Is there another department as important as HR to the overall health and well-being of the organization? Okay, okay, I guess we are slightly biased here at The Work Life Wire and, yes, we do like to feel important. Seriously though, who else gets to focus on making work more enjoyable for everyone else? That’s why they call us the party planners!

All jokes aside, HR is tasked with aligning the people strategy with the business needs. Ultimately, as HR professionals, we are looked to for considering the people impact in any decision being made. As such, we must constantly educate ourselves, learn from our mistakes, and pursue constant improvement to be well-rounded HR professionals.

To provide the best HR service possible, we must consider things like our systems, policies, and practices, but what about the HR representatives themselves? What makes a great HR professional? After all, HR is still and will always be about people. While not all-encompassing, we have created a list of the top soft skills all HR professionals should strive to be good at.

Empathy

Understanding the feelings of another is probably one of the most important aspects of dealing with people. Not only is empathy a must-have skill but it should also be leveraged in almost all situations to create positive relations with the frontline staff up to the C-Suite.

A good HR person will ask how someone is feeling, but a great HR person will understand why they are feeling that way. Once we understand what is happening in someone’s world, whether that be in their work life or home life, we can then begin to offer solutions. Leaders and employees alike want to feel heard and seen and to know that their unique situation was handled with respect and dignity. If we approach each situation this way, we can truly shape perception.

Even when an outcome may not be the one someone was hoping for, by being empathetic we can create a lasting and positive impact. Imagine being part of a conversation with an individual being terminated but instead of a heated or escalated exchange, there is calm, understanding, and appreciation. Through empathy, this type of scenario is very possible because, at the end of the day, people want to feel as though they were treated fairly. As HR professionals, we should strive for harmonious relationships and outcomes using an empathetic approach to our work.

How to be more empathetic:

• Active listening
• Ask questions and show interest
• Intentional perspective-taking (“put yourself in their shoes”)
• Practice kindness
• Be curious

Adaptability

You’ve probably heard it before or felt it yourself: change is hard and in HR we get to be the champions of change (Yay us!). We often are privy to confidential information that might make us uncomfortable or anxious, but we are tasked with managing and communicating change (better start working on those poker faces!). Whether you are a part of a fast-paced mergers and acquisitions environment, or a small, slower-paced business, change is inevitable. 

As change partners, the only decision we get to make is how we respond to that change and, as change partners, we’re frequently on the frontlines when changes roll out. Our approach, including our behaviors, is critical to a successful change. If you have ever managed a change project, you probably know how quickly the change can change. Adaptability can take you from an HR partner to a trusted confidant for both the top brass and individual contributors of the organization.

How to be more adaptable:

• Embrace change
• Problem-solve
• Build a growth mindset
• Seek opportunities and get out of your comfort zone

Communication

HR professionals need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively across many different modes of communication. On any given day, we could be communicating face-to-face, over the phone, through a virtual meeting platform like Microsoft Teams or Zoom, or by email. We could be presenting to a room full of people or meeting one-on-one with an employee.

Whatever the case may be, we cannot avoid communication in HR and while the communication may not always be coming directly from us in HR, we are often helping to craft the message. Not all roles in HR are customer-facing necessarily but even support roles must understand the art of communicating as they will frequently interact with their colleagues.

How to improve communication skills:

• Preparation and knowing your audience
• Be clear and concise
• Think before you speak (we all heard this a time or two growing up!)
• Practice active listening
• Check your body language

Self-awareness

How well do you understand yourself? Do you understand your thoughts, feelings, and values? How well do you understand how others perceive you? Do you know the impact you have on others? These are all important questions to ask yourself when evaluating your self-awareness. HR professionals should strive for higher levels of both internal self-awareness, how well you understand yourself, and external self-awareness, how well you understand how others perceive you. Self-awareness is not a skill to be mastered but to be continuously improved upon through intentionality.

Research suggests that when we see ourselves more clearly, we become more confident and creative. Self-awareness not only makes us better HR partners but better, more well-rounded individuals by improving our abilities to make sound decisions, build relationships, and communicate more effectively. Self-aware HR professionals can account for their own biases and control their emotional state when making tough decisions, be their authentic selves to build trust and adapt their communication style as needed.

How to improve your self-awareness:

• Journaling
• Seeking feedback
• Mindfulness of your emotional and physical response
• Ask questions

Discernment

In HR, our ability to judge each situation with objectivity, honesty, and fairness is an essential part of our job. Having discernment in each situation we enter as an HR professional is much easier said than done, right? We’ve all been there. Maybe it’s a business need, protecting the organization, or a relationship left hanging in the balance – whatever it is we have all felt the pressure of doing what’s right for all parties with so many interests at play.

Discernment is a cognitive process involving critical thinking, reasoning, and evaluating information. In those moments, we use our best judgment, seek counsel, and check for precedence and credibility before making a decision – this is discernment. While exercising discernment in the complex world of HR can be difficult, the product created far outweighs the challenges. Through discernment, you can foster trust with your key stakeholders and protect the integrity of your role as an HR partner.

How to improve our discernment:

• Remain curious and ask questions
• Lean on data and information
• Self-reflection

These are just a few of the reasons why we love HR here at The Work Life Wire. There aren’t too many other professions that involve the use and constant improvement of many skills that translate so well to both our professional and personal lives.

Can you see where these skills can improve your life outside of the workplace as well? We hope so. We know that becoming the greatest HR professional that you can be is a journey and that’s what makes HR so rewarding.