What are the qualities needed to be a great HR specialist?

Here are a couple of important qualities HR professionals should have, according to Elly:

Problem-solving way of thinking

Computers take over many processes, which leads to increasing demand for skills that computers are not good at (skills that cannot be converted into codes), like analysing, evaluating and creating new ideas.

Fortunately, human insight is still needed for this. Also, in Human Resources, the HR analytics part becomes more and more important. In an HR business partner role, you can convince people quicker when you use data and insights as foundation for your advice and decisions.

Collaborating with various people

In a completely globally connected world, employees are supposed to be able to function in any environment. This requires language skills and adaptability, as well as having the ability to be collaborative in a multicultural environment.

Social intelligence

More and more processes will be automated in the future. But, fortunately, computers are still behind human skills in several areas, mainly in the social field and understanding emotions.

That brings us to competence number three: social intelligence. HR people understand what different target groups want and what motivates them to take action. It is important to reach the core of the wishes and needs of these target groups. Then you can respond quickly to their signals.

Creativity

To stay ahead of competitors as an organisation, creativity is needed. As an HR generalist, you should be able to come up with new working methods, improvements and original ideas which make the organisation stand out from the crowd.

Insight into new media

Know how to use different communication channels. Content generated by the user occupies a more prominent place in the business world. Think videos, blogs, podcasts and infographics instead of static PowerPoint presentations.

The ideal employee of the next decade is described as "T" shaped: they have extensive knowledge of at least one topic but are able to translate this knowledge into a wider range of disciplines. As an HR Generalist, it means that you need to know about recruitment and compensation & benefits, but it’s also key to have knowledge about talent management, training developments, legislation and regulations and data analyses.