HR assistants are one of those unsung roles in a company that often lift way above their pay grade. If you’re about to start the hiring process for an HR assistant, read on. This is one recruitment that might require a little more thought than you might expect.

This may not be one of those roles where it’s a good idea to hire someone based on a quick scan of their résumé. In this article, we’ll walk you through three key skills you might want to watch out for when choosing a candidate.

Reporting Skills

Communication is naturally a big thing to focus on, but it’s important to understand what that means during an HR assistant recruiting campaign. In most industries, this is a high-stress role, and that stress can often be caused by communication and reporting gaps.

As C-Suite Assistants explains, this is a role that frequently deals with everything from recruiting and administrative support to personnel management and employee relations. This is why any HR assistant you hire should ideally be someone who can promptly report status updates.

In some industries, every second lost counts. Data collection and organization is often a task that falls to HR assistants, and if issues arise, they need to be reported quickly. If they aren’t, you might experience operational delays as a result of missed deadlines when submitting paperwork for compliance and regulations.

Essentially, this means that they need to know when to ask questions, how to escalate issues, when to do so, and with whom. HR assistants will likely be the first point of contact within the company, and inexperienced ones could face challenges under pressure.

Of course, this means you’ll also need to budget for one appropriately. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average HR assistant has a mean annual salary of about $48,800. If you have high expectations, remember that the candidate might expect compensation to reflect that.

A Keen Eye for Detail

While solid reporting and communication skills are going to be necessary, they also need to be backed up by vigilance. Think about it: an HR assistant is going to be involved with all the nitty-gritty details of your business. Given the workload they’ll be under, the chance of mistakes happening could be higher.

HR assistants often deal with sensitive data, and the implications of any mistake can be significant. For example, in the healthcare sector, they’re usually responsible for assisting with compliance with medical regulations. In finance, they’ll have to understand and assist with complex documents. Sometimes, they may even have to help out in preparing audits.

As you can imagine, it’s important that they can spot and correct oversights before they have the potential to escalate into problems. These errors can be as small as a typo in formal communication or an additional ‘0’ on an employee’s paycheck.

This is why you want to ensure you’re hiring someone that creates a net-positive impact on your operation.

You might have heard of Boeing’s decision to terminate 400 HR workers in 2023. The culling of unproductive employees is a move that many companies are taking these days to streamline their operations. It’s also something you may want to keep in mind even when you’re in the hiring stage. Remember, it’s better to hire good people than to fire later.

Their Adaptability

Many recruiters tend to give too much importance to soft skills or years of experience but fail to look at something critical—practical adaptability. Here’s the thing. HR assistants can sometimes be put through the wringer. In an ideal world, they are only delegated minor tasks that match their ‘assistant’ title.

However, the reality is that in many situations, they’re going to be assigned tasks well above what any HR assistant can manage. You might feel like that’s not going to happen in your company, but it often does. In these situations, you’ll want someone who knows how to adapt and think on their feet.

This isn’t a role that’s known to have great support in most organizations. They’re often on their own and may become the department everyone blames in the company.

Bryan Hancock in a McKinsey Talks Talent episode references research that showed how 35% of HR leaders believe management doesn’t care for their mental health. It’s going to be a doubly stressful experience for assistant roles in human resources.

Thus, ensure you have confidence that they’ll manage when assessing them on questions like, “Does the candidate look like they can hold their own?”

All things considered, an HR assistant can be a massive asset to your company, so don’t underestimate the term “assistant.” They can help relieve pressure on your existing HR staff, which could improve other aspects of the workplace.

As we mentioned earlier, there’s no point in hiring someone without a proper assessment and then having to let them go later. That’s a bad experience for everyone involved. Put in the effort during the assessment, and you’ll likely be glad you did so in the future.

Published by Liana P.