Human Resources Manager

In this career guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about human resources as a career, from roles and responsibilities, to work environment and roadmap to becoming an Human Resource Manager.

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Who's a Human Resources Manager?

If you’re a good judge of people and you tend to make sure that the people around you are comfortable and happy, consider a career in (HR) Human Resources! As an HR manager, you would plan and coordinate the recruiting and interviewing of new staff for an organisation. Once they are part of the organisation, you would ensure that they are comfortable and don’t face any problems in terms of growth opportunities and the work environment. If a career in Human Resources interests you, read on to know more about what HR involves.

Want to pursue a career as an HR? Deep-dive into HR with Atula Goswami

Responsibilities

What will you do?

Recruiting employees.

As a human resource manager, you will have to find candidates that fit in with your organisation and fulfil the demands of the job.

Example: If you’re looking for a senior copywriter, you would have to ensure that prospective candidates meet certain requirements like a minimum of three years of experience in the industry, etc.

Inducting new employees.

You will need to make sure that the candidates who join your organisation are well aware of what the organisation does, what their role and contribution to the organisation will be and introduce them to the other employees they will be working with.

Example: You can arrange for an orientation session for new joinees. This session could include minor details like lunch hours and designated holidays, to major details like who the organisation’s core team members are, what kind of work they do, etc.

Ensuring organisation development.

You must work towards improving the organisation’s capacity so it can meet any possible future requirements. This would involve educating employees with organisational goals, addressing workplace issues, ensuring high standards of performance, etc.

Example: You would arrange for monthly meet-ups with each team in the organisation to ensure they are working towards the organisation’s goals and check if they are facing any problems with meeting their targets and work with them to resolve any issues.

Evaluating employee performance.

You will evaluate the job performance of employees to ensure they’re carried out fairly. This would include checking the tasks they have completed against those that were assigned to them.

Example: You would arrange for a meeting with each employee and understand why they have or haven’t met their targets. This would tell you whether they could be promoted – given more responsibilities or whether they need another person to share their workload.

Maintaining a positive work culture.

One of your primary tasks will be to establish a healthy and positive work environment so employees can flourish. It is vital to have the right working environment in order to boost productivity.

Example: You could plan for rewards and incentives for hard-working employees to boost their morale and improve the overall culture of the workplace.

Resolving conflicts.

Every organisation has its share of conflicts. It is your responsibility to ensure that these conflicts are resolved without much hassle. You will be expected to solve the issue without showing favouritism or being judgemental.

Example: If there is an issue, understand all the sides of the conflict and work out a solution or a compromise that works best for all the parties involved.

Ensuring good employer-employee relations.

You must ensure that the employees are happy working with the organisation. This would include providing fair and equal treatment to all employees, coming up with policies that facilitate the employees’ growth and personal life, and organising for engagement activities.

Example: Maternity and paternity leaves are usually unpaid, but you could look at providing paid leave to smoothen your employees’ transition into parenthood.

Managing payroll.

You must ensure that every employee receives their salary on time. It is also your duty to calculate the right amount for the salaries and assist in the transfers.

Example: You would calculate salaries keeping in mind any cuts or reimbursements that need to be made to the employee.

Take the Mentoria career assessment test, to find out how well-suited you are as a Human Resource Manager.

Workplace

Where will you work?

Office

Human resources managers mostly work from the office as they have to constantly be in touch with the employees and the management. There are certain offices that offer flexibility in work timings but most human resources managers have to work only during regular work hours.

Agencies

You could work for a Human Resource agency that outsources managers to different companies to help them with their needs. Here, you may be required to work with just one or a number of companies at a time.

Home

Some HR managers choose to become consultants and work from home. If you choose to become a consultant, your job would mainly be to help companies’ hire the right talent and arrange for employee engagement activities.

Education

How do you get there?

STEP 1: Class XI-XII/Junior College

Arts is an ideal start into a career in Human Resources. Make sure you choose psychology as one of your subjects. It will help you understand human behaviour which is a requirement for a job in human resources.

STEP 2: Graduate Degree

Pursue a three-year BA in Psychology from colleges like Lady Shri Ram College for Women (Delhi), St. Xavier’s College (Mumbai), Christ University (Bengaluru), etc. A minimum of 50% marks in Class 12 is a must.

Alternately, pursue a three-year Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) or Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree and choose HR as your specialisation in your final year. Top colleges to pursue BMS and BBA are Jai Hind College (Mumbai), Manipal University (Manipal), etc. A minimum of 60% marks in Class 12 is a must.

