What is HR Manager? Salary, Skills & Career

In every organisation, from a start-up to an MNC, HR (Human Resources) managers are responsible for human resource management. They are usually the heads of the HR department and act as the bridge between management and employees.

If a company has employees, an HR manager is typically required to oversee hiring and training and look after the organisation’s culture development.

Who is an HR Manager?

A definition of human resource manager could be someone who handles staff recruitment, training, and development. That person would administer employees’ wages, allowances, and other benefits. They also look after the employees’ health, security, and welfare.

What Does an HR Manager Do?

An HR manager deals with a complete range of HR activities. Depending upon the organisation, an HR manager’s role is categorised into learning and development, recruitment or employee relations. However, the core responsibilities of a human resource manager are:

• Developing and implementing the HR strategies and initiatives designed for the overall business plan.
• Coordinating and supervising the work of the HR team.
• Communicating with other department heads to know about their staff and training requirements.
• Designing job descriptions and revising them periodically.
• Heading recruitment, interviews, hiring and training procedures.
• Handling the exit interviews to examine the shortcomings of both the employee and the organisation.
• Creating, maintaining, and revisiting company policies and employment laws.
• Most important, working on maintaining a positive and open work environment.

Due to the rapidly changing work culture, the operations of the HR manager are getting complex. Hence, the focus is now on enhancing workplace productivity to enable businesses to gain an edge in the market. Here the concept of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is helpful.

Read more about SHRM, its importance, and its objectives.

Types of HR Managers

Depending upon the functions of the HR managers, they are primarily categorised into:

Recruitment and Placement Manager– They are responsible for searching for the right talents for the company. Some of their responsibilities include looking after shortlisting CVs as per the requirements, scheduling interviews, and discussing salary structure with the candidates.

Training and Development Manager– These professionals are involved in operating induction sessions and imparting training for the new joiners.

Compensation and Benefits Manager– These managers work on things like; managing compensation, bonuses, allowances, pension, insurance, and related stuff. They aim to meet employee needs without affecting the budget of the company.

Employee Relations Specialist–They work on making employment contracts as per the labour regulations. Simply saying they represent a company in legal matters.

What are the Skills Required to Become an HR Manager?

The skills of an influential human resource manager are:

Communication And Problem-Solving Skills-Employees and other HR executives often reach out to HR managers, for their different functional and operational concerns. Thus, a human resource manager must have effective communication and problem-solving skills, to build an effective workplace environment.

Leadership Skills- The HR professional leads different teams to ensure the completion of diverse tasks and responsibilities within the organisation. Thus, they need to have excellent leadership skills. Learn more about what leadership is and its role in the HR Manager’s career.

Technical Skills– The knowledge of emerging technologies and trends help the HR managers streamline the different processes for growing productivity.

Organisational Skills- Being a human resource manager, one must juggle a wide range of responsibilities. They assure all departments meet the decided deadlines and for an effective outcome.

Negotiation Skills- This is the most desired skill of an HR manager, as it helps bring a beneficial decision at the end.

Empathy- The role of the HR manager requires close interaction with people. Empathy and a strong understanding of an individual’s behaviour help manage a wide variety of personalities.

Time Management Skills- The capability to address multiple projects at a time demands excellent time management skills.

Salary of an HR Manager in India

As long as a company or business has employees, it will need an HR manager to look after the organisation and the growth of the company’s work culture.

An HR Manager’s salary in India starts from ₹ 3 Lakhs-₹ 4 Lakhs and goes up to ₹ 18 Lakhs-₹ 20 Lakhs [Source]. The average annual salary range between ₹ 7 Lakhs-₹ 9 Lakhs [Source].

However, this salary depends on a range of factors;

• The job location
• Type of company
• Certifications, skills, educational qualifications and experience you have.

HR Manager Career Scope

Human resource managers, as per the definition, are essential leaders in an organisation for overseeing employee recruitment, training, and development of policies and procedures. The significance of HR managers has increased with companies adapting to modern technologies, laws, and programs. The digital era has led to improved employee experiences and interrelations.

The US Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) indicates that the jobs in the HR management sector will rise by 9 per cent [Source] from 2020 to 2030, on average with all occupations.

How to Become a Human Resources Manager?

The role of an HR manager is rewarding as well as challenging. They must instruct employees, handle administrative duties, execute safety regulations and more. If you are looking forward to becoming an HR manager, here are the steps for it.

Step 1: Earn a bachelor’s degree or equivalent

A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in HR management or business administration is necessary to start the career.

Step 2: Entry-Level Job or Internship

Once done with your graduation, look for opportunities to gain industry work culture experience and requirements. You can go for an internship or an HR trainee/ recruiter job. This will help you understand the job requirements and career opportunities.

Going through HR interview questions can help you prepare better.

Upgrade Your Skills

HR divisions are changing their work culture with the rise of technology and the combination of work conditions. Thus, it is necessary to upgrade oneself. You can go for;
A master’s degree in business administration, labour laws and human resources or related domains for more understanding of the domain.

Apart from the degree curriculum, upskilling with a certification course can help to say a step ahead in the competition. There are different leadership and management courses to help you acquire the necessary skills.

Emeritus India offers the best-in-class Executive and Advanced Programmes in Human Resource Management in collaboration with reputed universities. These courses have a diversified curriculum that helps you acquire in-demand HR management skills and competencies and prepares you to take the next step in your career.