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Plan, direct, or coordinate human resources activities and staff of an organization.
Communication skills. Human resources managers need strong speaking, writing, and listening skills to give presentations and direct their staff.
Decision-making skills. Human resources managers must be able to balance the strengths and weaknesses of different options and decide the best course of action.
Interpersonal skills. Human resources managers regularly interact with people, such as to collaborate on teams, and must develop working relationships with their colleagues.
Leadership skills. Human resources managers must coordinate work activities and ensure that staff complete the duties and responsibilities of their department.
Organizational skills. Human resources managers must be able to prioritize tasks and manage several projects at once.
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Characteristics of this Career |
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97% | Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical. | |
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93% | Self-Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. | |
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91% | Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction. | |
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90% | Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. | |
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89% | Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. | |
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89% | Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. | |
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88% | Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations. | |
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85% | Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. | |
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85% | Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles. | |
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83% | Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. | |
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78% | Analytical Thinking - Job requires analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems. | |
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77% | Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. | |
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77% | Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks. | |
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73% | Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job. | |
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70% | Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. | |
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65% | Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Strengths |
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100% | Enterprising - Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law. | |
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78% | Social - Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities. | |
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67% | Conventional - Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Values of the Work Environment |
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83% | Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. | |
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78% | Recognition - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious. Corresponding needs are Advancement, Authority, Recognition and Social Status. | |
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72% | Achievement - Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement. | |
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72% | Working Conditions - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions. | |
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67% | Independence - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. | |
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56% | Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Abilities | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
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81% | Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. | |
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81% | Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. | |
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78% | Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. | |
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75% | Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. | |
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75% | Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. | |
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75% | Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. | |
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75% | Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. | |
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72% | Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). | |
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72% | Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem. | |
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69% | Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). | |
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63% | Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). | |
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60% | Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. | |
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60% | Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem. | |
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60% | Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations). | |
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53% | Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Skills | Cognitive, Physical, Personality |
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64% | Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job. | |
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59% | Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. | |
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59% | Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. | |
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59% | Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. | |
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59% | Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others. | |
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57% | Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. | |
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57% | Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior. | |
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57% | Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences. | |
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57% | Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. | |
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57% | Systems Evaluation - Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system. | |
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57% | Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. | |
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57% | Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively. | |
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57% | Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. | |
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57% | Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. | |
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55% | Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. | |
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55% | Instructing - Teaching others how to do something. | |
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54% | Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people. | |
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54% | Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things. | |
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54% | Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. | |
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52% | Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes. | |
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52% | Management of Financial Resources - Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Attributes & Percentage of Time Spent |
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100% | Telephone - How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? | |
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100% | Electronic Mail - How often do you use electronic mail in this job? | |
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99% | Face-to-Face Discussions - How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? | |
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95% | Freedom to Make Decisions - How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? | |
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93% | Structured versus Unstructured Work - To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? | |
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91% | Contact With Others - How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? | |
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90% | Indoors, Environmentally Controlled - How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? | |
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87% | Spend Time Sitting - How much does this job require sitting? | |
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83% | Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results - What results do your decisions usually have on other people or the image or reputation or financial resources of your employer? | |
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81% | Work With Work Group or Team - How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? | |
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80% | Letters and Memos - How often does the job require written letters and memos? | |
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77% | Frequency of Decision Making - How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? | |
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76% | Importance of Being Exact or Accurate - How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? | |
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73% | Frequency of Conflict Situations - How often are there conflict situations the employee has to face in this job? | |
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72% | Coordinate or Lead Others - How important is it to coordinate or lead others in accomplishing work activities in this job? | |
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71% | Responsibility for Outcomes and Results - How responsible is the worker for work outcomes and results of other workers? | |
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70% | Time Pressure - How often does this job require the worker to meet strict deadlines? | |
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67% | Responsible for Others' Health and Safety - How much responsibility is there for the health and safety of others in this job? | |
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61% | Consequence of Error - How serious would the result usually be if the worker made a mistake that was not readily correctable? | |
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57% | Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People - How frequently does the worker have to deal with unpleasant, angry, or discourteous individuals as part of the job requirements? | |
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55% | Level of Competition - To what extent does this job require the worker to compete or to be aware of competitive pressures? | |
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51% | Importance of Repeating Same Tasks - How important is repeating the same physical activities (e.g., key entry) or mental activities (e.g., checking entries in a ledger) over and over, without stopping, to performing this job? | |
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96% | Duration of Typical Work Week - Number of hours typically worked in one week. |
| A3 | Your Strengths | Importance |
Tasks & Values |
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96% | Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates - Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. | |
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94% | Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. | |
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93% | Staffing Organizational Units - Recruiting, interviewing, selecting, hiring, and promoting employees in an organization. | |
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93% | Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others - Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. | |
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88% | Making Decisions and Solving Problems - Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. | |
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87% | Getting Information - Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. | |
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86% | Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards - Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. | |
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86% | Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge - Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. | |
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86% | Providing Consultation and Advice to Others - Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics. | |
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84% | Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People - Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. | |
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83% | Developing and Building Teams - Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members. | |
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82% | Coaching and Developing Others - Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills. | |
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81% | Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates - Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance. | |
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81% | Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others - Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. | |
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79% | Developing Objectives and Strategies - Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them. | |
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79% | Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. | |
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78% | Training and Teaching Others - Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. | |
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77% | Working with Computers - Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. | |
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77% | Analyzing Data or Information - Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. | |
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76% | Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others - Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. | |
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73% | Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events - Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. | |
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71% | Documenting/Recording Information - Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. | |
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69% | Communicating with People Outside the Organization - Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. | |
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69% | Processing Information - Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. | |
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68% | Monitoring and Controlling Resources - Monitoring and controlling resources and overseeing the spending of money. | |
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67% | Thinking Creatively - Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. | |
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64% | Scheduling Work and Activities - Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. | |
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61% | Performing Administrative Activities - Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork. | |
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60% | Selling or Influencing Others - Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions. | |
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58% | Assisting and Caring for Others - Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
Human resources managers plan, coordinate, and direct the administrative functions of an organization. They oversee the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of new staff; consult with top executives on strategic planning; and serve as a link between an organization’s management and its employees.
