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Assistant Lecturer, Faculty of Business, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), Sri Lanka 2. Lecturer, Faculty of Business & Management, SAEGIS Campus, Sri Lanka Skills and competencies are vital assets for any individual in order to carry out the tasks and duties in triumphant manner. In today’s globalized and exigent business environment Human Resources (HR) managers need apposite skills and competencies to thrive in business organizations. Even though skills and competencies are important to HR managers; researchers have identified that an empirical gap is existing in Sri Lanka; as Sri Lankan researchers have not conducted the researches in the area of competencies and skills of HR Managers job which consists with Senior Manager (HR), HR Manager, Group HR Manager, Group HR and Administration Manager and HR Manager (Specialized HR Function). The research question of this exploratory study is what are the skills and competencies needed or expected by the organizations in Sri Lanka for HR Managers? There are two research objectives in this current study, mainly; to identify the skills and competencies needed or expected from HR Managers by the Sri Lankan Organization and to give an insight on theoretical perspective for the skills and competencies needed for key HR Managers. To achieve those two research objectives, researchers used HR job advertisements appeared in Sunday Observer Newspaper, Topjobs website for the period of November 2015 to November 2016 of time. The current research was carried out in non-contrived setting and the time horizon of the study is longitudinal under minimal interference of the researchers’. The findings of this exploratory study proved that communication skills, interpersonal skills, computer Literacy, leadership skills and negotiation skills were identified as most expected skills for HR Managers in Sri Lankan Organizations. As per the second major finding of this study researchers found that human skills from three managerial skills introduced by Robert. L. Katz are mostly expected skills by the Sri Lankan organizations. The findings of this study are useful to current HR Managerial job holders, future HR Managerial job seekers, teachers, university lecturers and educational policy makers. Keywords: Key HR Managerial Jobs, Skills and Competencies Required for HR Manager, Exploratory study, HR Managers INTRODUCTION In today’s competitive and challenging business world Human resources play an imperative role. Organizations are now very keen on attracting and retaining skillful workforce as it augments http://www.absronline.org/journals mailto:rsachinthana@gmail.com Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 338 organizations with a competitive advantage. Nowadays organizations are very ardent on procuring right employees with right competencies to the organizations because it enhances the chances of achieving organizational strategic goals and objectives in an efficient and effective manner. Due to this context importance of HR professionals in business organizations have leveled up especially in 21st century compared to past few years as well as the roles they have to perform have been changed drastically. HR professionals have to perform roles such as strategy formulator, advisor, innovator mediator, mentor (Arulrajah and Opatha, 2010) and also as a culture and change steward, credible activist, talent manager, business ally, operational executor, and strategy architect Ulrich et al, 1995). Further they should be proficient enough to perform traditional HR functions such as job analysis, HR planning, recruitment and staffing, performance evaluation, discipline management etc along with the newly generated HR functions as engaging employees, collaborating with customers and creating shareholder wealth etc (Arulrajah and Opatha, 2010; Ulrich et al, 1995). When HR professionals are performing their roles and tasks in an efficient manner it will enable them to get the utmost contribution from each and every individual in the labor force. HR competencies would be knowledge, value and abilities of the HR professionals and those who poses these competencies will thrive in the business world instead of the HR professionals who had been successful in the past decade as the role of HR Managers have been changed drastically (Ulrich et al, 1995; Jamshidi et al, 2012). The main focus of this paper is on the essential skills and competencies of HR Managers in Sri Lanka as there is a considerable gap in the empirical knowledge with this regard. In order to minimize the gap to a satisfactory scope this paper addresses the following question: What are the skills and competencies needed or expected by the organizations in Sri Lanka for HR Managers? Objectives of the Study Objectives of this study were;  To identify the skills and competencies needed or expected from HR Managers by the Sri Lankan Organization.  