HR Manager skills for your CV

HR managers oversee people strategy, employee relations, recruitment, and organisational development. Employers look for CIPD qualification, employment law knowledge, and experience driving cultural change.

  • Human Resources
  • Salary range £40,000 – £70,000
Hard skills10
Soft skills6
Tools6
Certifications3

Hard skills

The technical skills for this role, grouped by how much they matter.

Essential 4 skills

  • Employee RelationsDisciplinaries, grievances, performance management
  • Employment LawERA 1996, Equality Act, TUPE, Working Time
  • Recruitment & SelectionEnd-to-end process, employer branding
  • Performance ManagementFrameworks, appraisals, objective setting

Important 4 skills

  • HRIS/People SystemsWorkday, BambooHR, PeopleHR
  • Organisational DevelopmentChange management, culture, engagement
  • Learning & DevelopmentTraining needs analysis, programme design
  • Compensation & BenefitsBenchmarking, reward strategy, job evaluation

Valuable 2 skills

  • HR AnalyticsTurnover analysis, engagement metrics, dashboards
  • TUPECritical for M&A and outsourcing scenarios

Soft skills

  • Communication
  • Empathy
  • Discretion
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Leadership
  • Strategic Thinking

Tools

  • Workday
  • BambooHR
  • PeopleHR
  • LinkedIn Recruiter
  • Culture Amp
  • SurveyMonkey

Certifications

  • CIPD Level 5/7
  • Mental Health First Aider
  • Mediator Training
TipsCV

How to show these on your CV

  • Show business impact: "Reduced attrition from 22% to 14% through redesigned onboarding programme."
  • Include your CIPD level and membership status prominently.
  • Mention employee numbers you support — it shows scale.

Got the skills? Make them count

Check your CV free to see how well it matches this role, then put these skills to work with the guided editor before you apply.