Skills Required for MBA HR: Skills That Employers Value

MBA HR Skills – Overview

HR professionals are liaisons between employees, department heads, and CEOs. Their task needs to be completed by different people and departments. One needs to be responsible for making crucial hiring and firing decisions, keeping watch over employee welfare, and handling a companys most sensitive information.

The scope of the MBA in HR is a very demanding profession offering several jobs with higher salary packages. An HR manager plays a crucial role in any company. Make your career successful in this profession with the job opportunities in this field globally.

What Are the Skills Required for MBA HR?

Today human resource professionals need to have a much broader skill set along with competencies like recruitment, screening, employee relations, and performance management. In this article, we have some of the HR skills and how to cultivate them.

Here are some of the top skills required for MBA HR:

1. Communication & Interpersonal Skills

An HR has to communicate to management, out to potential employees, and down to all levels of current employees. An HR is known for being good with people for a reason. They are constantly interacting with employees at every level of their organizations and communicate with them in a warm, clear, and professional way. Make sure you can express yourself well both verbally and in writing as you will be conducting multiple interviews, delivering presentations, and leading conflict resolutions.

2. Recruitment and Hiring

Hiring new employees is a costly and time-intensive process. So, HR professionals must shift their focus to workforce development, leveraging, and managing the human capital. This process requires strong decision-making skills as you’d have to pick one candidate from many others. An HR professional has to study the interview process and conduct the interview of a potential candidate and analyze their optimal skills.

3. Strategic Thinking & Planning Skills

The ability to think strategically and use that strategic thinking to successfully shape is what HR does. They know how to understand and analyze another person’s problems to guide them accordingly. The HR professional is a detail-oriented and meticulous planner. They have to juggle so many balls and are responsible for so many different tasks. In addition to these planning skills, be very comfortable making data-driven decisions based on metrics and analytic.

Some prominent HR analytical skills are:

• Data aggregation
• Data analytical techniques
• Mathematical modeling

One should have analytical skills by identifying business problems and providing solutions for them.

4. HRIS Expertise

Human Resource Information System (HRIS) simplifies HR tasks for you. HRIS solutions are according to various responsibilities, and being an HR should be familiar with them. An HRIS solution is to ensure the smooth running of the company. Being an HR, you must be familiar with payroll management software allowing businesses to manage their employee’s compensation from one place.

5. Workplace Culture Development Skills

For a successful organization, HR should effectively develop, shape, and lead workplace culture. For smooth functioning focus, on administrative skills like meeting with stakeholders, filing paperwork, answering staffs questions, etc.

Being an HR, interact with the team leader to solve the staff’s problems and provide them with a productive environment.

6. Conflict Management and Problem Solving

Make sure that people work together at least civilly for higher productivity. HR has to find ways to allow that to happen. You cannot be effective without problem-solving ability. As an HR professional, you must be proactive about the current and emerging trends. Proactive and strategic HRM plans HR tasks in a way that offers the most value to the business.

7. Advising and Coaching

An HR should advise employees, line managers, and senior managers on personnel issues. Every day an HR has to deal with peoples lives and careers, and when a manager requests help with a termination or a compensation recommendation or recognition program, you should be able to advise and solve issues.

Coaching skills are helpful when it comes to one-on-one or group sessions to spread information or train people. This advice also has to be communicated.

Skills That Employers Value

Two kinds of skills motivate employers to choose the candidates they hire.

1. Soft Skills
2. Hard Skills

Soft Skills

Regardless of the position, there are some skills and qualities employers seek in all their employees. One should have the interpersonal skills and attributes to succeed in the workplace. These are also known as professional skills for maintaining a healthy workplace environment. Some of these skills are listed as follows:

1. Leadership

The ability to guide, motivate, and manage a team towards achieving common goals, demonstrating vision, and making strategic decisions.

2. Communication

Effectively conveying and receiving messages through verbal, written, and non-verbal means, ensuring clarity and understanding among team members.

3. Critical Thinking

Analyzing situations logically, identifying problems, evaluating options, and making informed decisions to solve complex issues.

4. Creativity

Generating innovative ideas and solutions, thinking outside the box, and approaching challenges with a fresh perspective.

5. Cross-Cultural Competency

Understanding and respecting diverse cultural backgrounds, and effectively working with people from various cultures in a globalized workplace.

6. Teamwork

Collaborating effectively with others, contributing to team goals, and maintaining a cooperative and harmonious work environment.

7. Flexibility

Adapting to changing circumstances, being open to new ideas, and managing multiple tasks efficiently.

8. Self-Awareness

Recognizing and understanding one’s own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and impact on others, fostering personal growth and improved interactions.

Hard Skills

Hard skills refer to some tangible or technical skills. They are the specific knowledge and abilities required to do the job. For getting and sustaining, you must have a combination of hybrid skills. Employers are looking for these top skills when you are applying and interviewing for the jobs:

1. Analytical Skills

The ability to assess complex information, identify patterns, and solve problems efficiently.

2. Communication Skills

Proficiency in conveying ideas and information clearly and effectively through various channels.

3. Interpersonal Skills

The capability to interact harmoniously with others, building strong relationships.

4. Leadership Skills

The talent to inspire, guide, and manage teams toward achieving goals.

5. Positive Attitude

Maintaining a constructive and proactive approach in the workplace.

6. Teamwork

Collaborating well with colleagues to achieve common objectives.

7. Technical Skills

Specific technical expertise required for job-specific tasks and responsibilities.

Wrapping Up

In this article, we have discussed a concise overview of the seven most important HR skills. Do not let these crucial skills become stagnant. To stay at the top of your performance, you should be continually seeking to improve your skills. To be sure you are showing your top skills during your job search; make your HR skills and qualities stronger that best reflect your background. Incorporate them into your resume and cover letters.

MBA HR Programs at ASM’s IBMR

HR is a lucrative field with tons of job opportunities. However, you must try to gain all these HR skills if you wish to excel in this domain. IBMRs MBA Premium focuses on skills to make a career across HR jobs. We have collaborated with leading organizations to design, develop and deliver our two-year master’s program. With industry and academic experts on board, we will create professionals with a refined skill set. Get in Touch with our experts.