The role of a HR professional requires managing projects of various sizes and complexity. Whether it’s finding and recruiting the right candidates, organizing team-building weekends or overseeing disciplinary actions, project management skills are essential for any HR professional.

A project management professional (PMP) certification can help HR professionals advance their careers by better equipping them to manage the human resources within their organization. Learn more about how to become a project manager.

With the COVID-19 pandemic transforming the working landscape, the right skills can help HR professionals to meet the challenges they face and adapt to these uncertain times.

In this article, we have listed some of the key project management skills that HR professionals can benefit from putting into practice to successfully undertake their projects and help their organizations grow.

Communication

HR professionals need to communicate effectively across all levels of an organization from employees to CEO. Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication skills are essential for any HR professional to do their job well. From empathy and negotiation to conflict resolution, the nature of this role requires interaction with different types of people and situations throughout the day.

To successfully handle employee grievances, HR managers need to critically listen and exude discretion and calm. Employees need to feel comfortable discussing sensitive issues and must feel their concerns will be dealt with fairly.

When it comes to managing projects such as human resources allocation in order to align with company strategy, clear and effective communication is vital to ensure all members of the team are aware of the objectives and have a common understanding of what is required.

Leadership

A successful HR professional must represent and adhere to the values of their organization in order to guide, advance and lead the company in this direction. Developing leadership skills can be a great asset to your skillset.

These values and ethics will determine matters such as employee recruitment policies, as well as the manner in which disputes are resolved. Being an HR professional you are uniquely positioned to help instill these values into the company culture and ensure all employees share and uphold the values of the organization through the implementation of company policies and practices.

In addition to helping the company share its vision, a successful HR manager leads employees through change by welcoming feedback and involving them in decisions that will affect them. This shows staff that they are valued and can help to boost morale in the workplace.

Time Management

An effective HR manager needs to be organized and manage their time well. Acting as a liaison between various parties they need to ensure tasks are completed on time and projects are progressing according to plan.  HR professionals are responsible for many time-sensitive tasks  such as:

• Employee Documentation: Sending out employee contracts, arranging benefits, insurance and payroll matters.
• Meetings: Scheduling employee appraisals and performance reviews, interviews with prospective and exiting staff and meetings with heads of departments.
• Compliance: HR is responsible for putting in place policies and practices such as Health and Safety policies in a timely manner as well as ensuring the company has met its legal obligations in relation to compliance matters.

Good time management skills can help HR professionals to prioritize tasks as they come in from various departments each day. Learning to effectively say no to matters as well as delegating on larger projects are all skills that can improve efficiency and productivity.

Problem Solving

Problem-solving is a key skill needed by a project manager when things do not go according to plan. Identifying the best and most effective way to solve a problem often requires collating information and input from relevant parties.

Similarly, HR professionals need to be effective problem solvers when handling various matters. The management of any company often relies on the HR department to come up with fast and creative solutions to overcome administrative challenges. When it comes to addressing complaints and managing disciplinary actions, HR professionals must be able to clearly identify the issues by asking relevant questions, analyze information and come to conclusions. They must also be able to resolve delicate matters logically and fairly with the least amount of disruption or damage to the organization.

With the continual change in the world as well as in the workplace, the role of HR professionals has been stretched to effectively respond to matters such as employee safety concerning COVID-19, the challenges of remote working as well as employee retention. All of these issues require problem-solving to be high on their list of skills.

These four project management skills can help you be more effective and successful in your role as a HR professional.

Author bio: 

Habib-Ur-Rehman is well-known writer for tech, business, food and multiple topic writer with updated info for the audience, believe in the researched based content writing with outstanding writing style.