Certification and Licensure requirements for becoming a HR generalist

• There is no requirement for any licensure for the post of Hr generalist position.
• Training for hr generalist is very much essential to grow in the organization.
• Training is provided by the company based on the candidate’s experience in HR field.
• Usually experienced candidates are only given training by the employers.
• Training in the fields of compensation, safety, benefits, labor relations, employees’ relations and other legalities.
• Certification in human resources is not compulsory but certified hr generalists are given preference by the employers.
• Certification programs like Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and Professional in Human Resources (PHR) are available for hr generalists to attain great heights in the field of human resources.
• Certified Professional in Learning and Performance certification is offered by the American Society for Training and Development.
• Certification programs enhance the career growth of hr generalists in companies.
• Some of the organizations bear the expenses of the certification programs for its hr generalists to enhance their skills sets and abilities.

What does a HR generalist do?

Human resources department plays a vital role for the growth of the organization. There are plenty of departments and divisions in the companies but human resources is the only department which is responsible for the recruitment process, manpower resources , maintenance of the employee records (personal information, salaries, promotions and benefits) and also cares about the employee benefits and bonuses paid by the company to the employer.

There are many designations in the Hr department which includes hr director, hr manager, hr generalist and hr assistants.  HR director is the head of the hr operations department of an organization. All the hr executives report to hr director directly. Hr director just oversees all the operations of the department. The role of a hr generalist is very challenging and their several duties and responsibilities for this designation in particular.

An hr generalist is a person, who is the front end officer of all the operations of hr department like the recruitment, employment, employee benefits, training and development, safety of the employees, employee attendance, records and retirements. The candidate who works as hr generalist must be very enthusiastic and passionate about his/her job profile since, he/she needs to interact with many people which include employees of the company and top level executives of the company.

The recruitment process for a company is very much crucial since the hr department must equip staff in all the departments of the company. The growth of any company depends on its employee’s performance. So, it is the responsibility of the hr team to evaluate the performance of the employees regularly, timely and ensure all the wages and performance incentives are paid to employees timely without any delay.

Mostly all the hr generalist are females and very few males are seen in this profession. Almost all the executives and non executives in human resource department are females.

What does a hr generalist really do?

The duties and responsibilities of hr generalists vary as per the industry and employer type.

Duties of a HR generalist

• Understand the requirement of new employees in various departments of the company.
• Conduct first phase of interviews for the desired applicants based on the number of received applications for the number of available vacant positions.
• Major duty of an hr generalist is to properly maintain the employee records of the company.
• Must have close look at the salaries and benefits of the employees.
• Scrutinize the performance reports of the employees weekly, monthly and yearly.
• Thoroughly analyze the need for development and training for the employees.
• Oversee the employee- employee relations.
• Identification of the employee’s talent and appraisal is essential for the betterment of the company.
•  Must be very much concerned about the safety of the employees.
• Enhance communication and behavioral skills essential for the employees.
• Make them understand about the importance of social responsibility in the society.
• Keep eye on the disciplinary actions of the employees and assist them.
• Make all the necessary arrangements for training and development programs of employees.
• All the safety procedures and regulations must be followed correctly.
• Conduct counseling programs for the betterment of employees.
• Help and guide hr assistants.

Responsibilities of a HR generalist

• Must follow all the principles and procedures of human resources.
• Responsible to check the performance of every individual of the company.
• To make employees feel enthusiastic conduct welfare and entertainment programs, events in the company.
• Responsible to improve employee relations by conducting seminars and get together.
• Oversee whether all the medical benefits and other medical insurance policies are enjoyed by the employee and their family members.
• Responsible to conduct in house training programs for the employees.

What does an hr generalist have to be trained in?

