What is HR Training?
Human resource training programs are specialized courses that teach HR professionals how to successfully onboard new employees, talent management, and effectively collect, store, and analyze performance data.
Since the scope of work in human resources is vast, different HR training courses provide different knowledge. A company will typically decide on a training solution that fixes its current weak points, so the organization creates a competitive advantage in the market.
According to Work Institute’s retention report, the cost of replacing an employee is 33% of the worker’s annual salary. Proper human resources training helps HR professionals and managers learn to retain workers and be better employers. Although around 56% of HR managers consider HR training essential for success, many organizations don’t invest in learning due to not understanding the benefits. First, let’s explore the importance of HR training courses.
Human Resources Training Benefits
Companies see HR training as a process to boost skills and bring value to their workplace. But the additional and equally important benefit is staying on top of shifts in legal requirements, compliance requirements, and other similar business essentials. Some examples are sexual harassment laws, where an HR professional can often have an unconscious bias.
While every organization needs to work on becoming better, it also needs to ensure that they don’t deteriorate. Here are the key importance of human resources training courses.
Compliance and Regulations Updates
Businesses must monitor regulatory changes to maintain compliance. Failing to do so results in issues that force the company’s focus from developing its business to keeping it alive. This often reflects negatively on employees and business partners.
Most HR training courses, be it online or in person, help managers understand how to independently stay on top of regulatory changes without investing too much time and resources. Some of the most common practices are:
- Monitor regulatory agency websites
- Build regulator relationships
- Find and attend conferences, seminars, and webinars
- Using regulatory change management software
As laws change, HR must ensure the company maintains compliance. Failing to abide by the latest changes in workers’ payroll, equality, privacy, and other essentials can lead to lawsuits and fines.
Master Hiring Methods
Every business has a recruiting and onboarding strategy. But rarely do you see a company developing its recruiting tactics. Although recruiting should be a continuous learning process, just like everything else, people usually fall into the comfort trap and ignore things they could do better. Not only can different HR webinars and training provide numerous tips, but they also teach the latest hiring techniques.
The most common examples are online job posts. Although websites like LinkedIn should make finding new talent easier, HR teams typically spend more time than necessary. The typical reason is that they approach online recruiting the same way they approach in-person hiring. Approximately 60% of talent abandon online job applications because they are too complex. This falls on the HR department and their lack of understanding of an average online job seeker.
A single-day online training program can help an HR team learn how to engage, attract, and recognize demand and talent far more effectively.
HR Data Analysis
HR teams are masters of collecting and storing employee data. The typical reason for doing this is due to regulations. But in reality, data is so much more. Analyzing existing data and collecting nonobligatory data such as employee satisfaction, productivity, or recruiting effectiveness can help managers and HR professionals make better decisions.
Although experience and critical thinking are mandatory, having data to back up your reasoning results in better business practices and provides confidence when presenting a plan.
Best of all, companies don’t need to hire an analytics expert to conduct surveys and analyze data. An HR certification program on people analytics can teach existing HR teams everything they need to provide reliable information.
Career Development for HR Professionals
Lastly, you don’t have to be an establishment to take HR certification courses. Experienced professionals and people looking to start their careers and learn at their own pace can take human resources training courses.
Most online courses have a certification program that proves one’s knowledge and skills. By taking HR courses, you can become a certified administrator or a certified analyst.
Since human resources require a broad skill set, it’s helpful to know what to focus on. The Internet provides access to countless possibilities, so let’s determine the most valuable human resources skills.
Essential HR Professional Skills
First HR departments date back to the early 20th century. While human resources have come a long way since then, there are still skills that, although important, people neglect. To ensure you stay on the top, here are specific HR skills that all companies need, together with some less obvious ones.
Employee Relationships
When discussing human resources, employee relations are the first thing in everyone’s mind. But managing the workplace is more than being a social person who understands how employees think. Although soft skills are critical, many hard skills complete the puzzle.
Employee relations can be an unpredictable territory where you can go from simple benefits management to solving complex social problems. Since you’re working with people, the more complex the issue, the more delicate and precise your approach must be.
Mastering employee relations is crucial in any HR career, so you need to develop a deep understanding before jumping into the ring. Taking a human resource training course or attending a couple of HR webinars can shed light on many questions and provide helpful administrative tips.
Talent Search & Onboarding
As already mentioned, you need to know what makes a top-talent employee and how to recognize one. But identifying and onboarding a quality employee isn’t necessarily enough. Just because someone has expertise and talent doesn’t mean that they will automatically adjust to your company’s culture.
Months can pass until an employee reaches their potential, and in the worst case scenario, never. The reasons can fall onto you or the individual, but in both cases, the business losses.
But if you dedicate yourself to learning what makes a great employee and recognizing if they will adapt to your specific culture, onboarding becomes much easier and more intuitive.
