Most Important Skills for an HR Business Partner at County of Ventura
Erin, a HR Business Partner, highlights the diverse skillset needed in HR, emphasizing "the ability to collaborate" and "problem solve" as crucial for addressing employee concerns and complaints across various HR functions. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, are equally important for interacting with stakeholders and providing effective solutions, along with essential technical skills like computer proficiency and effective meeting management.
Problem-Solving, Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Computer Skills
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Erin Niemi
HR Business Partner
County of Ventura
Cal Lutheran University
Cal Lutheran University - Master's of Public Policy and Administration
Communications
Government & Public Sector
Human Resources (HR)
Video Highlights
1. Collaboration skills are essential for HR professionals as it is a collaborative role.
2. Problem-solving and critical thinking are crucial for addressing employee concerns and complaints across different HR functions.
3. Strong communication skills are vital for interacting with stakeholders with empathy and providing helpful information and answers to their questions.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
I love this question for so many reasons. The cool thing about HR is that there is something literally for everybody. Anyone who has a skill in any area can definitely work in human resources.
But overall, for every single person that we hire, the ability to collaborate is key. This is a more collaborative role. The ability to problem-solve is also a really big one, because people come to you with different concerns or problems.
Although I work in recruitment, there are other branches of HR, like employee relations or benefits, where you have to solve maybe more payroll problems. Or if a candidate or a company member comes to you and says that they have a complaint, they like to file a grievance.
It doesn't matter which part of HR you're in; you will need to problem-solve and critically think. Communication is a big one too. You want to make sure that you're interacting with all your stakeholders with the passion and compassion they deserve whenever they come to you with a question.
As for hard skills, being able to use the computer, handle a meeting, and make phone calls are really big skills. Asking the right questions is also very important here. We want to make sure that we know what the person is asking us for and that we get them the help they need.
This applies whether it's recruitment, employee relations, or if a candidate is interested and wants to know more about what our organization does. We want to make sure that we're giving them a good answer to those questions and providing the information they are seeking.