• The role of hr generalist plays a very important role for the growth of the organization.
• It is essential that the hr generalist must be well educated.
• Candidate must complete bachelor’s degree in business administration with human resources as the main subject.
• To handle this designation only bachelor’s degree is not sufficient it is always better that the candidate must have master’s degree in human resources.
•  Mostly all the human resources executives have masters degree in human resources.
• Master’s degree in human resources is always an added advantage and plus point for better career development of these professionals.
• It is difficult to understand all the principles and procedures in human resources for a bachelor’s degree holder in business administration with human resources specialization.
• Employers only prefer candidates with master’s degree in human resources.
• A master’s degree holder in human resources is aware of all the hr procedures and principles than a bachelor’s degree holder in hr.
• To attain higher levels in one’s career it is best to have master’s degree in that particular field.
• It is difficult to find universities and colleges offering bachelor’s degree in human resources in the under graduate level of their education.
• Only small firms prefer a bachelor’s degree candidate for this designation of hr generalist.
• Only educational qualifications are not sufficient to handle this position but the candidate must have excellent skills sets also.

What type of skills do does an hr generalist require?

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills are essential.
• Sound knowledge on all the basics, principles and procedures in human resources.
• To be good team player.
• Excellent leadership qualities are mandatory.
• Good presentation skills are required.
• Ability to work for long hours and weekends during recruitment process.
• Good convincing skills are required.
• Sound knowledge on benefits and bonuses for employees, labor laws is compulsory.
•  Aware of all the human resources procedures followed by other companies.
• Must be computer literate.
• Good proficiency in micro soft office tools like Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
• Knowledge on different computer operating systems.
• Withstand work pressure especially during recruitment process.
• Good knowledge on the company’s hr practices and procedures since, each company has its own hr regulations.
• Maintain good relations with all the staff members of the company.
• To be friendly with the employees during training and development programs.
• To be self confident, work independently and passionate about the job.
• Implement new innovative ideas in human resources.
• Aware of the recent trends in HR field.
• Ability to handle all the employees records information.
• Try to implement new ideas which would enhance the productivity, sales of the company.
• Need to travel during campus placements and job fairs in the universities and colleges.

Salary and Remuneration for a HR generalist

• Salary and remuneration for hr generalists are mainly based on many factors such as experience, work location, employer type, industry type and also the size of the company.
• In addition to salaries these executives are also paid high benefits and bonuses in the form of perks and incentives.
• Bonus for these professionals is also based on several factors like industry type, employer name, employer size and work location of the candidate.
• The median basic salary for an hr generalist is in the salary range of $34,089- $66,818 in United States per annum.
• A very good bonus and profit share are added in the total pay earnings of the candidate.
• Industry like manufacturing and distribution pays the best salary package range for hr generalists compared with other industry types of approximate salary range of $35,508- $70,843.
• The least salary range of $34,450- $68,906package is paid by financial services industry type for these professionals.
• The salary range package per annum also varies for hr generalists based on the gender type.
• Salary range of $39,674- $59,587 is paid to males and $39,623- $54,940 is paid to females.
• There are huge variations in the salary range packages of these hr generalists based on their number of years of work experience.
• An hr generalist with less than one year of work experience earns a salary range of $29,548- $57,068 per annum.
• One to four years of work experience the candidate earns a salary range of $31,523- $57,303 in United States.
• Five to nine years of experience hr generalist earns a salary range package of $36,854- $67,151 per annum.
• A HR generalist with ten to nineteen years of work experience gets a salary range of $39,019- $74,255 per annum.
• A very good experience track of twenty years and more than it the candidate earns a salary range of $39,577- $86,734 per annum.
• Work location of the hr generalist also majorly influences the salary range package for these professionals.
• Compared with all the cities in United States, New York pays the best salary range package for hr generalist of $42,133- $77,967 per annum.
• The lowest salary range package of $32,136 – $65,659 is paid by Dallas city in United States per annum.
• As compared with all the states or province in United States the highest salary range package for hr generalists is more in California of value $39,530- $75,931.
• Bonus based on the candidate number of years of work experience.
• An Hr generalist with less than one year of work experience is expected to earn a bonus of $1,013 in United States.
• Work experience between one to four years the candidate earns a bonus of $1,951 per annum.
• Five to nine years of work experience hr generalist earns a bonus of $2,465 per annum.
• Ten to nineteen years of work experience a bonus of value $2,567 is offered by the employers to hr generalist.
• A hr generalist with twenty years experience and more than it earns a bonus of $2,966 in United States.
• The scope of development and requirement for hr generalists is very high these days.
• Most of the employers pay very good salary packages based on the candidate previous experience in human resources field.