Human Resource professionals are integral to shaping any company’s culture, but not just any HR professionals. They must be those dedicated to and genuinely interested in thriving.
Thriving as an HR professional is highly dependent on your willingness to participate in continual learning opportunities. Examples of this include continuously growing your knowledge of current events and trends in your field or finding ways to help your company improve employee relations.
All in all, when you’re constantly learning, you can find more and more ways to serve your company and employees better.
Here are six ideas for continuously learning as an HR professional to get you started.
1. Embrace the Concept of Lifelong Learning
First, you must embrace the concept of lifelong learning. If you’ve got your mind made up that you know all there is to know about HR and much of everything else in life, you won’t even bother with learning.
On the other hand, if you prepare your mind for continual learning and appreciate how important it is to succeeding as an HR professional and in life in general, you’ll be more open to improving at every chance you get.
Here are a few ideas for embracing lifelong learning:
- Study why learning is crucial in life
- Read books and other literature on lifelong learning
- See what successful people say about lifelong learning
- Talk with colleagues about how learning has helped them in their career
- Learn something new, apply it in your real life, and examine how you feel
- Educate yourself on how much things change in HR and the importance of flexibility in the field
Another way to ensure you’re always learning is to dive deeper into your current role.
2. Dive Deeper into Your Current Role
One of the main continual learning opportunities you have is in your current role, specifically, your level of engagement and how enthusiastic you are about your job responsibilities and the people you work with.
There is always an opportunity to learn something new each day if you’re open to and set on doing so. Each interaction you have with employees, each assignment you’re given, and even acknowledging how you feel in your role all present opportunities for valuable lessons to arise.
Dive deeper into your current role by:
- Constructively critiquing the way you work
- Studying how your team members do things
- Making personal connections with employees
- Forming solid bonds with coworkers on your team
- Accepting constructive feedback from company leaders
- Working with managers and other company leaders to discuss how to improve HR
- Being mindful of how your conversations and interactions with people affect your relationships with them
As you dive deeper into your current role, be sure to engage in all company-provided training as well.
3. Engage in All Company-Provided Training
If offered, company-provided training is an excellent opportunity to continuously learn throughout the year. Some businesses will add more training and development opportunities so long as their employees are interested. Some companies may not currently offer any training though, and if this is a gap at your company, consider putting a proposal together suggesting that they be offered, by highlighting the benefits of company-led training not just for the HR department, but many roles.
Consider attending, or suggesting, the following training sessions at your company:
- General HR duties
- Staying in compliance
- Employee relationship management
- Learning new HR technology and software
- How to better connect with company leaders
- Improving your hiring and recruiting techniques
- Managing payroll and other financial responsibilities
Company-provided training may also inspire you to explore traditional education opportunities that expand your HR knowledge and skillset.
4. Explore Traditional Education Opportunities
Don’t be afraid to go to college or attend a university to further your education in human resources. For instance, you can obtain a degree in human resource management, business administration, humanities, or workforce development.
You can also take certificate courses or individual classes for things directly and indirectly connected to thriving as an HR professional. For example, you may not think web accessibility is essential for a career in HR. However, it absolutely is.
Web accessibility training can help you ensure your company website and digital content meet accessibility needs for current and potential employees living with a disability. In addition, understanding web accessibility will help you ensure your company culture welcomes diversity and inclusion.
In addition to traditional education opportunities, be sure to take pride in self-education.
5. Take Pride in Self-Education
If traditional education isn’t for you, that’s okay. Take pride in self-education. For example, if you love to read books and literature on HR and being a better professional, do that. If you’re learning valuable lessons and information from following HR experts on social media, continue that.
You can also network with other HR managers and professionals in online groups, at conferences, or another networking event, and continuously learn things that way.
Lastly, you can keep learning by staying up-to-date with HR industry news and trends.
6. Keep Up With Industry News and Trends
When you keep up with industry news and trends, you remain a step ahead of the many HR professionals who don’t keep up with what’s going on in the field. And that, in turn, benefits the company you work for.
For instance, one of the major trends in HR right now is technology. Companies worldwide are implementing AI and automation tools in their HR departments to transform their HR processes and make their HR teams more productive. Additionally, high-quality technology and software attract top talent and make companies more of a contender in this highly competitive job market.
You can keep up with HR news and trends by:
- Signing up for email newsletters for popular HR-driven websites
- Doing internet research on your own on a weekly or monthly basis
- Following specific hashtags and accounts on social media geared toward HR
Ultimately, keeping up with industry news and trends will give you a leg up as a professional and give the company you work for an advantage as well.
Conclusion
Continual learning opportunities for HR professionals are everywhere. Start with the six ideas above to make learning as powerful as it should be in your HR career.
About the Author: Sam Bowman has a passion for health and wellness. As a seasoned professional writer, he specializes in topics about people, tech, healthcare and how they merge. In his spare time he likes running, reading, and combining the two in a run to his local bookstore.
