HR Competencies – The 15 Most Powerful Skills For Success in Human Resources
by Alan Collins
When you have 90 seconds, check out the video below (be sure to turn up the volume!). It lays out my very jaded perspective on 15 key competencies needed for HR success. However, I’d love to get your feedback. What do you think is the ONE single most important skill or competency for success in HR? Yes, I know HR success is a mix of a lot of factors. But what’s your opinion – is there ONE key skill that is more important than all others? Post your answer HERE with your rationale. See if others agree. C’mon join in the fun!
About the author: Alan Collins was Vice President – Human Resources at PepsiCo where he led HR initiatives for their Quaker Oats, Gatorade and Tropicana businesses. He is now President of Success in HR, Inc. and the author of the HR best sellers, UNWRITTEN HR RULES and BEST KEPT HR SECRETS. His new book YOUR HR GOLDMINE is now available on Amazon.
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Very cool video! Thanks Alan – I have twitted it to my groups. I look at this list and think this list truly applies to all leaders, not just HR. Hard to select one, I’d say “Know the Business”. If you don’t know who you’re serving, you’re really throwing stones in the dark!
Knowing the Business. Everything else can derive from it.
Cool video. Check out prezy.com if you have time.
Regards
That was great, Alan! Thanks.
I see fairness across the board as key. Placing principles above personalities keeps all the other competencies lined up in integrity and on purpose.
Obviously all of these competencies are essential, but I have to say that the ability to listen effectively, is the one skill that every HR professional must master in order to be successful.
If you are unable to actively listen, then it is close to impossible to give trusted advice, be decisive, know the business, support others, or any of the other competencies.
When I coach managers, and employers, I start with their story. I wait for them to finish, then I say, “So, if I understand you correctly, what you’re saying is…?” This shows that I am ‘actively’ listening, I care about what they’re saying, and that I have the ability to understand what they’re saying.
Listening, definitely my favorite skill…
LEADING COURAGEOUSLY.
I feel this one single factor encompasses many other important ones and without this all others are of little use.
While I agree with the above posts that all of these competencies are essential, I truly believe that knowing the business is what sets apart the best HR leaders from the average ones. It makes you more effective in your listening, advice giving, support, coaching, etc.
Thanks for a great video!
Alan,
I really love how you’ve paired the competencies with characters from movies….I hold to the most important remaining “know the business cold”…
It gets you in.
Great compilation.. I second the idea that these are the competencies required for any leader, but if I need to select 1 only then I would say “Coaching for Success”, because Coaching is an integral part of any leadership role…
I believe the most important competency is giving trusted advice. If the business people don’t trust you, you will not have a “seat at the table” and you will not have a chance to do all the other things.
I would have to say lead courageously. We often have to give difficult feedback and coach not only our employees and peers, but our executives. It takes courage to tell someone at the top what they do not want to hear. Second choice would be to manage change, but I believe we cannot lead change without courage.
Leading courageously is the number one for me. The others are just as important, but many times as the HR leader, even when knowing the business, leading, leading, etc., etc., HR must be persuasive and have courage to drive the organization and leadership in the right direction. I get the importance of all of the other skills, but HR leadership many times requires courage.
Nice video Alan!!
Allan, this is an absolutely brilliant presentation. Wonderful job. Of course, all are critical competencies. Probably, though, if I had to choose, it would be to lead courageously. Knowing the business is important but one person can’t do it all. I’d also like to know how to put the right people (who know the business) in the right places at the right times. That’s why I happen to believe that a top-notch HR Professional would make a great President (of the U.S.)! Sorry, I’m not into tweeting yet but I am VERY impressed with your video! Warm Regards, Susan
They are ALL critical for success in HR, but for me, this is the first… ‘knowing the business’. If you do not know the business, you cannot – put the programs and practices in place; hire the right people; negotiate the right changes; develop the right strategies – to help move the business forward and achieve it’s goals. As HR, you are there as a business partner. With no understanding of the business, you have no voice at the table, you are not trusted in what you say, you can lead courageously but where you are leading; you are coaching but towards what end?
Thanks Alan,
To me, the ONE single most important skill for success in HR is listening.
Very cool video.