STEP 3: Internship

To gain exposure and experience, do an internship in industrial psychology. You could work with a start-up or a corporate and assist them with pre-screening of applicants.

STEP 4: Land a Job

After graduation, apply for jobs with a start-up or a corporate. Your responsibilities may include keeping records of employees or assisting in employee orientation, training and development.

STEP 5: Postgraduate Degree

If you want to study further, pursue a two-year MA in Psychology with industrial/organisational psychology as your specialisation. Top colleges are Fergusson College (Pune), Amity Institute Of Psychology And Allied Sciences (Noida), etc.

Alternatively, pursue a two-year MBA in Human Resource Management from colleges like Xavier Labour Research Institute (Jamshedpur), Faculty of Management Studies – University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), etc. You must clear entrance exams like the Common Admission Test (CAT) or college-specific exams like Xavier’s Aptitude Test (XAT).

STEP 1: Class XI-XII/Junior College

If you want to build a strong background in business studies, choose commerce in your junior college.

STEP 2: Graduate Degree

Pursue a three-year BCom in Human Resource Management from colleges like RS Mundle Dharampeth College (Nagpur), IIS University (Jaipur), etc. A minimum of 50% marks in Class 12 is a must. Since not many colleges offer this elective, you can also pursue a BCom degree with any subject you like.

Alternately, pursue a three-year Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) or Bachelor of Business Administration degree and choose HR as your specialisation in your final year. Top colleges to pursue BMS and BBA are Jai Hind College (Mumbai), Manipal University (Manipal), etc. A minimum of 60% marks in Class 12 is a must.

STEP 3: Internship

To gain exposure and experience, do an internship in industrial psychology. You could work with a start-up or a corporate and assist them with pre-screening of applicants.

STEP 4: Land a Job

After graduation, apply for jobs with a start-up or a corporate. Your responsibilities may include keeping records of employees or assisting in employee orientation, training and development.

STEP 5: Postgraduate Degree

If you want to study further, pursue a two-year MBA in Human Resource Management from colleges like Xavier Labour Research Institute (Jamshedpur), Faculty of Management Studies – University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), etc. You must clear entrance exams like the Common Admission Test (CAT) or college-specific exams like Xavier’s Aptitude Test (XAT).

STEP 1: Class XI-XII/Junior College

Science is not the best option for a career in human resources, however, you could take up science in junior college if that is where your interests lie.

STEP 2: Graduate Degree

Pursue a three-year Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) or Bachelor of Business Administration degree and choose HR as your specialisation in your final year. Top colleges to pursue BMS and BBA are Jai Hind College (Mumbai), Manipal University (Manipal), etc. A minimum of 60% marks in Class 12 is a must.

STEP 3: Internship

To gain exposure and experience, do an internship in industrial psychology. You could work with a start-up or a corporate and assist them with pre-screening of applicants.

STEP 4: Land a Job

After graduation, apply for jobs with a start-up or a corporate. Your responsibilities may include keeping records of employees or assisting in employee orientation, training and development.

STEP 5: Postgraduate Degree

If you want to study further, pursue a two-year MBA in Human Resource Management from colleges like Xavier Labour Research Institute (Jamshedpur), Faculty of Management Studies – University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), etc. You must clear entrance exams like the Common Admission Test (CAT) or college-specific exams like Xavier’s Aptitude Test (XAT).

What skills would you need?

Problem-solving Skills

Problem-solving Skills

Patients will be coming to you with different issues with fertility. You must be able to assess their problem, analyse the reason and work on coming up with a solution.

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Time Management

Time Management

The best - and worst - part about marketing is that there is never a dull moment. But this also means that there is NEVER A DULL MOMENT. Be prepared to be working on several tasks at once. That means that there are times when you will have to put certain projects on the backburner. You will have to know how to prioritise so that you don’t lose out on any opportunities.

Social Skills

Social Skills

You will be working on a lot of cool projects and will be meeting a lot of potential clients and customers on the job. And so, a big part of your job will involve interacting with these people. You could be great at coming up with ideas, but that is only one part of your job. You will need to talk and meet people, build a rapport with them, to establish your credibility. Especially if you’re a freelancer, you will need to have certain social skills.

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Promotion levels

How do you make it to the top ranks?