To give an insight on theoretical perspective for the skills and competencies needed for key HR Managers. LITERATURE REVIEW As human resource functions have changed over the last few years HR Managers had to add more values to their organizations by enhancing their skills and competencies. Therefore it is inevitable to align HR Managers’ skills and competencies to the changing roles of HR functions (Yeung, Woolcock and Sullivan, 1996). As cited by Armstrong (2009) Mansfield (1999) has defined competency as ‘an underlying characteristic of a person that results in effective or superior performance’ where as Rankin (2002) describes competencies as ‘defi nitions of skills and behaviours that organizations expect their staff to practice in their work’. For the current study Researchers have taken Boyatzis (1982) definition of the competencies as the working definition of competencies; i.e. “ A capacity that exists in a person that leads to behavior that meets the job demands within the parameters of the organizational environment and that, in turn brings about desired results” (Armstrong, 2009). Various scholars have defined skills in different ways. For the current study skills have been defined as capabilities possess by individuals in order to perform tasks and roles in an efficient and effective manner while achieving the desired goals and objectives (Arulrajah and Opatha, 2010). Katz (2009) proposed three managerial skills needed very much by the managers and they are Technical skills, Human Skills and Conceptual skills. Accordingly technical skills means the job specific knowledge and techniques needed to perform work tasks properly, human skills means the ability to work well with other people individually as well as in a group, and conceptual skills means the ability to think and to conceptualize about abstract and complex situations (Robbins & Coulter, 2012). Since various scholars have identified different skills and competencies for HR professionals Table 1 was developed to demonstrate the skills and competencies needed by HR Managers to Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 339 accomplish their organizational tasks and activities in a resourceful and effectual manner. Table 1: Skills and Competencies Needed for HR Managers Author Skills and Competencies Ulrich, Brockbank, Johnson, and Younger (1995) Talent manager, culture and change steward, strategy architect, operational executor, business ally, and credible activist. Yeung, Woolcock and Sullivan (1996) Business acumen, influencing skills, Leadership skills, capacity to facilitate and implement change, Organizational effectiveness, Consultation/OD Skills, systematic thinking, technical HR expertise, Communication skills, Fact based perspective, process management and improvement skills, customer orientation, conflict resolution and negotiating skills, credibility and integrity Sanghi (2004) HR knowledge, HR skills, Personal attitudes and values. Dessler (2008) HR proficiencies, business Proficiencies, leadership proficiencies, and learning proficiencies. Change management, communication skills, conflict management, ethical decision making, leadership, managing organizational culture, negotiation skills, quantitative analysis, teambuilding Opatha (2009) Technical competencies, human relations competence, conceptual competence, intelligence, appropriate personality, individual good character, and personal/self management competence. Arulrajah and Opatha (2010) Communication and language skills, leadership skills, skills in handling ICT facilities, Skills in management, technical skills, skills aligning HRM with specific business needs, skills in dealing with people, skills in team working, other general skills. Jamshidi, Zeinahvazi, Aadal, and Sabet (2012) Achievement orientation, team building and team working, leadership, communication, HR professional skills and knowledge, empowerment, time management, stress management, creativity and innovation, change management, crisis management, risk management Amara (2014) Knowledge and expertise in HR, communication, innovation, presentation skills, approachable, delegation, decision making, business acumen, time management and self management, Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 340 motivating, leadership, metric oriented. METHODOLOGY This can be consider as an exploratory study which was conducted by analyzing HR job advertisements for HR Managerial jobs appeared in Sunday Observer Newspaper, Topjobs website, for the period of November, 2015 to November, 2016 of time. The current research was carried out in non- contrived setting and the time horizon of the study is longitudinal under minimal interference of the researchers. