Human Resources Specialists

QUALIFICATIONS

A Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (BBA) in Human Resources (HR), HR Planning, Development, Management & Psychology or a related field; A Master’s degree – MBA Human Resources (HR) would be an added plus; along with HR study programs or related certifications like the Professional Certificate in Human Resources Management (PCHR), Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP), Professional in Human Resources (PHR), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), etc. encompassing at least 4-year requisite study and practice credit hours in the area or field of Human Resources development and management combined with – On the Job Training (OJT) programs, Apprenticeships, Human Resources Management Workforce Job Training or Experience; covering work topics including human psychology and behavior, management process and organization theory, business environment, organization departments, hierarchy and structure, employee rewards and recognition, job roles & descriptions, individual behavior in an organization, human resource development & management, quantitative techniques in human resource management, hiring and recruitment, performance management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Key Result Areas (KRA), change management, compensation and reward management, industrial relations, labor laws, HR Information System etc.

AVERAGE ANNUAL PAY
(Credits: www.payscale.com)

PROJECTED GROWTH
(Credits: www.bls.gov)

Human Resources Specialists is an exciting career pathway, in which employment is expected to grow at a decent 6 percent from 2019 to 2029.

SKILLS/ TRAITS NEEDED

Human Resource Specialists are “change-leaders”, a quintessential multi-tasker who must be “people-centric”, possessing strong people management and human capital ownership & nurturing skills; combined with empathy, emotional-quotient (EQ), understanding of human behavior & psychology, tech-savvy, tracking the emerging HR trends; coupled with great collaborative and listening skills, adaptability, problem-solving, critical thinking, and observation skills; be “process-oriented” to perform end-to-end recruitment and hiring – with transparency, objectivity, fairness, trust, and impeccable integrity, leading to low staff turnover, excellent employee & hiring manager satisfaction. They need to be “always switched on” result-oriented “go-getters” – good at labor and employee relations; an excellent negotiator and communicator with strong business acumen, networking & hiring skills for achieving business continuity, employee-conversion, satisfaction & retention – their primary goals; they must be up-to-date with labor laws, statutory rules & regulations, employer-employee contractual obligations, policies, processes, procedures, requirements, documentation, employee metrics, employee risk mitigation & management, and overall HR management; in their quest to gIve above-board recruitment strategies and advise, perform hiring, firing, and recruitment; besides formulating HR & related policies, organization workforce planning and development, and providing employee career assistance – in alignment with, and to proliferate & progress the organization goals. Also, they must be measurement & data-driven, ethical, accountable, maintain confidentiality, and need to have a strong “Need, Urgency & Demand Perception”; besides being proactive & research-oriented individuals with a cool temperament, memory, imagination, enthusiasm, trust, strong conviction, planning, and execution; coupled with strong decision-making, with excellent verbal & written communication, and interpersonal/ soft skills; ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced work environment, resilience, delegation, tactfulness, self-learning abilities, managerial skills, ability to motivate, influence and hire the best candidates, besides being able to positively influence employee and trade-union decisions; and follow-up, time management, people & stakeholder management, prioritization, presence of mind, creativity and innovation; an open mind with an aptitude for research, patience, persuasiveness, perseverance, persistence & presence. They must be detail-oriented & self-organized with a “can-do attitude” and a strong passion for their work. Meeting people, strategizing, creating a positive impact on staff, being human capital-oriented with deep knowledge of effective interviewing techniques, insights, and understanding of human behavior and psychology, besides industry-wide contacts are pivotal to this profession.

WORK FUNCTIONS

Human Capital is the backbone of any industry. Human Resource Specialists play a vital and critical role in the management, nurturing, & growth of the organization’s human resources, besides fostering gender diversity, preserving and enhancing the human capital assets. They are responsible for end-to-end manpower hiring and recruitment efforts; starting from analyzing, understanding hiring requirements, determining the job profile, competencies or role requirements from the hiring manager; followed by advertising job openings, inviting candidate applications and resumes, short listing candidates for HR and technical tests, and group discussions; examining and assessing candidate’s potential, and interviewing the applicants for corporate cultural fitment and suitability; suggesting and facilitating further interviews after mapping the candidate profiles against the role requirement or job specifications; completing the staffing and recruitment formalities for full-time, part-time, temporary & contractual staff & workers – like accepting or rejecting candidate applications, determining the pay-structure, informing job applicants about their selection, job duties, responsibilities, benefits, schedules, working conditions and promotion opportunities; issuing contracts, job offers, appointment and welcome/ promotion letters, distributing welcome kits, employee re-location & settlement etc. for the selected candidates, “on-boarding” them, till the entire hiring process is concluded; dealing with the job applicants at one end of the spectrum; and suggesting and advising the best candidature to the hiring managers, addressing the hiring pain-points, facilitating the selection of suitable candidates, ensuring a smooth and scalable hiring process to the hiring manager’s satisfaction; to finally achieve the stated recruitment & hiring goals of company or organization – with transparency, objectivity, trust, and impeccable integrity; aimed to lowering staff turnover, excellent employee & hiring manager satisfaction with high CSAT ratings. Further, they participate and conduct, employee performance reviews and appraisals, collaborating with the department head. Also, on the other extreme, they may have to handle difficult situations like “salary freezes” or salary decreases, where they need to be extremely tactful, being aware, sensitive, and mindful of the employee perception, corporate image, and staff-turnover repercussions while conveying the bad news. Besides the hiring process, at the other end of the HR spectrum, the HR Specialists may also be involved in conducting employee surveys from time to time, conflict-management and resolution, formulating and institutionalizing organization-wide HR policies, and also completing the employee severance formalities; like – informing and ending the employment tenure of full-time, part-time, temporary, and contractual staff & workers, Full-and-Final (F&F) settlement & payout, providing references or recommendation letters to requesting parties; providing management insights, statistical analysis & reporting of staff turnover, training, hired, fired and retained employees; besides training & mentoring juniors, updating employee records, ensuring compliance, facilitating staff training, and other administrative functions. They work closely with the internal hiring managers, establish alliances and liaise with external staffing agencies, and may report parallelly or directly to the top management, managing all stake-holders; gaining their confidence, building & maintaining employee loyalty, ensuring their work satisfaction and professional growth. Additionally, they may also handle corporate hiring budgets, and are entrusted to manage and optimize hiring costs; by conducting efficient and effective hiring, recruitment, and severance process, and maintaining contacts and smooth relationships with all stakeholders; ramping up or ramping down i.e. right-sizing and optimizing human resources as required – for ensuring positive organizational outcomes to meet the current & future organizational growth, and maintain business continuity. They generally work with corporate entities, institutions, and other organizations. Smart “Robot-HR Specialists” of today, using Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning (AI/ ML) and advanced technologies perform automated resume & application analysis and shortlist the candidates; and smart chat-bots even conduct initial “human-like” applicant interviews, giving a high-level “go or no-go” applicant feedback and handover to the human HR Specialist; the latest emerging HR trend to aid, facilitate and support speedy hiring in this field.