Talent onboarding has come a long way in the last 20 years, primarily due to available technology and resources. But this also brought up requirements such as HR software expertise.
HR Software
There are many digital tools an HR professional can use. There’s a digital solution for recruiting, onboarding, payroll management, employee data gathering, project management, etc.
Figuring out what HR software you need is daunting at first, but you need to know your requirements. Luckily, since the competition is high, software companies try to stand out by providing all-in-one solutions.
Companies will typically provide software training, either in-person or online courses. If you’re currently unemployed and looking to master HR software, you can still find a dedicated course and get an HR certification.
Same as with project or time management, everyone is looking to automatize as much as possible. Knowing how to exploit even the smallest feature from a digital solution can be the decision point in your career.
Employee Retention
Finally, we have employee retention. Maintaining key employees in your workplace is one of the most valuable skills an HR professional can have. It isn’t an easy job since often, you might need to convince decision-makers into unconventional actions. What happens in the workplace and the manager’s office are often two different stories.
A human resources training course will teach you the most common reasons why employees leave and how to handle and even predict them. Many certification courses come with administrative tips and basic compliance requirements since those can affect turnover.
To better understand, here are some of the most common reasons talented employees quit.
- Low salary – Employees don’t feel like the compensation meets their contribution.
- No development opportunities – Providing employee training and growth opportunities is essential to every employee, especially those with specific goals in their career.
- Poor culture – Although culture can sound abstract, employees know how an organization treats its talent—especially those who have experience.
- Poor management – Some managers manage team members because they have to. In return, you get dissatisfied employees who don’t share the value.
- No department synergy – Although you can blame employees for not synergizing, the more likely reason is poor employee management.
- Poor work/life balance – If an employee has to spend 14 hours in the office, even an excellent salary won’t stop them from leaving eventually.
Next, you should figure out what training method is best for your team.
Types of HR Training Courses
Different companies have different requirements when it comes to training. Furthermore, a small business will have different needs than an enterprise. While a young startup might search for a certified administrator, an enterprise will look for ways to improve its overall HR department.
Here are the most common human resources training types to determine which one is best for you.
Online Training Programs
Online courses were initially for individuals looking to prepare before looking for jobs. The self-paced approach provides everybody with a training opportunity through streamlined learning. But recently, you can find top-quality online courses for entire teams.
While a typical program consists of the lesson and test part, the course length varies from a single day to several weeks. Additionally, you can take them live or offline through prerecorded lectures.
Finally, if you decide to go with an online training program, choose one that offers materials that you can use even after the course is over. This is especially helpful for learning regulatory compliance and regulations.
If you’re an individual, you’ll also want to find HR training that includes an HR certification at the end.
Internal HR Training Courses
Companies who invest in internal training courses look to invest in the future. Usually, the business contracts an expert to provide a professional training program in the workplace in person. By bringing an expert to the office, you want to get the most value possible from the course.
Some courses focus on skill development and best practices, while others provide knowledge-based value through seminars. Other even combine in-person training with online HR webinars.
The internal HR training approach benefits companies of all sizes and is especially effective if you want to teach your HR how to handle sudden issues.
Furthermore, if you’re learning the latest compliance requirements, it’s constructive to have a professional whom you can ask questions.
HR Webinars, Seminars & Events
Seminars are a great way to get first-hand information from HR experts on the latest trends and practices. You can even find out about leading courses and training programs.
While seminars and events might seem less productive than a typical HR course, the learning experience can be equally beneficial. While courses typically have a developed program that they use repeatedly, seminars will give you the latest information.
It’s even possible to apply for a private online and in-person seminar. Seminars are typically a one-day deal, but they provide a fantastic introduction.
Seminars work best when you have an already engaged HR department. If they are proactive and willing to learn, a simple webinar provides quick access to everything you need without investing too much time or money in a typical course.
Conclusion
Taking human resources training courses is a great way to improve your HR department and the overall workforce. Better HR means better employees, so if you’re planning to invest in employee training, the best place to start is HR.
You can find an HR course anywhere, but not all provide the required knowledge. If you’re looking for a top-quality course, check HR.University courses and see if you find a program that meets your demand.
FAQs
Here you can find the most commonly asked questions and answers about HR courses.
What HR course is the best?
Courses vary depending on your needs, but some of the currently most popular HR courses are the HRCI Certification program, SHRM Certification program, and George Brown College, to name a few.
How long is a human resources course?
A typical course can last anywhere from a week to several weeks. This doesn’t include college education which lasts between three to four years. The reason for different course lengths can be either the number of lessons or the lesson’s complexity.
Is getting into HR worth it?
A career in human resources can be lucrative, especially for people who enjoy working with people. Human resources consistently rank high on the best career choices lists in the US. But remember, you still need to invest time and money into development to ensure you get the best positions possible.
