Training for Human Resources Management

For any business, human resources management training can help staff attract and retain talent

Human resource services involve more than just accepting resumes or issuing paychecks. Today, human resources management includes everything from interviewing prospective employees to evaluating current staff members, and developing retention and incentive programs that will encourage workers to stay with the company. Because human resources responsibilities include such a variety of tasks, even veteran HR managers may need training for human resources management to brush up on their skills. And employees new to human resource planning need HR information that will help them keep up with this constantly changing field.

Training options for human resource management jobs include:

1. Hiring a consulting firm or coach to conduct on-site assessment and human resource management training.
2. Sending your HR staff to seminars, workshops and classes.
3. Using videos, online courses and other "do-it-yourself" training tools.
   

 

Seek human resources information from consultants or coaches

If you want to train your entire human resources staff, or make changes to the entire department, you may need to hire a consultant or coach. These human resources companies usually include an assessment as part of their process, followed by recommendations and even help in implementing these suggestions. This option is sometimes more expensive, but also more personalized than other methods.
Try: Find a company that specializes in human resource management issues, such as ITM Consulting, The Williams Group or HR Consultants.

Send employees to human resource management training

A human resources class, seminar or workshop offers employees structured training and guidance from an instructor. Many of these programs focus on a specific topic, and so are ideal if there's a narrow area that needs improvement, rather than a major overhaul of management style.
Try: The American Management Association offers seminars in human resource management, ranging from basic skills to more advanced topics. HR employees can prepare for their certification with the Society for Human Resource Management's Learning System.

Conduct your own training with videos or an online human resources class

If your employees' skills are basically sound, but they could use a refresher, consider purchasing training videos or kits, or using online courses. With these you can train your entire management team in-house, without trying to budget for expensive tuition or consulting fees, and without using work hours to meet with a coach or send employees to a two- or three-day class.
Try: HR.com offers one-hour webcast training that you can watch live or download, and which qualifies participants for HR Certification Institute recertification credits. Cornell University offers online human resource management through its eCornell program.

 

• If you've never conducted human resource management training, ask employees for feedback after the program, so you can make changes before you create an ongoing training program.

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