With over 135,000 members throughout the UK, Ireland and internationally, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is Europe’s largest HR and development professional body.
Why choose a career in HR?
Not so long ago, HR was known as ‘staffing’ or ‘personnel’ running payroll and hiring and firing people. But making the most of the people you’ve got, and getting the people you need has become a priority for the world’s leading companies.
Working in HR gives you such a great insight into all aspects of a business. If gives you the opportunity to really work out how successful organisations tick and how those that aspire to be successful can become so. When the needs and talents of individuals are lined up with the organisation’s aims and purpose, HR can really help a business to achieve sustainable levels of success.
Skills necessary to succeed in HR
The skills you need to work in HR may not be what you expect. It’s not just the softer ‘people skills’ that are important in HR. You need to have a strong interest in business and the strategy that underpins its success. You need a good degree of numeracy to analyse information such as employee surveys, key success indicators of projects or the financial and personal value of an employee to the organisation. The ability to coach others in the business, to partner (but also be willing to challenge) managers and to become someone the trust implicitly is also critical.
Find out more about where a career in HR could take you
To view a transcript of our recent live Q&A session on Milkround, please click here.