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Skills and competencies details of Senior HR Manager / HR Manager jobs were collected from 150 HR vacancy advertisements which published on Sunday Observer and http://www.topjobs.lk/ web site during the year 2015-2016. Those advertisements were published for organizations which are doing their operations in Sri Lanka. Skills and competencies s requirements twenty four (24) job designations from Senior Manager (HR) to Manager (HR) were studied under this research study. Following table provides number of job advertisements published for twenty four key HR Managerial jobs for the study period. The highest number of HR job advertisements published for the study period is HR Manager and there were ninety four (94) vacancy advertisements for that position. The next highest number of job advertisements published were HR and Administration Manager Vacancy and there were fourteen (14) job advertisements for that position. The lowest number of HR vacancy advertisements published was one advertisement for several HR Manager (specialized function). Remaining tables proves information about skills, competencies and qualifications requirements for twenty four key (24) HR Managerial jobs. Table 02: Key HRM Jobs: Number of Job Advertisements /Vacancies Selected HR Managerial Job Number of Advertise ments % 1 Senior Manager- Human Resources 05 3.33% 2 Senior Training Manager 01 0.66% 3 Senior Manager- HR & Support Services 01 0.66% 4 Senior Manager- Learning & Development 01 0.66% 5 Senior Talent Acquisition Manager 01 0.66% 6 Senior Manager- HR & Administration 01 0.66% 7 HR Manager 94 62.66 % 8 HR & Administration Manager 14 9.33% 9 Group HR Manager 05 3.33% 10 Group HR & Administration Manager 01 0.66% 11 Manager-Training & Development 06 4.00% 12 Manager- Performance & Rewards 01 0.66% 13 Manager-Human Resource Development 01 0.66% 14 Manager- Compensation and Benefits 03 2.00% 15 Manager-Talent Engagement and Development 03 2.00% 16 Human Resources and Development Manager 01 0.66% Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 341 17 HR Manager- Recruitment and Learning and Development 01 0.66% 18 Learning and Development Manager 03 2.00% 19 Manager-Human Resources and Legal 01 0.66% 20 Manager-Talent Development 02 1.33% 21 Manager-HR and Compliance 01 0.66% 22 Recruitment Manager 01 0.66% 23 Industrial Relations Manager 01 0.66% 24 Manager-Talent Acquistation 01 0.66% Total 150 100% 01 Senior Manager-Human Resources and Related Jobs Table 03: Skills Required to Perform Senior Manager (HR) Job S/ N Types of Skills Count % 1 Communication skills 05 20% 2 Interpersonal skills 03 12% 3 Computer literacy 03 12% 4 Analytical skills 03 12% 5 Leadership Skills 01 4% 6 Communication skills in written and spoken English and Sinhala 01 4% 7 Excellent communication skills in Sinhala and English 01 4% 8 Excellent command of English and Sinhala 01 4% 9 Good language proficiency in three languages 01 4% 10 Ability to work in matrix reporting environment 01 4% 11 Ability to work with employees of all levels 01 4% 12 Change management and coaching capabilities 01 4% 13 Organizational skills 01 4% 14 IT skills 01 4% 15 Presentation skills 01 4% Total 25 100% 02 Manager- HR (Specialized Function) and Related Jobs Table 04: Skills Required to Perform Manager HR (Specialized) Function Job S/ N Types of Skills Count % 1 Interpersonal skills 08 13.33% 2 Leadership Skills 06 10.00% 3 Communication Skills 09 15.00% 4 Problem Solving skills 02 3.33% 5 Analytical skills 03 5.00% Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 342 6 Conceptual skills 01 1.67% 7 Persuasion skills in dealing top management 01 1.67% 8 Written and oral communication skills in English and Sinhala 01 1.67% 9 Written and verbal communication skills 02 3.33% 10 Proficiency in using MS Office , email & internet 01 1.67% 12 Time management skills 05 8.33% 13 Fluency in English language 03 5.00% 14 Fluency in English language & foreign languages 01 1.67% 15 Organizational skills 04 6.67% 16 Good command in English 02 3.33% 17 IT skills 02 3.33% 18 Excellent communication skills in English and Tamil 01 1.67% 19 Influencing skills 01 1.67% 20 Listening skills 01 1.67% 21 Presentation skills 01 1.67% 22 Written skills 01 1.67% 23 People skills 01 1.67% 25 Ability to effectively communicate and negotiate 02 3.33% 27 Ability to work with others 01 1.67% 28 Managerial Administrative skills 02 3.33% 29 Networking skills 01 1.67% 30 Ability to make & deliver effective presentation