HRM Skills Reviewer

Human Resources Management Skills
If you are interested in advancing your career in human resources or breaking into the
field, there are important skills you’ll need regardless of the industry or type of
organization you wish to work in. These skills include:
 Exceptional interpersonal skills. As an HR professional, you will need to work

closely with all employees to ensure that the business is running smoothly. In
many instances, this can include interviewing potential employees, taking the lead
in the onboarding process, or resolving any conflicts that may arise. Since the
focus of the role is on people, it is essential to be able to effectively communicate
and interact with others.
 Teamwork and collaboration. It is also essential that you are a strong team player
and can contribute positively to collaborative efforts. You will not only need to
work closely with the team that makes up the HR department, but also with the
employees outside of the department to ensure that the entire organization is
working toward achieving its goals.
 Technological aptitude. There are various programs that are used in the field for
functions like recruiting, compensation and benefits, payroll, and more. It is
important for professionals to have a working knowledge of the different
applications that are commonly used and be able to adapt to changes as
technologies advance.
 Organization and multitasking. Depending on the size of the company and the
number of HR professionals on the team, there can be a lot of information to
keep organized. It is crucial that you are able to keep things in order at all times
and multitask when necessary.
 Conflict management and problem-solving. The HR department is often the first
to get involved when conflict arises within a business. This often involves coming
up with creative solutions to the problems that your employees are facing.
Trends in Human Resources Management

As with many industries, the human resources industry is expected to undergo
significant changes in the coming years. Below are some of the most important emerging
trends in HR.
1. Rising Importance of the HRIT Role
More and more aspects of the workplace are becoming technologically advanced, and
the human resources department is no exception. Many companies are now creating
specialized information technology roles within their team, often referred to as HRIT
specialists.
As this role is being shaped, it is rapidly growing in strategic importance. According to

the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), it is vital for human resources
staff to have a working knowledge of information technology because HR touches
everyone in an organization and has to deal with many data privacy and integration
issues.
2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Another trend in human resource management is the increasing importance of artificial
intelligence and machine learning. One of the biggest advantages of AI technology is the
ability to streamline the application process. Instead of requiring HR staff to spend
countless hours reading hundreds of resumés and cover letters, AI allows complex
programs to do the same work in a fraction of the time.
Even with this advanced technology, organizations will still rely on skilled professionals
to handle the complex and nuanced situations that machines can not. HR professionals
can actually use this technology to their advantage by putting the time and energy that is
saved to other, more important duties.
3. Technology to Measure Engagement

Just as technology is shifting many other aspects of human resource management, it is
also impacting the way companies are measuring employee engagement. In 2019, for the
first time, more companies are expected to use nontraditional methods to measure
engagement than annual surveys, a popular metric intake method of the past.
In a 2015 study, SHRM found that 89 percent of medium-to-large companies utilized

standard surveys to assess employee engagement while only 30 percent made use of
advanced technological methods—such as analyzing computer usage data—to discover
how employees were interacting with emails, websites, and more. The field has made a
massive shift toward using these more advanced means of gathering information in just
three years.
4. An Emphasis on People Management

It’s well documented that happy, well-managed teams often result in a successful
organization; this isn’t a new concept. As the structure of the modern workplace
continues to evolve, however, the need for effective leaders has become increasingly
critical.
“More and more organizations are realizing their people are their biggest asset,” Zangerl
says. “And [they’re realizing] that they really need to pay more attention to how they
organize people to do different jobs.”
Zangerl believes that with the consistent restructuring of teams, the use of contractors
to fill important company roles, and the corporate world’s overall lean into the gig
economy, the general scope of HR teams’ work has developed into “a much more
complex task of trying to organize these people and resources.”
Having practical experience handling different types of people and teams is one of the
most effective ways of mastering these necessary skills, and the best way to get that
experience is through an advanced degree program that offers an experiential learning
component. By participating in internships or co-ops, students in these programs are
given the opportunity to work within a functioning organization and manage real groups,
while still having the cushion of classmates and professors to bounce ideas off of or ask
questions to.
Northeastern offers an expansive network of both business and nonprofit organizations

that students in the Master’s in Human Resources Management program can work with
to hone these important skills.
5. Increased Demand for Data Analytics Skills

“Like every other kind of function within an organization, [human resources teams] are
collecting huge amounts of data,” Zangerl says, explaining that this generated
information can prove relevant and useful in many aspects of human resources work. As
a result, HR analytics skills are rising in importance.
For example, digital recruitment tools like LinkedIn are incredibly popular, with this
platform alone gaining 120 new users every minute. These users are generating
incredible amounts of data daily that can be beneficial to the practices of HR managers.
Due to this fact, HR managers now have unparalleled access to data on users’
engagement with posted jobs, salary metrics, candidates’ previous employment, and
much more.
With the right skills in data analytics and interpretation, these managers can use
collected information to identify patterns and note other significant findings, in order to
make informed hiring decisions and improve recruitment processes in the future. Zangerl
explains that the “ability to not only analyze the data but interpret it and see those kinds
of connections is really critical.”

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Human Resources Management Skills

 Exceptional interpersonal skills. As an HR professional, you will need to work

Trends in Human Resources Management

As this role is being shaped, it is rapidly growing in strategic importance. According to

2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

3. Technology to Measure Engagement

In a 2015 study, SHRM found that 89 percent of medium-to-large companies utilized

4. An Emphasis on People Management

Northeastern offers an expansive network of both business and nonprofit organizations

5. Increased Demand for Data Analytics Skills

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