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HR Assistant/Intern

At an entry-level job, you will be required to perform tasks like browsing through applications, or keeping track of employee punch-in and punch-out times.

 

HR Executive

As an HR executive, in terms of recruitment, you would be posting jobs, fixing interviews and screening candidates.

With regards to your administrative tasks, you would be involved with coordination between employees and the management, operational tasks like maintaining employee data, attendance, etc and also would be tasked with executing engagement activities with the employees.

HR Specialist

You would specialise in performing a specific type of task at this stage. Depending on the size of the company, you would specialise in handling tasks such as recruiting, maintaining employee records, managing the budget, etc. This position is far more common in large companies than in smaller ones.

HR Assistant/Senior HR

At this level, you would be addressing employee grievances, handling the hiring of the top management staff and several other departments. You would also have to organise recreational and training activities.

HR Manager/HR Director

You would be overseeing the HR team as a whole. Planning, directing and coordinating the administrative functions of the company would be your job. You would also be involved in coming up with strategies for employee engagement

Chief HR Officer (CHRO)

Normally seen only in mid-size or larger companies, this is the topmost HR position. Decisions made at the senior-most levels – of utmost importance to the organisation – will be overseen by you. You will work with other top management staff and develop HR plans that affect the entire company.

Thinking of a career as a Human Resource Manager? Take the Mentoria assessment test & talk to our career counsellors to get personalized step-by-step guidance for your future career path.

Scope

Pursuing your career locally VS abroad

If you pursue human resource management in India, you would understand the market here which would make it easy for you to get a job here. With a lot of start-ups setting up, there is a huge demand for human resource individuals who can help build a company from scratch.

While a graduate degree is enough to land you a job in the country, you can opt to do a Masters or MBA in HR management to further your knowledge in the field. Pursue an HR management course from colleges such as Tata Institute of Social Sciences, International Management Institute (Delhi), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, etc. The average fee for pursuing an HR management course in India is INR 2,00,000 – INR 20,00,000.

If you’re planning to do a masters, diploma or MBA course in HR management outside India, look to build a professional network there to help you with your job prospects.

Pursuing a Human Resource Management course abroad will broaden your knowledge of various tasks such as employee management, HR policies, managing employee grievances, etc. It would cost you around INR 6,00,000 – INR 35,00,000, depending on the university and the course you opt for. Additionally, you will meet people from various cultural backgrounds which will help you form a deeper understanding of people.

Payscale

How much would you get paid?

The exact number will depend on where you’re working, your education, skill-set and internship experience. However, we can give you an estimate of how much you could earn at each level of your career.


Specialisations

What are your career options?

Consultancy

Human resources consultants help corporate managers formulate policies, employment structures, benefits, and performance incentives. You would usually work on a contract basis and share your expertise and knowledge on the company’s human resources problems.

 

Training and Development

Training and development managers handle employees’ training and education within the corporation. You would organise for orientation and training sessions, onboarding training and any other in-person training that helps employees do better at work.

 

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and benefits managers oversee the choosing and implementation of the compensation and benefits programmes for their corporations. You would require an in-depth knowledge of the company’s corporate policy so as to select the perfect programmes for the employees. You must modify compensation and benefits programmes to make sure these programmes empower your organisation and attract the best talent.

 

Entrepreneur

HR professionals with an entrepreneurial bent can set up their own firm. You can build an organisation that hires employees for other organisations. You would have to look for clients, put out job posts, send relevant resumes to company HRs and coordinate with candidates to set up interviews with the company. You would also have to hire HR executives whom you can assign to different companies to handle their engagement and recruitment activities.

Human Resource – IT

HR IT experts could be software developers, system administrators or IT architects. You would manage the company’s database, create employee IDs, and look after the payroll system of the employees. You will play an imperative role in supporting the HR team in the hiring process with the use of technology and help the company stay efficient and organised.

 

International Human Resource

The job of an international HR professional involves hiring candidates for global positions. You would have to travel and successfully engage with different people to hire the right candidates. You would also have to design and implement a special orientation programme for the employees you hire based on where they are located. This programme should cover immigration, taxes, the line of work, transportation, accommodation, etc.

Human Resource – Business

HR business partners are responsible for aligning the business objectives with employees and management. You would serve as a consultant to the management on human resource-related issues. And work on formulating partnerships across the HR function to deliver value-added service to management and employees that reflect on the business objectives of the organisation. You would need to have at least 3-5 years of experience to get into this role.

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