What Are the Three Must-Have Qualities for an HR Manager Based on Real Experiences?

What do you think are the three main qualities that an HR Manager should have?

What are these three important qualities without which one should not even dream about being in the field of HR? Please don't give answers that are only theory-based. I would appreciate real-life anecdotes.

Hi Sunayna,

The best three qualities could be:
1) Should be able to communicate effectively.
2) Should be able to delegate work in the best possible manner based on the core expertise possessed by a person.
3) Should be able to empathize with the team.

Regards,
Sajal

Hi Sunayana,

The three main qualities are:
1. Passion to lead.
2. Strategic in decision-making.
3. Empathetic.

Regards,
Sumana GSR

Hi Sunayna,

There are various instances which led me to those 3 points.

During a management structure change, it becomes extremely critical for the HR manager to effectively communicate the same to the employees, as not everybody is always willing to accept change and accept that change is a way of life. This is just an instance. Any communication, especially when it's top-down communication, needs to be effectively dispersed. The manager needs to be an ardent listener as well to his teammates.

Every employee has something in him that serves as his core expertise. In a lot of instances, HR managers fail to recognize this and make employees work on something that does not interest them and they are not very good at. Thus, during performance appraisals, the employees fail to qualify for something better. Proper competency mapping should be done to recognize the competency each employee has and give them work in those areas.

A good HR manager needs to empathize a lot. There would be a lot of instances when their teammates would look up to them, expecting them to reciprocate in the best possible way. There could be a whole lot of issues as well. The HR manager should empathize a lot rather than sympathize.

I hope I have been able to justify my points.

Regards,

Sajal

Three major qualities HR professionals should possess to be successful are personal credibility, leadership skills, and the ability to manage change.

Eric from China

The first and best three qualities that an HR Manager or HR person should have are:
a) patience and keen listening
b) soft skills like smartness and initiative in the crisis period
c) responsiveness and planning

All other things are also important for the HR individual to stand in front in all situations. In my point of view, to face all the employees and management terms and situations, one must have patience and listening ability to decide. The next important aspect is that in critical times, one has to act as a mediator, so being smart is crucial for that situation. Any comments and suggestions are welcomed. Cheers, Ram

I think salesmanship should be the first important quality for an HR manager. He/she must be able to sell the departmental products to other departments. Leadership is obviously another crucial quality. Finally, he/she must be smart enough to influence top management about HR policies, budgets, and changes.

Shafiq
Dhaka, Bangladesh

1. Communication Skills and Hold on Professional Language

2. How to Tackle Mediocrity and Be Diplomatic

3. Keep updating yourself about the business more rather than just being HR-specific.

Hi Karunakar,

The following are the three main qualities:

1. Patience
2. Positive attitude
3. Sacrifice towards work

:D

Dear All,

I believe the three most important qualities one should possess as an HR professional are:

1. Personal Credibility: How impartial you are while dealing with employees.
2. Leading Change - How you manage your organization to adapt to the new surroundings.
3. Motivation.

Thank you.

I think the three best qualities of an HR Manager are:
1. Being a good listener
2. Being a good communicator
3. Being a good leader

- Smitha

Hi Sunayana,

What a good topic! In my opinion, the three qualities of an HR Manager are:

i) Passion for the job

ii) Good listening abilities

iii) Ability to balance management expectations and employees' aspirations.

-Srinaren

Hi buddy,

The book "The One Minute Manager," written by Ken Blanchard, gives incidences of an effective manager.

What do you think are the three main qualities that an HR Manager should have? What are these 3 important qualities without which one should not even dream about being in the field of HR? Please don't give answers that are only theory-based; I would appreciate real-life anecdotes.

1) Human Behavior Expert and Analyzer. If he is not able to understand human behavior, he will not be able to hire, retain, and manage good talent.
2) Business Knowledge. If the person doesn't have zeal and interest in business and operations of the company, he will not be able to understand the revenue-profit equation. It is very important to know the business of the company, best practices in the industry to attract and hire the best talent from the market.
3) Expert in Numbers, Statistics, and Taxation. If an HR manager doesn't have this skill, he will not be able to frame effective Compensation and Benefits metrics. He will not be able to analyze results of surveys. He will not be able to Benchmark. He will not be able to give a competitive edge to his company.

According to me, these are the important skills that an HR Professional should have to enter into this profession and be successful in his career.

Regards,
Sanjeev Sharma

The three essential qualities without which an HR manager can't be successful are as follows (what I personally think):

1. One should have a very good understanding of human behavior and psychology, which enables him to feel the pulse of each individual around him. This will provide him with extra space to plan strategies for the issues that may arise in the future.

2. Management (Manage - ment - thoughtfully) - he should be tactful in how to deal and react in various situations that can arise suddenly in an organization where your role and involvement are very imperative.

3. He should always be a student. There is always room for improvement, so we can't say we are perfect. To do justice to our job and our field, we should always strive to learn new theories and concepts, leading us to fantastic innovations.

Thanks,
Bibhutosh

Sunayana,

I would like to appreciate you for raising such a nice topic to discuss, and I am sure this will compel all of us to think more about the essential practical qualities that HR Managers should possess. I am confident that all of us will recognize many essential qualities that we have found necessary through our practical experiences. In the end, we will conclude with the valuable lessons learned during this discussion.

Each one of us has a unique way of prioritizing, but every point that is raised or will be raised in this forum is very important, I know.

Thanks, Sunayana.

Regards,
Bibhutosh

I feel three important qualities are:

1. Sensitivity to employee feelings and opinions.
2. Process orientation combined with a problem-solving approach.
3. Effective communication tools.

Hi Sunayna,

I think an HR manager should be a good motivator, able to motivate other team members for any change, and should also be more analytical in understanding any situations in the organization. They should be friendly to all employees so that employees can reach out to them with their problems.

Thanks,
Jyothi

Hi,

As an HR Professional, I would rate my three important qualities to be:

- Being Empathetic

- Being a good listener

- Effectively communicating

Let me try putting the above three towards a single case.

Why Empathetic? As the world moves fast and there is seldom time for understanding or putting yourself in the other person's shoes, it is the HR professional who should correlate with the emotions of an employee at work. This ensures that we keep the employee engaged and involved.

Why a good listener? Everything at a workplace starts from being a good listener. When a boss doesn't understand you or when you are ignored, it is a good HR manager who needs to understand the pulse of the employee beforehand as this is the first important move of being proactive.

Why effectively communicate? When an HR person has been empathetic and has listened to an employee, he/she has to effectively bridge the gap between the employee and his/her manager for which effective communication is necessary. As we all agree that the first small gap of misunderstanding or miscommunication between a boss and a subordinate are the first signs of employee dissatisfaction.

The above is at a micro level where an HR manager would start and has to be strong. The macro levels of qualities then build up.

Best regards,

Balaji

I think the HR manager should have these three qualities:

1. He should acknowledge the grievances of employees.
2. Implement decisions of management.
3. Create empathy and cordial relations between the management and the employees the best.

Hi,

I believe three qualities that every HR professional should possess are:

1. Amiable nature
2. Empathy
3. Confidence

Thank you.