HR software also known as HR Management Software or HRMS has become a crucial part of the HR department because it helps them to perform their daily activities timely and efficiently.

Hence, having a good knowledge of HRMS Software and its related technologies has become very important for the Modern day HRs.

4.     Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness

While sensitivity is not a skill that every organization asks from an HR generalist. However, this is an add-on skill that HRs should possess. Maintaining empathy can help you remain understanding, which will help you build your employees’ faith in you and your business. Similar to this, sensitivity and cultural awareness are essential traits for HR professionals working for multinational corporations.

Being their HR, one must approach them differently because such MNCs frequently hire and educate people from many cultural backgrounds. It would ensure that HR could effectively interact with them if they were sensitive to their culture and cultural peculiarities. Therefore, when employees and businesses are increasingly aware of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, sensitivity is another essential ability for an HR generalist.

5.     Attentive Listening

Attentive Listening is yet another crucial HR Generalist skill that improves many other HR skills mentioned in this article.

HR professionals who are skilled with active listening are able to listen to other company members without any judgment and prejudice and create a safe space for others to share their issues and feedback. Without excellent active listening abilities, handling potentially delicate situations will be more difficult, and it will be more difficult to successfully coach staff members and other HR professionals.

6.     Administration Expertise

Administrative tasks still hold a major part in the HR role. These responsibilities cover things like payroll, leave of absence, absence files, personnel inflow and outflow, and other things.

Administrative responsibilities still exist despite the growth of digital HR and the rising automation of HR tasks (yet). Many job postings refer to them as being an essential component of the job. Because of this, any aspiring HR professional can greatly benefit from having strong administrative skills.

7.     Proactivity

Rather than a skill, proactivity is generally considered to be a personality trait. As an HR professional, you serve as the intermediary between employers and workers. Therefore, being proactive can help you identify potential concerns early on and stop them from getting worse.

In this situation, proactive human resource management is preferred to reactive HRM. You must keep abreast of present and emerging HR Trends, technology, and workplace culture if you want to be a proactive HR Generalist. Your professional development should also include regularly developing your HR abilities.

8.     Advising

One of the most crucial HR skills is the ability to serve as a knowledgeable and dependable advisor to various stakeholders. You must be able to give employees, line managers, and senior managers excellent people advice.

These difficulties may be operational, such as helping a senior manager create a departmental email or devising a reconciliation strategy for an employee. In restructuring endeavors, organization and counsel are more tactical factors to be taken into account. According to strategic guidelines, HR practices need to be more in line with the company. To establish yourself as a trusted advisor, you must consistently communicate and interact in a way that inspires confidence and raises your profile as an accomplished professional.

9.     Wellbeing Evangelism

The concept of supporting employees is not new to HR Generalists. But what’s changing is the larger recognition of how important employee wellbeing is for today’s evolving workforce. Unfortunately, this has been highlighted during the last two years as COVID-19 upended the status quo and put stress on the physical and mental health of employees.

HR professionals have a critical role to play in ensuring that employees stay content, healthy, and productive as the impact of employee wellness becomes more apparent (and as employee expectations alter in the wake of COVID-19).

10. Selection and recruitment

Recruitment and selection are another frequently stated HR competence. One of the most crucial HR skills is to locate suitable candidates, choose the best, and assess whether there is a fit between the candidate, the company (culture), and the management.

Interviewing candidates is a big aspect of recruiting and selection. Monitoring the fairness of the hiring and selecting process is one of an HR Generalist’s skills. Employers are required by law to treat all candidates equally in several nations.

Conclusion

So there you have it—a succinct summary of the top 10 Must-have HR Generalist Skills. HR Generalists must not let these crucial HR skills stagnant. You should always be looking for ways to sharpen your talents if you want to maintain your peak performance. You will be better able to inspire greatness in your HR profession and company as a result.

For the most efficient HR Management software to help you perform your daily administrative tasks easily and streamline HR operations, get in touch with UBS.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are some good skills of an HR?

The HR skills keep on changing with the changing HR trends. However, to know about the must-have skills of an HR Generalist, refer to the above blog post.

2. What are HR Skills?

HR skills are the important tasks that HR professionals use to perform their daily activities. Interpersonal abilities, hiring practices, and effective communication are among the examples.

3. What according to you are the 3 key skills for an HR professional?

Among various HR Generalist skills communication, active listening, selection, and recruitment are the top 3 key skills of an HR professional. However, if you want to excel in your HR profession, the above skills are the most important to master.