skills 01 1.67% 31 IT Literacy 01 1.67% 32 Ability to work independently and manage relationships 01 1.67% 33 Negotiation skills 01 1.67% 34 Excellent command in English 01 1.67% Total 60 100% 03 Group Human resources Manager and Related Jobs Table 05: Skills Required to Perform Group Human Resources Manager Job S/N Types of Skills Count % 1 Interpersonal skills 01 12.5% 2 Written and oral communication skills in English 01 12.5% 3 Written and oral communication skills 02 25% 4 Negotiation skills 01 12.5% 5 Good command in English 01 12.5% 6 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, salaries and wages,performance appraisal & disciplinary 01 12.5% Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 343 7 Good report writing skills 01 12.5% Total 05 100% 04 Human Resources Manager and Related Jobs Table 06: Skills Required to Perform Human Resources Manager Job S/N Types of Skills Count % 1 Interpersonal skills 35 35 % 2 Leadership Skills 16 16% 3 Communication Skills 33 33% 4 Problem Solving skills 8 8% 5 Written and oral communication skills in English 2 2% 6 Analytical skills 10 10% 7 Written and communication skills 1 1% 8 PR/Interpersonal skills 2 2% 9 Grievance handling skills 1 1% 10 Dispute resolving skills 1 1% 11 Communication skills in written and spoken English and Sinhala 2 2% 12 Written and oral communication skills in English and Sinhala 5 5% 13 Negotiation skills 12 12% 14 People management skills 1 1% 15 Results oriented and team building capacity 1 1% 16 Team building skills 3 3% 17 Managerial and leadership skills 1 1% 18 English language skills 1 1% 19 Exceptional skills in excel 1 1% 20 Written and verbal communication skills 7 7% 21 Computer literacy 11 11% 22 Excellent communication skills in Sinhala and English 4 4% 23 Be able to communicate effectively with all levels of employees 1 1% 24 Proficiency in English language 1 1% 25 Proficiency in using MS Office , email & internet 2 2% 26 PR Skills 3 3% 27 Employee-staff relationship building skills 1 1% 28 Computer skill 2 2% 29 Language skills 1 1% 30 Project management skill 1 1% 31 Time management skills 1 1% 32 Organizational skills 1 1% Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 344 33 Good command in English 9 9% 34 IT skills 2 2% 35 Excellent communication skills in English and Tamil 1 1% 36 Influencing skills 1 1% 37 Presentation skills 1 1% 38 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, salaries and wages, performance appraisal & disciplinary 1 1% 39 Mentoring and coaching ability 1 1% 40 Excellent public relation skills 1 1% 41 Planning & organizational skills 1 1% 42 Employee relations skills 1 1% 43 Word and excel skills 1 1% 44 Fluency in English and Sinhala 2 2% 45 Able to work independently 1 1% 46 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training & development procedures, salaries & wages administration, performance appraisal systems 2 2% and disciplinary procedures 47 Ability to effectively prioritize tasks and work pressure 1 1% 48 Teamwork skill 1 1% 49 Ability to carry out duties independently and productively 1 1% 50 Ability on strategic thinking 1 1% 51 Coaching skills 1 1% 52 Consultative skills 1 1% 53 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, payroll management, & disciplinary procedures 1 1% Total 100 100% 05 Manager - Human Resources and Administration and Related Jobs Table 07: Skills Required to Perform Manager - Human Resources and Administration Job S/N Type of Skills Count % 1 Interpersonal skills 02 13.33% 2 Leadership Skills 01 6.67% 3 Communication Skills 02 13.33% 4 Team building skills 01 6.67% 5 Managerial and leadership skills 01 6.67% 6 Computer literacy 01 6.67% Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 345 7 Proficiency in English language 01 6.67% 8 Computer skills 01 6.67% 9 Managerial skills 01 6.67% 10 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, payroll management, & disciplinary procedures 01 6.67% 11 Decision making skills 01 6.67% 12 High level of IT proficiency 01 6.67% 13 Ability to effectively liaising with all stakeholders 01 6.67% Total 15 100% Table 08: Top Skills Required to Perform HR Managerial Jobs Types of Skills Seni or Ma nag er Man ager- HR (Spe ciali zed Func tion) Man ager- HR & Adm inist ratio n Gro up HR Ma nag er M a n ag er - H R T ot al Commu nication skills 05 09 02 - 33 4 9 Interper sonal skills 03 08 02 01 35 4 9 Comput er literacy 03 - - - 11 1 4 Analytic al skills 02 - - - 0 2 Leaders hip skills 01 06 01 - 16 2 4 Time Manage ment skills - 05 - - - 5 Organiz ational skills - 04 - - - 4 Manager ial skills - - 02 - - 2 Negotiat ion skills - - - 01 12 1 3 Written and oral commun ication skills in English - - - 01 - 1 Written and oral commun ication skills - - - 01 - 1 After the proper content analysis of vacancy advertisements, researchers were able to find major two findings. Those findings are types of skills required for Senior Manager (Human Resources), Manager (Human Resources), Manager (HR specialized functions), Manager- (Human Resources and Administration) and Group Human Resources Manager and top five skills required for each job. As the first finding of this study, Communication skills, Interpersonal skills, Computer Literacy, Leadership skills and Negotiation skills were identified as most demanded skills for HR Manager/ Senior HR Manager. Communication skills consist with variety of activities which include listening to others, converting emotions into meaningful messages, writing and understanding body language. In today’s context HR Managers have to work in Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 346 diversified and multicultural workforce. Most of contemporary organizations are expecting excellent communication from at least two languages from potential candidates for HR Managers. Otherwise organizations will not be able to gain best from their workforce. According to the Table number 07 next highest demanded skill required by the organization is interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills can be defined as the ability to understand, communicate, motivate and support other people (Robbins et al., 2013). In organizational context, every manager has to associate with every employee in the organization. Interpersonal skills are very significant to HR Manager’s job role as he/ she associate with all employees and maintain good relationships with them irrespective of their department. Leadership skillscan be defined as the ability to influence people so that they strive willingly and enthusiastically to help accomplish individual and institutional goals (Jamshidi et al., 2012). As per the definition HR Managers should have the ability to influence the peoples in the organization in order to achieve organizational goals. According to the findings of current study, twenty four (24) vacancies demanded strong leadership skills from the suitable job candidates for HR Manager’s job. HR Managers should possess strong leadership skills as well they should be able to develop leadership skills within the employees in the organization. Opatha and Arulrajah (2010) stated that HR Managers should develop strong leadership skills among employees in the organization by performing training and development. As stated before, second major finding of this study is to categorize types of skills required for HR Manager’s job into three managerial skills introduced by Robert L. Katz in 1974. Those three managerial skills known as technical skills, conceptual skills and human skills. Katz (2009) defined those three skills as follows.  Technical Skills – These skills are related to an individual’s specific area of expertise  Human Skills – These skills are related to an individual’s ability to effectively interact with others.  Conceptual Skills – These skills are related to an individual’s ability to think beyond the task at hand. Robbins & Coulter (2007) mentioned that technical skills as knowledge of and proficiency in certain specialized field. For example engineering, computers, accounting or manufacturing. Daft (2008) described human skills can be demonstrated in the way a manager relates to other people, including the ability to motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead, communicate and resolve conflicts. Also same author defined conceptual skills as the cognitive ability to see the organization as a whole system and the relationships among its parts. 01 Senior Manager-Human Resources and Related Jobs Table 09: Categorization of Skills Senior Manager (HR) Job S/N Types of Skills Category 1 Communication skills Human Skills 2 Interpersonal skills Human Skills 3 Computer literacy Technical Skills 4 Analytical skills Technical Skills 5 Leadership Skills Human Skills 6 Communication skills in written and spoken English and Sinhala Human Skills 7 Excellent communication skills in Sinhala and English Human Skills 8 Excellent command of English and Sinhala Human Skills 9 Good language proficiency in three languages Human Skills Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 347 10 Ability to work in matrix reporting environment Human Skills 11 Ability to work with employees of all levels Human Skills 12 Change management and coaching capabilities Technical Skills 13 Organizational skills Technical Skills 14 IT skills Technical Skills 15 Presentation skills Human Skills 02 Manager- HR (Specialized Function) and Related Jobs Table 10: Categorization of Skills of Manager HR (Specialized