There was a time when HR was a mere adminis
trative function that was as boring as it was tedious; times have changed. Not only do HR professionals have to be proactive, but they need to display an empathetic side that’ll resonate with staff members.
Gone are the days when HR professionals merely fulfilled a desk role where their main responsibility was filling in EPF/ETF Forms and being strictly obsessed with the deduction of pay leave. The employee landscape has changed with millennials making up the majority of a company’s workforce.
Suddenly, HR professionals around the world have slowly realized that the the HR industry has had to change and evolve to cater to a generation that sees and responds far differently to the previous generation; so with that in mind, here are 5 skills that every HR professional should develop in order to become a true HR superhero.
- Empathy. An HR superhero needs to develop a sense of empathy, which makes them more human. Seriously, where’s your compassionate side? The corporate world shouldn’t be cut and dry or black and white. As a HR professional, you need to traverse the fine line of human compassion and human responsibility. Lend a sympathetic ear and work with your staff to ensure that you care and want to come up with a solution to whatever problem he/she faces. Remember your reputation and that of your company may depend upon it.
- Conflict Management. Just like in the Marvel universe where Thor slam dunks Loki, you go ahead and fight fire with fire. And then it all blows up in your face. Be the real professional here and give into the voice of calm and reason and solve a conflict amiably. Remember, you’re dealing with a glut of different personalities and it’s up to you to gauge each person so that a conflict can be resolved without long-term issues that’ll affect productivity and staff well being. Surely, this is a skill that gets better with experience.
- Discretion. One man’s secret is another man’s weapon, and this is why integrity is of paramount importance. When a staff member (irrespective of their seniority or rank) discloses sensitive information that may be work-related or personal — act on it with integrity. Your responsibility as an HR professional is to your company and staff. If you are privy to sensitive information make sure that you act with a sense of discretion. Spilling the beans with ignorance can destroy a team or a person and leave your sense of honor hanging in threads.
- Master Of All. Part of your job as an HR professional is to understand the various roles that the entire staff plays in a company. You can’t assess a Sales Executive the way you assess a Software Engineer. Both have different KPIs and they both have different issues to overcome. It’s of significant importance to spend time with staff members to understand their role and their objectives. This would indubitably allow you enough information to help create processed within the HR support role that can drive them towards achieving company goals
Orion City Sri Lanka 