With the rise of the internet and after the crisis, companies have changed radically. The way they sell, communicate, produce and deliver results… and of course, the human resources department changed. The profile of the human resources person has been enriched and now it is usual to find specialized professionals in specific fields.
Main characteristics of the human resources person
While the market tends to look for specialized professionals, the main basic characteristics of a good HR professional have been accentuated. We can summarize these 5 main traits:
- 360º knowledge in human resources: Something quite evident, but every day more companies search for professionals who know a little about each topic. Despite being specialized, the company needs someone versatile able to adapt and know the latest trends and practices within the area of HR.
- Efficient time manager: If something characterizes the HR department are problems that arise spontaneously and require immediate attention. The person in charge of human resources must be an efficient manager of their time and must perform daily tasks in order the work according to their priority. Many professionals have already started using human resources software to optimize their time and reduce the hours spent doing monotonous tasks that do not add any value.
- A leader that motivates: The way the employee relates to your company has changed and many HR professionals already understood that the best way to make an employee stay in the company and be motivated is to take care of them. Listening, knowing how to help them when they need it and offering something more than monetary retribution is what differentiates a good company. If you work within the HR industry, you will know that there is more and more information about employer branding and how companies are starting to motivate their employees with social benefits or flexible pay. Something much more efficient than a salary increase.
- Communicative: The main task of the HR person is to be in contact with potential employees and with the people who already are on the team. Out of these 5 skills, this may be the most important one. Communication with employees is vital to know what’s happening inside the company, solve problems or doubts and make sure that the work climate is correct. Knowing how to listen and make all employees take part in what happens in the company is essential to have a strong team.
- Innovative: Without innovation, there is no evolution and with no evolution, the company is aimed to fail. The way in which you hire, retain talent or improve team’s conditions are constantly changing. A few years ago it was unthinkable to apply for a job without a good resume. Today it is more important to have good personal branding than a curriculum vitae. If the human resources person does not innovate, it will be difficult to keep up to date and know the best way to manage everything the company needs.
The main profiles of the HR department
Every business is a world and not all follow the same pattern. However, this can be a list of the main profiles most wanted in small and medium-sized companies in Spain (SMEs).
HR Officer (Director of Human Resources)
The human resources director aims to develop and implement policies that help employees develop within the company and improve their position. This role is key to understanding the evolution of the team.
In addition to this role, the HR officer works in conjunction with other departments to implement social benefit policies in the company, promote employee values, manage payrolls, ensure equal opportunities among workers, and negotiate salaries and/or working conditions with workers.
Recruitment researcher (Selection Technician)
The person in charge of the selection processes plays a key role when it comes to incorporating talent into the company and filling vacancies. They are responsible for developing strategies to attract talent and discover potential employees who can fit perfectly into a position or meet the needs of the company. With the explosion of social networks, this more technical profile usually requires advanced knowledge in social media to identify and connect talent through social networks such as Linkedin, or AngelList or employment portals such as EmpleoPyme or Info jobs.
Independent recruiting consultant
The alternative for many small companies that can not afford the cost of a person internally is to hire an independent consultant. In this way they can cover the selection processes, saving time and costs within the company.
Training technician
The training technician is the person in charge of the professional development of the employees and their learning during the time that they are working in the company. Its main function is to analyze the needs in terms of courses and learning: for example, training in English in case the company has new English speaking clients. In this way, after analyzing the training needs, the technician can begin to develop teaching programs based on specific objectives. The management of costs, budgets and bonus courses for employees is something that this person usually carries.
Internal communication technician
Although this profile is not one of the best known by SMEs, the internal communication technician is the key person to improve the commitment of the employees through different channels. In many cases, small and medium-sized companies do not have the budget to incorporate an internal communication technician to their full-time staff. For this reason, software such as Factorial HR offers resources so that companies can improve their internal communication and develop strategies of loyalty and commitment of employees without cost.
Staff Admin
This profile within the HR department takes the most administrative part of the team. Payroll management, labor law, and employee contracts/renewals. For this profile, there is payroll software that can save a large number of hours per month and reduce errors while sending payroll.
New emerging profiles in the human resources sector
With the rise of social networks, new profiles of human resources have been appearing in the sector. You have probably seen some of these profiles on LinkedIn and want to know more about their meaning:
People connector
One of the great challenges of small and medium-sized companies is to find people that fit into their vacancies. Not all companies can count on the help of a professional recruiter and the reality is that in very early stages the recruitment processes are usually done internally and based on a network of contacts. The connector profile of people is quite common on Linkedin. You may have seen profiles with these initials LION (Linkedin Open Networker). Basically what these initials mean that that person is open to networking with other members of LinkedIn. People connectors help companies find potential employees. They may not be HR consultants but they do have a wide network of professional contacts.
Ideas and tools dev
This profile seeks to bring the latest trends and tools in the management of human resources to the company. It is the person in charge of analyzing the current situation of the team and proposing tools or ideas that unlock specific situations. For example, improve the work environment through team-building techniques.
Professional skills enhancer
Its main function will be to help the employee to develop their maximum potential according to their weak and strong points.
Coaches
This type of profile offers an incalculable value in the development of staff to achieve personal and professional goals. It makes it easier for people to adapt to change effectively and help create indestructible human teams.
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