Do you think you have what it takes to become an HR in Nigeria? Are you great with people management? Are your communication and social skills top-notch? Would you rather manage people in-house than managing customers?
If you said yes to most of the above, then the HR profession may be calling you. Read on to see the steps to take to become an HR in Nigeria.
Contents
What you need to become an HR in Nigeria
Degree
You are going to need at least a Bachelors degree or HND to become an HR personnel in most cases. This is important because you’d be dealing with people with different degrees and qualifications, so you need to have that minimum qualification.
By the way, in Nigeria, you don’t necessarily need to study in Human Resources or its equivalents in school to get the HR job. What you studied in school will most likely be ignored if you can get a professional certification.
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In fact, some organisations will rush you if you have a background in Communication, for instance, and then certification in HR. That extra communication expertise would come in handy, they believe.
You should get a degree in social science or personnel management if you realise early that you want to become an HR professional.
Here are some degrees you can obtain in different universities in Nigeria:
a. Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR)
b. Industrial Relations and Personnel Management (IRPM)
c. Masters of Employment and Labor Studies (MELS)
Certification
It means becoming a certified professional in this field. Some of the certifications you can obtain include CIPM (The chartered institute of Personnel Management) and The Institute for Human Resources, which specialises in IHR Certification.
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Passion
To excel in this kind of job, you need a lot of passion. It is like a requirement for survival. It is impossible to excel when you have hate in your heart. You will make biased, unfounded, and wrong decisions and choices most of the time.
It doesn’t mean you will ignore logic just because you’re passionate.
For example, when you’re recruiting for a position, and you find an applicant is not qualified, you can spend a minute checking the individual’s resume and explaining what you think is wrong or right. You should tell them where they need to improve.
Responsibilities of an HR in Nigeria
For most big organisations, different TEAMS handle each of these responsibilities. However, for small startups, especially those that are bootstrapping, an individual may have to take on all of these responsibilities. So, be ready.
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According to Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), here are the six primary functions of an HR:
- Talent Acquisition
This is like the foundation or the beginning of the job of a human resources professional. The process begins with identifying a vacuum in the organisation, advertising a vacancy, review applications, scheduling and holding interviews, and employing the right candidate.
The process seems pretty straightforward, but really, it’s not as it seems. It can get overwhelming, especially in the areas where decisions must be made; you have to tell most candidates “unfortunately…” and very few others “congratulations”.
- Human resources management
This is the core of the HR role. The success or failure of any organisation depends on its people. Assemble the wrong set of people, and the business is headed for failure. Hence, this responsibility of an HR person involves coming up with the right strategy for attracting, recruiting and retaining the best and suitable talents. An HR must be strategic and proactive to do this.
- Learning and development
From the orientation of new employees to other forms of learning, an HR is responsible for ensuring that the employees keep learning and growing. You see, how things are done this year is slightly different from how it was done last year. An even better comparison would be – how things were done in 2019 is not the same with 2020. The pandemic came and forced most organisations (that could) to go remote. Remote may be new to most employees, so the HR has a responsibility to provide the right orientation to ease them into the new normal.
Overall, the HR has the responsibility of planning and budgeting for learning and development, the career development plan for each employee, and constantly increasing their productivity and value.
- Total rewards
There is a common saying among career people on Twitter – “treat your employees right, else they will use your internet to apply for other jobs”. We can argue on its morality for days, but the truth remains that everyone can be selfish with their career, professional and financial development. So, when it seems they are not getting it from a place, they move.
Therefore, an HR has the responsibility of advising on the suitable competitive reward to offer employees to keep them happy and motivated. And to compete for the best talents in the industry.
- Performance management
Performance needs to be constantly evaluated to ensure everyone is doing their job as they should. This means that goals have to be set, and this is what the HR would assess against. This is known as KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
- Employment law
Every country has labour laws and policies, and this may even vary from industry to industry. The HR is responsible for ensuring the business adheres to these policies to avoid clashes with employees and/or regulatory agencies. Every employee must be protected and safe in the organisation at all times.
5 HR Roles in Nigeria
Most Human Resources professionals usually specialise in one or two of the above core functions, but some are generalists. Please find below in no particular order the 5 most financially rewarding HR roles in Nigeria.
- Human Resources Manager
- Human Resources Consultant
- Chief People Officer
- Human Resources Business Partner
- Vice President of Human Resources
Generally, entry-level HR professionals earn considerably less than their more experienced colleagues at the start of their careers. Planning is a crucial factor in successfully transitioning into Human Resources management. In instances where it happens during a job, there are specific steps you can take to make the transition as smooth as possible and maximise the opportunities that come your way.
A career in human resource management requires various soft skills, some of which you may already possess. Consequently, you need to take stock of all the skills you have that can be categorised under this category. These skills include knowing how to communicate effectively, handling confidential information, dealing with people, and conflict resolution skills.
Four things to do when breaking into the HR industry
- Set realistic expectations – Don’t expect too much but do the work needed to get ahead.
- Experience – Take advantage of internship opportunities to cement your interest
- Be certified – Invest in professional certifications at the local and international levels
- Build relationships/networks – Having some good relationships will help you throughout your career.
- Be business-minded – Understand the needs of businesses and how they operate.
You would take great pride in obtaining a Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) certification in Nigeria to pursue your career goals and aspirations. There are also specific benefits of this certification for you as a practitioner. As an example, you can:
- Become a part of a global network of HR specialists
- A solid knowledge base, a network of competencies, and an unlimited number of resources
- Gain respect and endorsement among HR professionals
In conclusion
In the past, a lot of people did not consider HR positions because they felt they were below their skill level. Of course, they know better now. Human resources can be challenging. It’s just been undervalued for a long time.
Therefore, whether you are looking to transition to human resources management or you intend to start your career straight in the field, the information in this guide would come in handy.
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