The human resource function is the backbone of any company and the HR manager plays a very important role in not just sourcing the right talent for the job but also retaining them.
HR managers should maintain calm at all times and create an employee friendly environment at the workplace. This will impact employer’s productivity and substantially boost profits.
What makes, HR professionals stand out from the crowd is their attitude and few basic qualities that gives them a competitive edge over the rest, to emerge as winners during all situations.
The role of a HR manager is not just restricted to payroll management and recruiting members, it goes beyond to develop team spirit, boost morale of employees, create friendly environment and focus on more productive functions that promote organisational growth. The qualities that distinguish a great HR manager are as:
A HR manager should have in-depth understanding of the HR discipline – compensation, safety, retention, training, development programmes and more. The manager needs to possess an eye for detail to understand the leave pattern of employees and frequent time offs or harassment at work place.
The HR managers need to be abreast of all the laws that govern employee management and ensure safety at all times in the workplace. Extensive industry knowledge is a key trait of a HR manager that will help recruit right candidates for suitable job positions within the company and thus help avoid attrition of the workforce.
The HR manager should possess leadership traits to carefully handle serious situations such as restructuring of operations and layoffs that affect employee interests. It is required of a manager to be confident, assertive and optimistic at all times. They need to understand company goals and then accordingly devise policies that meet the organisational objectives.
The manager should be able to embrace experimental approaches and take calculated risks for the team to learn and grow with the company. HR manager should constantly motivate the employees to perform better, which can be done in the form of rewarding them for their performance in form of bonus of awards of recognition etc.
See: 25 Kinds of KPIs Every Manager Should Know
HR manager should improve accessibility and lend an ear to employee concerns. They should try to resolve disputes or issues faced by a team or the entire workforce promptly. If the HR manager cannot connect with employees or has failed to build a rapport with the staffers, then it dampens the faith and confidence entrusted by an employee on the company. Building relationships with employees is critical to employee management and open door policy helps to contact the HR manager in case of problems.
One of the key qualities of an effective HR manager is they should be good listeners, especially when an employee approaches them with a grievance. In such situations, the manager is suppose to outweigh the pros and cons by carefully understanding the situation, instead of reacting to it or showing disinterest in any manner.
HR managers are generally viewed as facilitators and solution providers within an organisation. Employees seek guidance from them during their growth path and career tenure with the company at each step.
In conclusion
Hence, HR managers are required to be responsible to motivate employees, provide due encouragement, credits for good work, keep the moral high of the staffers and most of all, be approachable at all times. Arrogance attitude of a HR manager is never appreciated at work.
Active listening helps critically understand and analyse the situations faced by an employee and come up with realistic solutions that will tackle the issue on hand.
If you think career in human resource is a cake-walk, better think twice if you are prepared with all of these key essentials to grow up the ladder as a HR manager.
Also read: Hard-Working Manager? Ineffective Leader
