HR Generalist
What is an HR Generalist?
The Human Resources Generalist is responsible for managing all the HR operations and strategies within a company. The HR generalist oversees the administration of all people related matters such as:
- attendance management
- compensation and benefits
- employment law
- employee relations
- organisational development
- performance management
- recruitment
- reward and recognition
- succession planning
- training and development
In larger organisations, the Human Resources Generalist works in conjunction with human resource specialists to ensure a comprehensive HR service is delivered to the business. When working for a smaller business, HR generalists often work on a stand alone basis.
The HR objectives of a company are originated and led by HR generalists. These HR objectives should result in an employee-oriented, high performance culture that emphasizes quality, high standards, productivity and the recruitment and ongoing development of a superior workforce.
HR Generalist Job Titles
HR Director/Head of HR Job Description
What do I need to be an HR Generalist?
Generalist HR roles are very varied - one day an HR generalist might be dealing with succession planning, the next day advising senior managers on leadership development strategies. However, generalist HR roles can be rather reactive in nature which may mean that immediate problems take priority over longer term planning.
Starting a career as an HR generalist allows you to get a broad feel for the wide human resource remit, thus allowing you to specialise later if you so wish.
HR generalists should be adaptable and flexible in order to be able to take on the variety that a generalist role brings. Ideally, an HR generalist will be interested in working towards a CIPD qualification.
What's happening in HR? Read: It's better to be a jack of all trades than a master of one