Chi
All good success factors. However, the most important one may have been left out. This factor is critical to the success of ANY business endeavor: know your client and how to meet your client’s needs. Which brings up the debate about who HR’s client is. Answering that one question can really inform success in HR (which also underscores another success factor–developing the art of the question.)
Nice work – and agree with all the HR Competencies highlighted. For me, personally, to be able to lead, to challenge, to be creative it has always been being able to “build trust” between HR/Leadership Team, HR/Employees, Leadership team/Employees – when TRUST has been gained, everything else just seems to fall into place – from my personal experience.
The video triggers thinking towards different competencies an HR could develop, a nice one at that!I believe connecting with people across Organizational structure in all ways possible is a skill i look for..which gives people the confidence in you, and a leeway to you to get the work done at every point of service..
I really enjoyed this montage! Very effective and creative way to communicate those ideas (and ideals) quickly. All are essential but I think collaborating has been the most important in my career and has helped me build the other competencies.
Alan,
I believe the most powerful skill for HR to be Empathy, be it organizational and towards people.
The ability to “translate” back and forth as being the main driver to achieve all 10 skills you portrait.
The most powerful skill would be know the Business, I am currently deployed with the Army as an HR Specialist, the most important skill is knowing all the regulations. The only way we can be decisive and do whats best for the soldier is to know what the guidelines say. A lot of our personnel issues are guided in black and white,(and people still have a hard time following that).A soldier said to me the other day, any soldier that knows the regulations is a “powerful” soldier. I agree!
Really interesting to see all of them and they are all important. For me I believe Giving Trusted Advice is the Key because you cannot do this without many of the others as well.
Alan,
Great video. I don’t believe that there is one important competency because a lot of these competencies are part of the individual’s personality. I think that if a HR professional feels good about themselves and has confidence in his/her abilities to perform the job, then the other competencies will come naturally. Also, if the HR professional takes interest in the agency that he/she is working for and trusts his/her own capabilities, actively listens and communicates openly and honestly, I think the individual will be successful.
Business Understanding is the HR competency that is #1
Alan, great video! I hope you will allow me to post a link on my website.
Sakira – Thanks & yes, feel free to post a link on your website.
best,
Alan
Know the business. You can’t be a true partner with many of the other traits that are listed if you don’t understand the business well.
Great video. I think ‘Listening’ is a key competency since it is almost a lost art form in this day and age.
the most important competency is trhe ability of the HR professional to assist in facilitating the best option for the business and employee in operationalizing process. when there is alignment employees are totally engaged and effective.
Thank you Alan.
After knowing the business, HR will help company and people sith his support, collaboration, listening…
Regards from Spain.
The most important HR skill is dependent on the mission/objective of the organization…it takes an “effective leader” to get buy in, trust from employees to accomplish an organization’s mission.
I agree that all are important and selecting one as the most important is difficult. therefore, I will select 3 that are critical and rarely seen in combination for most HR people.
1. Know the business (Includes competitors)
2. Deep HR expertise
3. Managing Change
I will add another. Solid educational background in Behavioral Sciences. This is critical because Behavioral Science is the anchor in which all of the organizational behavior theories are based upon.
Alan,
The single most important skill for success in HR is translating customer/investor buying criteria in to desired employee behaviors.
I agree with those who said Knowing the Business is critical, however, I think it goes beyond “knowing” to being able to add value because you know the business. You have to demonstrate the ability to get something done with that knowledge.
I have to agree with others that said – Know the business. Without that (but with everything else) you are a great HR professional. With all of it, you are a strategic HR Leader.
“Knowing the Business” is the foundation for many of the other competencies and gives you the credibility to make things happen.
“BEING DECISIVE” others follow this criteria automaticallly…..
Great stuff. Just one question. Why would the competencies for HR leaders be different from any high performance leader in any functional discipline?
Liked the video. All of those are true. For me being trusted and respected by the people in the company is very important. Managing change is another. Change is something we can always count on happening. People are not comfortable with change, so managing them through the process and expecting their resistence is key.
One of the most important competency that someone from HR and also other leaders need is criterion, without it, is impossible to succeed.
I believe the most important HR competency is “Listening” because if you are not hearing what your customers needs or concerns are, you can’t deliver the right results.
Awesome video! #1 is Listening. If you do not know what the organization or the people of the organization are saying, how can you make a positive impact on either?
Great! I would say “Coaching for Success” is most important for present time.