Human resources managers typically do the following:
Organizations want to attract, motivate, and keep qualified employees and match them to jobs for which they are well-suited. Human resources managers accomplish this aim by directing the administrative functions of human resources departments. Their work involves overseeing employee relations, securing regulatory compliance, and administering employee-related services such as payroll, training, and benefits. They supervise the department’s specialists and support staff and make sure that tasks are completed accurately and on time.
Human resources managers also consult with top executives regarding strategic planning and talent management. They identify ways to maximize the value of the organization’s employees and ensure that they are used efficiently. For example, they might assess worker productivity and recommend changes to help the organization meet budgetary goals.
Some human resources managers oversee all aspects of an organization’s human resources department, including the compensation and benefits program and the training and development program. In many larger organizations, these programs are directed by specialized managers, such as compensation and benefits managers and training and development managers.
The following are examples of types of human resources managers:
Labor relations directors, also called employee relations managers, oversee employment policies in union and nonunion settings. They negotiate, draft, and administer labor contracts that cover issues such as wages, benefits, and union and management practices. They also handle labor complaints between employees and management, and they coordinate grievance procedures.
Payroll managers supervise an organization’s payroll department. They ensure that all aspects of payroll are processed correctly and on time. They administer payroll procedures, prepare reports for the accounting department, and resolve payroll problems.
Recruiting managers, sometimes called staffing managers, oversee the recruiting and hiring responsibilities of the human resources department. They often supervise a team of recruiters, and some take on recruiting duties for filling high-level positions. They must develop a recruiting strategy that helps them meet the staffing needs of their organization and compete effectively to attract the best employees.
Human resources managers held about 191,600 jobs in 2022. The largest employers of human resources managers were as follows:
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 15% |
| Management of companies and enterprises | 13 |
| Manufacturing | 10 |
| Healthcare and social assistance | 8 |
| Government | 8 |
Human resources managers work in offices. Some managers, especially those working for organizations that have offices nationwide, travel to visit other branches, attend professional meetings, or recruit employees.
Most human resources managers work full time during regular business hours. Some human resources managers work more than 40 hours per week.
Candidates typically need a combination of education and several years of related work experience to become a human resources manager. Although most positions require a bachelor’s degree, some require a master’s degree.
Human resources managers typically need a bachelor’s degree to enter the occupation. The degree may be in human resources or another field, such as business, communications, or psychology. Courses in subjects such as conflict management may be helpful.
Some jobs may require a master’s degree in human resources, labor relations, or business administration (MBA).
To demonstrate abilities in organizing, directing, and leading others, human resources managers must have related work experience. Some managers start out as human resources specialists or labor relations specialists.
Management positions typically require an understanding of human resources programs, such as compensation and benefits plans; human resources software; and federal, state, and local employment laws.
Although certification is voluntary, it shows professional expertise and credibility, and it may enhance job opportunities. Employers may prefer to hire candidates with certification, and some positions may require it. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), HR Certification Institute (HRCI), WorldatWork, and International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans are among many professional associations that offer certification programs.
Employment of human resources managers is projected to grow 5 percent from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations.
About 15,500 openings for human resources managers are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Employment growth depends largely on the performance and growth of individual companies. As new companies form and organizations expand their operations, they will need more human resources managers to administer and monitor their programs.
Human resources managers also will be needed to ensure that firms adhere to changing and complex employment laws regarding topics such as equal employment opportunity, healthcare, and retirement plans.
For more information about human resources managers, including certification, visit
Society for Human Resource Management
International Public Management Association for Human Resources
For information about careers and certification in employee compensation and benefits, visit
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
For information about careers in employee training and development and certification, visit
This table shows a list of occupations with job duties that are similar to those of human resources managers.
| Occupation | Job Duties | Entry-Level Education | Median Annual Pay, May 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Administrative Services and Facilities Managers |
Administrative services and facilities managers plan, direct, and coordinate activities that help an organization run efficiently. |
Bachelor's degree | $101,870 |
|
Compensation and Benefits Managers |
Compensation and benefits managers plan, develop, and oversee programs to pay employees. |
Bachelor's degree | $131,280 |
|
Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists |
Compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists oversee wage and nonwage programs that an organization provides to its employees in return for their work. They also evaluate position descriptions to determine details such as classification and salary. |
Bachelor's degree | $67,780 |
|
Human Resources Specialists |
Human resources specialists recruit, screen, and interview job applicants and place newly hired workers in jobs. They also may handle compensation and benefits, training, and employee relations. |
Bachelor's degree | $64,240 |
|
Labor Relations Specialists |
Labor relations specialists interpret and administer labor contracts. |
Bachelor's degree | $82,010 |
|
Top Executives |
Top executives plan strategies and policies to ensure that an organization meets its goals. |
Bachelor's degree | $100,090 |
|
Training and Development Managers |
Training and development managers plan, coordinate, and direct skills- and knowledge-enhancement programs for an organization’s staff. |
Bachelor's degree | $120,000 |
|
Training and Development Specialists |
Training and development specialists plan and administer programs that improve the skills and knowledge of their employees. |
Bachelor's degree | $63,080 |