Refer to these HR Manager skills for your resume, and land the job!

Do you have the skills to shine in an HR position?

Human resources is a discipline that requires leadership and management training necessary to build the skills that business executives are looking for. HR professionals who have a deeper knowledge of relevant areas and more practical skills generate more opportunities in the corporate world. The following are the fundamental HR Managers skills anyone in such a position must have and include in their resume. 

What are HR competencies?

HR competencies or skills are the qualities required to perform the duties and responsibilities of an HR role successfully. Below, we go into detail about some of the top HR skills required for a manager-level position, including effective communication, leadership, and training and development. 

What are the 7 roles of human resource management?

Several functions fall under the HR umbrella. Seven of the key roles of human resource management include:

  • Staffing and recruitment

  • Performance management

  • Compensation and benefits

  • Payroll administration

  • Employee relations

  • Training and development

  • Employment law and compliance

As an HR Manager, you might oversee all of these functions or one or a few of them. For example, you might be the HR Compensation and Benefits Manager, who focuses on benefits and compensation for the organization, or you might be the HR Recruiting Manager, who oversees all things staffing-related. 

Some organizations also have an HR Operations Manager who oversees many of the functions listed above and is the liaison between employees and some of the other functions. As an example, HR Operations Managers are often responsible for employee relations and performance management and serve as the conduit or liaison between employees and the compensation and benefits, training and development, payroll, and recruiting departments. 

Other significant roles of HR that can fall under the above-listed roles include succession planning and strategic planning with leadership teams. Regardless of their area of expertise, HR managers need similar skills across the board to succeed. 

That said, those who specialize in a specific area – like compensation and benefits, for example – must have a deep understanding of that skill compared to someone in an HR Generalist or HR Operations Manager role. Where the HR Generalist or HR Operations Manager would need to have some understanding of that area, they would also defer to the expertise of an individual who specializes in that particular focus. 

What are the core duties of an HR Manager?

HR Managers are pivotal to the success of an organization when it comes to bridging the relationship between employees and management. They also play a pivotal role in ensuring employees receive what they need from the company and leadership to be as productive as possible in their roles, including benefits, compensation, and performance management. 

The core duties of HR Managers include, but are not limited to:

  • Applying HR best practices and principles to support the organization

  • Fostering effective relationships between employees and managers

  • Keeping up-to-date on current HR industry trends, including recruiting, compensation, benefits, and general HR practices

  • Providing support and mentorship for the teams they lead

  • Incorporating the skills necessary to succeed in working with employees and management to move the organization forward

  • Strategic planning with leadership to ensure business continuity 

  • Timely HR communications focused on pertinent information, like benefits enrollment timelines and policy changes

Why are HR Managers skills important for resumes?

You might be the most qualified person for the job. However, if you don't highlight the pertinent HR Managers skills in your resume compared to other candidates, you could be overlooked and won't be brought in for an interview. 

Effectively representing your HR Manager skills on your resume highlights your ability to get the job done well and shows you have what's required based on an employer's expectations. Additionally, incorporating skills based on standard practices helps your resume bypass an employer's applicant tracking system (ATS).

Types of HR Manager skills and responsibilities

HR Manager skills fall under three key categories, including:

  • Industry-specific skills

  • Hard skills

  • Soft skills

Industry-specific skills

Industry-specific skills are a subset of hard skills discussed next. By definition, industry-specific skills are not typically transferable to other fields or industries. 

These skills are required for someone to succeed in their field or industry. As an HR Manager, for example, you must be well-trained in employment law and benefits. However, in the field of finance, you don't necessarily need to be skilled in these areas, and you'd look to HR to guide you. Conversely, as an HR Manager, you don't necessarily need to be highly skilled in financial planning for the company. 

Hard skills

Hard skills, also referred to as technical skills, are the skills required to perform the minimum requirements of a job. Hard skills are easily measurable and learned through training and education. Computer skills would be considered hard skills. 

Soft skills

Soft skills are subjective in nature, making them more difficult to measure when compared to hard skills. Also referred to as people skills, soft skills are typically acquired and improved upon over time through our personal and professional experiences. 

Even though they are difficult to measure, it's generally agreed upon that soft skills are necessary to be successful in the workplace. Examples of soft skills include communication, leadership, and problem-solving.

Top HR Managers skills and competencies

Now that you have an understanding of the various types of HR Manager skills, what are the most important ones to include on your resume? Below, we go into detail regarding the top HR Managers skills necessary for success. 

Communication skills

As an HR management practitioner, you must be able to express yourself clearly, both in oral and written communication. The human resource field requires a lot of talking as the team is in charge of recruitment, which entails a series of interviews. Aside from that, the Human Resources Manager deals with a lot of people day in and day out, listening to their issues – whether work-related or not. 

Through these interactions, they gain the trust and confidence of the employees, thereby improving interrelationships in the workplace. The Human Resources Manager also designs and produces policy handbooks and releases memos for the benefit of all the employees, which calls for the need for good writing skills.

