How to become an HR manager

Companies have always needed HR professionals to help their organisations operate smoothly and find the best talent for their vacancies.

While some businesses entrust these duties to an in-house human resources team, others are increasingly turning to freelance HR specialists and the opportunities they can provide.

Not only do companies benefit from the flexibility and specialist knowledge contractors can bring, but being a self-employed HR manager has benefits for individuals too – variety of work and more control of working hours, to name but a few.

We’ll provide key information about the role of HR in organisations in general, as well as the skills and qualifications you’ll need to work in the sector. We’ll look specifically at working as a HR manager on a contract basis too.

In this article, we’ll cover:

1. What does human resources do?
2. How to get into human resources
3. How to become an HR specialist

1. What does human resources do?

As the title suggests, the role of HR is focused on people – managing the needs of a company’s current workforce, as well as finding new talent to fill vacancies.

It’s responsible for promoting and managing the organisational culture, as well as ensuring best practices and laws are followed, such as reporting health and safety incidents.

How the HR department is organised varies from business to business, as this often depends on a company’s size, budget and focus.

For example, in small businesses, there may be only one or two team members who focus on HR in general, covering everything from maintaining employee records to hiring staff.

In comparison, a big company with a dedicated HR department may have individuals – or even whole teams – that specialise in a particular area of human resources, such as payroll or development.

What do human resources do?

While some organisations may have a small team of general HR professionals and others may work with several HR specialists, there are some key functions that a human resources department tends to perform, however many team members it has. Some examples are:

• Training and development – managing employees’ attendance at courses and other learning opportunities
• Workplace issues – managing conflict between team members
• Employee performance – monitoring lateness and sickness, and managing any reported personal or medical issues
• Employment law – understanding key principles of employment law, and how to act on them e.g. disciplinary procedures
• Recruitment – overseeing the recruitment process, including liaising with hiring managers to write and post the job advert, as well as screening candidates and on-boarding new staff
• Remuneration – setting and reviewing pay structures and benchmarks, as well as employee perks and benefits
• Company policies – creating and maintaining employee handbooks or documents with company policies on key topics, such as health and safety and whistleblowing

2. How to get into human resources

In this section, we’ll outline some of the most common ways of getting into human resources, with a focus on ultimately becoming an HR specialist.

There are a variety of routes into working in HR and becoming a HR manager. These include:

• Bachelor’s degree – in any subject, or human resources management specifically
• Master’s degree – in HR
• Vocational training – e.g. a Higher National Diploma (HND) or an apprenticeship in HR
• Work experience – on-the-job experience or training in a HR role
• Development – transition from an administrative, financial or secretarial role to take on additional HR duties
• Career change – transferable skills and knowledge from a related field that could be applied to HR, such as those gained from a background in marketing, sales, finance or law
• Training from a professional body – specialist Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) training offers qualifications suitable for entry level through to senior roles, including an HR manager.

If you’re looking to run your own business by working as an HR manager on a contract basis, you’ll need to have advanced level qualifications and more extensive work experience.

You could achieve this by getting a lower level HR role and studying alongside of work to progress up the department’s structure.

You could also consider a Master’s degree, or CIPD training. High level qualifications are particularly suitable for those wanting to offer HR consultancy services to companies – or work on a contract basis – as they equip you with strategic knowledge.

You can learn more about this type of training by reading our what is a CIPD qualification article.

3. How to become an HR specialist

At this point, you’ve learned more about what HR does and the different ways in to working in the profession. In this section, we’ll focus on how to specialise and work as a HR manager on a contract basis.

To set up your own business as a HR manager, you’ll need to consider:

Finding a niche

Whether you’ll be starting your business with many years’ experience in a particular area of HR, or you’ve done market research to see where the opportunities are for HR specialists, finding a niche that makes your business stand out from the competition is key. Some ideas for specialisms include:

• Recruitment – this offers opportunities to specialise further, such as focusing on senior or technical roles
• International HR – offering services to help companies with relocations or hiring talent from overseas, as well as policies and procedures for companies that have offices across multiple countries

Costs

While becoming a self-employed HR manager is a relatively low cost business idea, there are still some expenses you should budget for. For example:

• Training – whether you’re looking to complete a degree, CIPD training or other qualification, you’ll should consider course costs when compiling your business budget.
• Equipment – you’ll need a computer and a mobile phone, as well as any specific HR software you might require to carry out your contracts.
• Premises – you may decide to work from home or from a coworking space. Wherever you decide to work from, you’ll need to factor in the costs to get set up. This may be decorating your spare room and filling it with a workstation, or it may be the initial payments to secure a desk or office space.
• Insurance – you’ll need to protect your business, including its contents and buildings, as well as assurance for the advice you give or cover if you are unable to work.

Potential earnings

HR managers in the UK tend to earn between £20,000-£50,000 approximately. This varies depending on how many years’ experience and the level of qualifications you have, as well as differences between regions and sectors.

However, as a self-employed HR manager, your earnings are likely to vary, as they depend on how many contracts you can take on.

As well as this, when setting your rates, you’ll have to bear in mind that you won’t receive pay when you’re sick or on holiday. You should also budget for any periods of time in between contracts.

Promoting your business

There are a number of ways you can let potential clients know about your services. For example, you could:

Create a website – having an online presence is essential. You could use a website builder to quickly and easily design your own site with key information about your business, such as contact details and available services, as well as previous experience.

Be on social media – create a profile on LinkedIn to connect with other individuals and companies in your sector – especially those who operate within your specialism, whether that’s recruitment, employee relations, or something else. Use Twitter to share useful information with your network, such as articles on changes to employment law.

Hand out paper marketing materials – offline marketing can also be useful to promote your business. Print business cards and leaflets and hand them out if you meet potential clients.

Attend industry events – conferences, seminars and networking sessions all offer opportunities to connect with key figures and potential decision-makers. Plus, they enable you to stay up-to-date with the latest news and trends in HR.

Use word-of-mouth – once you’ve worked with a few clients, you could ask for testimonials to include on your website or social media profiles. Similarly, you could ask for referrals from previous clients who may know of other companies that are also looking to hire a freelance HR specialist.

What are the next steps?

From reading this article, you’ve developed your understanding of the role of HR, plus the training and skills you need to work in the sector, as well as how to become a HR manager. We’ve provided you with the key information you need to know to start your own business as a HR specialist.

So where do you go from here? Next, read our page on what is a CIPD qualification to gain a more detailed understanding of this essential training.