12 Essential HR Generalist Skills in 2024
An HR generalist is an HR professional familiar with every nook and cranny of the HR department, encompassing various HR functions such as recruitment, employee relations, legal regulations, federal law, work environment, and salary data management.
They know how to recruit and handle employee relations, legal regulations, federal law, work environment, and salary data management. The HR generalist role includes managing HR tasks like recruitment, employee relations, and compliance with employment laws. They also possess solid knowledge of HR software (HRIS).
To start an HR generalist career, a person must have at least a bachelor’s degree in human resources and a 3-year background in lower human resource positions.
Since an HR generalist is like a jack of all trades in human resources, they need to hone their skills to meet their needs. Therefore, it’s also beneficial if the HR generalist has at least one HR certification.
To help out, here are the top 12 skills any HR generalist should master in 2024.
Watch the video below to learn more about the HR generalist’s job. Otherwise, skip ahead.
What is an HR Generalist?
An HR Generalist is a skilled and experienced professional familiar with every aspect of the human resources department. They are responsible for managing the department’s day-to-day operations, including recruitment, employee relations, benefits administration, performance management, and compliance.
HR Generalists are often the first point of contact for employees and managers, and they play a key role in maintaining a positive and productive work environment.
1. Master HRIS
There’s perpetual demand for human resource generalists with a great mastery of HRIS. Any organization or business with a human resource office needs someone to support HR duties.
The ability to maintain uncompromised management of each of these actions is pure gold for any company.
Unlike managers, regular employees aren’t aware of new recruitment costs that the company bears. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the average hiring process, which includes interviews, training procedures, and onboarding, lasts around 42 days and costs about $4,129 per hire.
If an inexperienced HR generalist handles the flow, the cost can increase. If the company has an HR generalist skilled at HRIS, it can save resources. Human resources generalist skills facilitate better onboarding and training processes and provide flexibility within HR teams by allowing generalists to support specialized functions and take on additional tasks.
Benefits Administration
Similarly, a well-kept HR database means less work for the accounting department when the weekly or monthly payroll comes. One mistake can start a cumbersome snowball of endless paperwork and HR pothole patching.
Here are the standard responsibilities and duties of a human resources generalist who handles administration:
- Maintain correct HRIS systems for employee payroll, compensation, benefits management, regulations, and performance.
- Prepare confidential material for big or small business reorganizations, department administration, personnel updates, and work development.
- Keep a constantly updated database for daily tasks.
Although a complex skill, since an HR generalist must master the software, it requires a potent mixture of disciplinary skills. The HR generalist must be self-dependent, trustful, and meticulous.
Otherwise, poor performance can cost the company precious time and cripple the overall work environment.
If you are an aspiring HR generalist or want to improve your generalist skills, check out our certified HR generalist course.
3. Performance Management
Besides keeping up with the ever-changing job data and employment law, the underlying core of any HR generalist is performance management.
This means that the HR generalist, like the HR manager, must have the skills to fix performance issues and prevent them before they occur. If excellent HRIS knowledge is the core hard skill, then performance management is the ability that nurtures that skill.
Knowing their way around a computer or different departments is not a generalist’s full-time job. A human resource professional must also learn how to implement efficiency across the company.
The job can be unpredictable since the HR generalist’s job predominates with other employees.
Efficient performance managing skills require proactivity. This means the HR generalist will revise the company policy manual before it needs any specific updates.
The same goes for regulating company benefits and creating employee programs, recruitment programs, and innovative employment practices that keep the human resources machine running.
4. Advising
The HR generalist position isn’t at the top of the human resources hierarchy. Nevertheless, an HR generalist must behave like an HR manager and possess proper communication skills to communicate management programs to employees.
Sometimes, a human resources generalist will take a manager through short training programs if necessary to upgrade the manager’s skills.
Advising is a set of multiple talents in human resource management. A single question summarizes the ability. How well can the HR generalist develop, support, and maintain the company’s efficiency through human resource management?
If an HR generalist feels uncomfortable dabbling into employee relations or fails to assert healthy dominance, having a bachelor’s degree in human resources and a certification won’t cut it.
That’s why advising and management are among the most sought-after skills. Unfortunately, asserting how good HR generalists’ skills are is tough before starting the job.
Human resource management requires skills like employee relations management, background checks, and analyzing other companies.
This means that potential candidates might have the right administrative skills but lack the communication skills to pass on the information to the employees.