Organizational skills

As mentioned, human resources management entails a lot of functions including but not limited to recruitment, training, performance appraisals, individual development plans, and employee relations. An HR Manager often oversees all these functions and must have a systematic way of going through all the processes. 

For example, there must be a standard employee training platform for each role in the organization. On the other hand, HR involves a lot of paperwork that must be filed systemically, such as employee profiles and legal documents. With all the processes and administrative tasks involved, keeping organized will help increase your efficiency as an HR manager, as well as being able to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

Decision-making skills

There is a lot of decision-making involved in HR. One good example is during the recruitment process where they have to decide whether an applicant is the right fit for the role or not. Recognizing good talent is not something you can easily learn. It requires strategy, experience, and intuition. This is something an HR manager must have. 

Another instance is when facing the dilemma of downsizing. It will be part of HR's role to get the message across efficiently, even in the midst of a crisis. As such, human resources managers must be sound decision-makers who support critical organizational functions like these.

Training and developmental skills

Another function of human resources is training and development. HR managers are responsible for giving employees development opportunities in order to maximize performance and increase value. Organizing sessions on leadership and management training, for example, will provide more diverse skills to the employees. This allows them to assume added tasks and support their career growth at the same time.

Budgeting skills

Compensations and employee benefits packages all go through the HR department. The same goes with training and development, social activities, performance appraisals, etc. These activities have to be incorporated into their organization's strategic planning and budgeting, taking into account each department's projects and their individual functions. The primary role of the HR Manager is to limit expenditures and not overspend on unnecessary activities.

Empathetic skills

The HR team deals with a lot of people and their concerns, from workload to salary complaints to conflict resolution in the workplace. As a human resource management professional, you need emotional intelligence and empathetic skills to ensure you understand where the person is coming from before you make any judgment. 

It could be that the employee just needs to get something off their chest and only needs a listening ear. Or they might be airing their grievances so they can get help. Whatever the case, it is the HR Manager's responsibility to listen to the employees and ensure they get their message across clearly.

HRIS skills

HRIS stands for Human Resources Information System. It's a software used by businesses to manage and automate HR data and processes. At the most basic level, HRIS systems are used to store employee data, such as addresses, salary, and demographic information. Historical data related to the company, such as promotions, is also stored. 

HRIS systems also support the automation of HR processes, from payroll and time and attendance to benefits administration and reporting. Another beneficial aspect of an HRIS is allowing employees and managers to utilize a single platform to manage and update their information. HR Managers must know how to use an HRIS system optimally and train others to be able to do so, as well. 

Leadership skills

In addition to managing and leading their own teams, HR Managers work regularly with executives and leadership teams of the organizations they support. Leadership skills are required to support these relationships in ways that allow for influence, motivation, clear communication, and strategy development for the best approaches to move forward.

Additional HR skills for your resume

Below are some additional HR skills broken out by industry-specific, hard, and soft skills. Incorporate some of these into your resume to boost your employability.

Industry-specific skills for HR Manager resumes

  • Performance management

  • Recruiting 

  • Onboarding

  • I-9 completion

  • Employment law

  • HR policy development

  • Severance packages

  • Succession planning

Hard skills for HR Manager resumes

  • Microsoft Excel

  • Project management

  • Negotiation

  • Organizational development

  • Change management

  • Coaching

  • Mentoring

  • Strategic planning

  • Presenting

  • Process improvement

  • Communication strategies

Soft skills for HR Manager resumes

  • Relationship building

  • Adaptability

  • Emotional intelligence 

  • Problem-solving

  • Critical thinking

  • Analytical thinking

  • Negotiation

  • Works well under stress

  • Multitasking

  • Mentoring

  • Active listening

  • Self-awareness

  • Compassion

  • Caring

  • Flexibility

How to incorporate HR Managers skills on your resume

Now you have a list of HR Managers skills to consider and inspire the creation of your own list. From here, how do you best incorporate these skills into your resume? Here are some tips to help:

  • Make a list of your HR Manager skills. Don't leave any stone unturned here. 

  • Carefully review the job description and highlight the skills you have that are listed. These are the keywords you'll want to incorporate into your resume.

  • Incorporate the skills you highlighted from the job description throughout your resume. 

  • Tailor your resume to each job description. Use the keywords you highlight to target your resume title, resume summary, core competencies list, and Work Experience section to align with the job description.

Related reading: Seven Key Resume Sections and How to Organize Them

Put your HR Manager skills in the spotlight!

Human resources management is a terrific field with a lot of opportunities, and if you're a real “people person,” this just might be the career for you. To land a job and succeed, you must have the proper HR Manager skills highlighted in your resume. Use the skills list and tips above to help. 

Hire a TopResume professional resume writer to put your top skills on paper today. Or, submit your resume for a free resume review to get started. 

This article was originally written by Kathy Amato and has been updated by Ronda Suder. 

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