Curious About HR Roles? Understanding the Difference Between HR Executive and HR Generalist

Dear all,

What is the difference between HR Executive and HR GENERALIST?

Please can you send me the difference?

Any organization what kind of roll's of HR Generalist will take care.
Regards
Chowdary

Hi Chowdary,

Generalist HR covers recruitment, compensation & benefits, training & development, performance appraisal, employee welfare, industrial laws, etc. It covers the entire gamut of HR and administration.

Thanks, Regards, Srinidhi Prasad

Dear Srinidhi,

You explained very well about Generalist HR, but what about Executive HR?

Waiting for your reply.

Amit

Hi All, The word 'Executive' is used for entry-level or with experience of 2-3 years in India, but in the rest of the world, 'Executive' is used mostly for top management. When you say the difference between HR Generalist & Executive HR, it is company-specific. Normally, HR Generalist is a general term used for somebody covering major aspects of HR. For example, somebody who is handling recruitment would be called a 'Recruiter', but a generalist is just a role or function. The designation would be Executive HR, Administrator HR, Officer HR, etc., depending on the company and their designation structure.

Hope this would be fine.

Thanks & Regards,
Srinidhi Prasad

Difference Between HR Executive and HR Generalist

The difference is that the Executive is the one who has the role of execution. So, whatever the manager asks him/her to do, he/she executes (as the name itself suggests and the hierarchical level goes).

A Manager is the person who has the power to manage and put the resources to use in the correct way and time, whereas his assistant is there to help him in all possible ways. Hence, the manager may be the person with a specialized stream of HR like HR Recruitment Manager, HR T&D Manager, HR Talent Acquisition Manager, etc.

Role of an HR Generalist

Now, coming to the Generalist, this profile has a hand in the entire HR gamut, where it may start from recruitment and cover administration, legal compliances, strategic HRM, Performance Management, etc. The HR Officer is synonymous with the HR Generalist but is widely used in PSUs as they have a defined hierarchy under the government guidelines.

Hope this explanation clarifies the differences well. Thank you. Kindly add to my knowledge as well if any corrections are required.

Regards

It's just a nomenclature. The job description remains the same except for an increase in additional job responsibilities.