Finally, about 65% of companies still do annual performance appraisals since the likely future is continuous performance analysis, a great HR generalist will know how to adapt their job and skills to the change.
However, a proper management professional will establish the process before the higher-ups even ask them.
5. Communication Skills
Proper communication skills seem essential for any job. They are crucial whether someone is a developer in an IT company or a student working on their bachelor’s degree.
Furthermore, it’s hard to analyze communication skills and determine which of the twenty candidates is the right fit for any job.
Nevertheless, excellent communication skills are the cornerstone of any human resources position. About 91% of 1,000 employees feel that managers lack proper communication skills. Even more concerning is that 69% of managers dislike communicating with employees, especially on payroll, job positions, and general employee relations.
Human resources generalists rarely focus on a single job, so they need to multitask. Because generalists often multitask jobs closely related to other employees, they need communication skills to avoid getting lost in an employee management mess.
Manage Professional Relationships and Employee Relations
The better communication, the better generalists can handle the workforce. It’s also essential to note that generalists usually find themselves somewhere in the middle of the job hierarchy. Like the center in football, they are the bridge between the quarterback and the front guard, the HR manager, and other employees.
Employees might criticize the manager’s payroll decisions, while the manager might remark on employees not doing their job well. All of this can easily break on the human resources generalist’s back. In addition, if the human resources generalist can’t communicate well, the job can be too much to handle.
7. Recruitment & Training Skills
We already mentioned how essential hiring skills are. Unsurprisingly, talent is among the most sought-after skills.
When looking for candidates, HR generalists need to conduct interviews, correctly communicate payroll information, create onboarding programs, and perform other recruitment tasks.
Although an HR assistant will often help with the hiring, generalists usually need a complete understanding of all job recruitment duties. For example, human resources generalists might not conduct interviews with the candidates, but they need to know the procedures.
It’s possible that they don’t need to do background checks for hiring, but they must possess the ability to do it.
8. Know the Law
Human resources generalists must ensure that hiring doesn’t violate federal laws or result in discriminatory practices. Countries have legal responsibilities for employers to treat candidates equally.
Failing to do so can trigger company background checks, legal interviews, and business data collection. In short, the benefits of following the hiring laws are substantial.
It might sound obvious, but not knowing disciplinary laws can cause heavy damage to the company.
9. Intercultural Sensitivity
Any medium—to large-sized company no longer exclusively works inside the HQ. Even small businesses tend to post jobs outside their city or even country. Besides remote job management, intercultural sensitivity is another crucial aspect many human resource employees face.
Before the internet, generalists had to handle employee relations inside the company’s four walls. Today, the duties go well outside the organization’s walls.
Different cultures have different ideas. For example, although employee skills might match, candidates might have a different view of salary, employee relations, and job culture.
Employers must possess sound intercultural sensitivity for current employees or job candidates.
Failure to act accordingly often doesn’t come intentionally, but it can still harm the company.
With companies getting used to remote work, human resources generalists have new skills to master.
Although knowing intercultural relations from top to bottom isn’t necessary, generalists must understand how cultural relations can harm and benefit the office.
Furthermore, proper personnel education, disciplinary support, and compliance administration can help a company outperform its competition.
10. Proactivity
Most jobs focus on “do what you’re told” work ethics. An average job description will explain employee requirements, such as a bachelor’s degree, benefits, and salary.
But unlike most jobs, the job of a generalist must be proactive. Although proactivity is an all-around ability, like communication skills, it has a unique role for an HR generalist.
You can recognize a great shoemaker by the quality of the shoes. However, the logic behind HR generalists’ responsibilities is somewhat backward. Unlike a shoemaker whose end product is visible, a generalist’s isn’t.
A generalist is doing great work as long as the company functions. For that to happen, the generalist must be highly proactive.
11. Commercial Awareness
HR generalists should know how the company makes a profit. Since HR generalists offer support across the board, they can’t be effective if they don’t know what keeps the business alive.
Although commercial awareness falls in the finance and accounting departments, you should understand how to fill out any possible payroll duties.
For example, it’s possible that the most significant profit doesn’t come from the product but from business relations that arise from it. By understanding this, the generalist can come up with much better tactics and strategies.
12. Active Listening
Human resource management is all about understanding employees. While knowing the employment law is essential, it’s only half the story.
Human resources generalists must be active listeners who use regulations as the foundation for employee welfare.
