How to go from HR manager to HR director

The roles of HR managers and HR directors have evolved considerably over recent years.

Now, HR professionals not only have to ensure HR functions and manage company payrolls, but also have to keep a close eye on evolving business and HR recruitment strategies to attract the right talent for the company.

The job of an HR professional can be very challenging, with responsibility for hiring and firing decisions, handling a company’s most critical data, and keeping a watch over employee’s interests and welfare.

This indicates that pursuing a career in HR isn’t for the faint-hearted. Preparing for taking important HR decisions in your company requires relevant HR skills, and knowledge to climb up the ladder of success.

A senior HR position such as an HR director requires more advanced human resource management skills when compared to those of HR professionals.

Therefore, you need to have advanced HR-specific skills to empower your HR teams as an HR leader who can really make a difference and strategise HR operations accordingly.

If you are an HR manager looking to progress to a position of HR director, here are some of the skills that you need to learn, and possess…

Technical skills

One thing that differentiates an HR director from an executive or manager is their command over the technical side of the HR operations. This means they have more knowledge and awareness about how to use different automated HR software, and advanced human resource management systems.

In order to succeed and progress, you need to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies in order to have the ability to use evolving technology used in the HR space.

Also, you should be able to decipher a large amount of technical data to draw conclusions and minimise your workload keeping your technical skills sharp. In other words, you need to have HR-specific technical skills to climb up the ladder of success.

Transformational and leadership skills

If you want to become a leader, your HR related knowledge, skills, and expertise alone are not enough. You need the capability and willingness to lead from the front. Some of the transformational and leadership skills that you’ll need include:

• Striving to become a change champion
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Effective delegation of HR tasks and duties
• Creativity and motivation
• Healthy employee relations
• Effective HR team building and communication

Multitasking skills

HR directors have a very diverse role. Having command over multiple aspects of HR operations is impossible without the ability to multitask. Multitasking is vital because of the level of responsibility you will have. You will be partly responsible for the entire organisation you are working for, which means you’ll have to juggle multiple projects at the same time.

Strategy-building skills

As an HR director, it is your job to think about how your company is performing and how it will perform in the future. Strategising and capitalising on opportunities are important qualities for any type of director. HR professionals who know-how to strategise are more likely to progress to a director level position.

If you are an HR professional looking for your next career move, register with us.