This means that you can listen to employees or job candidates without prejudice. While easy on paper, leaving your troubles at home can be challenging when a deadline looms over your head. The same goes for employee training, payroll management, etc.
It isn’t difficult to communicate about a positive topic, such as a 5% compensation increase. But in cases where you need to bear bad news, you need to listen first and then act.
Finally, here’s an overview of the required skills.
Additional Skills and Competencies
In addition to the essential skills and competencies mentioned earlier, HR Generalists should also possess the following skills:
Project Management
Project management is essential for HR Generalists, as they often manage multiple projects simultaneously. This includes estimating, managing, and limiting the risks on project budgets and schedules, communicating throughout a project’s lifecycle, knowing what high-quality project work looks like, and delivering and managing it effectively.
By mastering project management, HR Generalists can ensure that initiatives are completed on time and within budget, contributing to the overall efficiency and success of the HR department.
Employee Relations and Conflict Resolution
Employee relations and conflict resolution are critical for HR Generalists, who often handle employee complaints and conflicts. This includes mediating disagreements, creating inclusive company policies, and training employees to use conflict resolution methods.
Effective conflict resolution helps maintain a harmonious work environment, essential for employee engagement and productivity. HR Generalists who excel in these areas can foster a positive workplace culture and improve employee satisfaction.
Data Analysis and Reporting
Data analysis and reporting are essential skills for HR Generalists, who often analyze HR data to make informed decisions about workforce management. This includes deconstructing information, evaluating it to draw conclusions, and using metrics and analytics to assess HR processes and improve areas like recruitment, retention, and employee performance.
By leveraging data, HR Generalists can identify trends, measure the effectiveness of HR initiatives, and make data-driven decisions that enhance the overall performance of the HR department.
These skills are essential for HR Generalists to perform their job effectively and contribute to the organization’s success. By possessing these skills, HR Generalists can ensure that the HR department runs smoothly and efficiently and that employees are engaged, motivated, and productive.
Conclusion
This concludes the article on the top generalist skills. The training process can seem daunting since a generalist handles many human resources duties.
A professional HR generalist has solid hard and soft skills like an HR manager. Since HR professionals hone soft skills through experience, entry-level generalists feel stuck.
You should improve your skills further and ensure you don’t stagnate. That way, you can lead the HR department and the company’s work environment in general.
FAQs
Here are HR generalist skills FAQs.
What are the key HR generalist skills to focus on during the hiring process?
The key skills include effective communication, knowledge of employment laws, conflict resolution, and proficiency in employee relations. HR generalists should also demonstrate strong organizational skills and the ability to assess candidates effectively.
How can I assess HR generalist skills during an interview?
To assess HR generalist skills, ask about real-life scenarios related to employee management, compliance, and conflict resolution. Also, test their understanding of the hiring process and how they approach assessing qualified candidates.
What role does an HR generalist play in the hiring process?
An HR generalist helps facilitate the hiring process by collaborating with hiring managers to identify qualified candidates, conducting interviews, and ensuring that the recruitment process is aligned with company policies and employment laws.
Which skills are most important for assessing qualified candidates?
The most important skills include interviewing proficiency, understanding job requirements, and gauging cultural fit. Additionally, HR generalists need strong analytical skills to assess qualifications and match them with the role’s demands.
What qualifications should an HR generalist have?
An HR generalist should have a combination of relevant education (such as a degree in Human Resources or a related field), knowledge of labor laws, excellent communication skills, and practical experience in employee relations, recruitment, and HR management.
How can HR generalists improve their skills?
HR generalists can improve their skills by attending professional development workshops, obtaining HR certifications, and staying updated on the latest labor laws and HR best practices. Gaining hands-on experience in different HR functions also helps.
What is the importance of communication skills for an HR generalist?
Communication skills are crucial for HR generalists as they need to effectively communicate with employees, managers, and job candidates. Strong communication helps in conflict resolution, policy explanation, and ensuring smooth employee relations.
How does an HR generalist contribute to employee engagement?
An HR generalist contributes to employee engagement by implementing programs that foster a positive work environment, addressing employee concerns, and ensuring that company policies support employee well-being and satisfaction.
If you are new to Human Resources and are looking to break into an HR Generalist role, we recommend taking our HR Generalist Certification Course, where you will learn how to build your skillset in human resources, build your human resources network, craft a great HR resume, and create a successful job search strategy.