Function Job S/N Types of Skills Category 1 Interpersonal skills Human Skills 2 Leadership Skills Human Skills 3 Communication Skills Human Skills 4 Problem Solving skills Conceptual Skills 5 Analytical skills Technical Skills 6 Conceptual skills Conceptual Skills 7 Persuasion skills in dealing top management Human Skills 8 Written and oral communication skills in English and Sinhala Human Skills 9 Written and verbal communication skills Human Skills 10 Proficiency in using MS Office , email & internet Technical Skills 12 Time management skills Technical Skills 13 Fluency in English language Human Skills 14 Fluency in English language & foreign languages Human Skills 15 Organizational skills Technical Skills 16 Good command in English Human Skills 17 IT skills Technical Skills 18 Excellent communication skills in English and Tamil Human Skills 19 Influencing skills Human Skills 20 Listening skills Human Skills 21 Presentation skills Human Skills 22 Written skills Human Skills 23 People skills Human Skills 25 Ability to effectively communicate and negotiate Human Skills 27 Ability to work with others Human Skills 28 Managerial Administrative skills Technical Skills 29 Networking skills Human Skills Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 348 30 Ability to make & deliver effective presentation skills Human Skills 31 IT Literacy Technical Skills 32 Ability to work independently and manage relationships Human Skills 33 Negotiation skills Human Skills 34 Excellent command in English Human Skills 03 Group Human resources Manager and Related Jobs Table 11: Categorization of Skills of Group Human Resources Manager S/N Types of Skills Category 1 Interpersonal skills Human Skills 2 Written and oral communication skills in English Human Skills 3 Written and oral communication skills Human Skills 4 Negotiation skills Human Skills 5 Good command in English Human Skills 6 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, salaries and wages, performance appraisal & disciplinary Technical Skills 7 Good report writing skills Human Skills 04 Human Resources Manager and Related Jobs Table 12: Categorization of Skills of Human Resources Manager Job S/N Types of Skills Category 1 Interpersonal skills Human Skills 2 Leadership Skills Human Skills 3 Communication Skills Human Skills 4 Problem Solving skills Conceptual Skills 5 Written and oral communication skills in English Human Skills 6 Analytical skills Technical Skills 7 Written and communication skills Human Skills 8 PR/Interpersonal skills Human Skills 9 Grievance handling skills Human Skills 10 Dispute resolving skills Human Skills 11 Communication skills in written and spoken English and Sinhala Human Skills 12 Written and oral communication skills in English and Sinhala Human Skills 13 Negotiation skills Human Skills 14 People management skills Technical Skills Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 349 15 Results oriented and team building capacity Human Skills 16 Team building skills Human Skills 17 Managerial and leadership skills Human Skills 18 English language skills Human Skills 19 Exceptional skills in excel Technical Skills 20 Written and verbal communication skills Human Skills 21 Computer literacy Technical Skills 22 Excellent communication skills in Sinhala and English Human Skills 23 Be able to communicate effectively with all levels of employees Human Skills 24 Proficiency in English language Human Skills 25 Proficiency in using MS Office , email & internet Technical Skills 26 PR Skills Human Skills 27 Employee-staff relationship building skills Human Skills 28 Computer skills Technical Skills 29 Language skills Human Skills 30 Project management skills Technical Skills 31 Time management skills Technical Skills 32 Organizational skills Technical Skills 33 Good command in English Human Skills 34 IT skills Technical Skills 35 Excellent communication skills in English and Tamil Human Skills 36 Influencing skills Human Skills 37 Presentation skills Human Skills 38 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, salaries and wages, performance appraisal & disciplinary Technical Skills 39 Mentoring and coaching ability Technical Skills 40 Excellent public relation skills Human Skills 41 Planning & organizational skills Technical Skills 42 Employee relations skills Human Skills 43 Word and excel skills Technical Skills 44 Fluency in English and Sinhala Human Skills 45 Able to work independently Technical Skills 46 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training & development Technical Skills Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 350 procedures, salaries & wages administration, performance appraisal systems and disciplinary procedures 47 Ability to effectively prioritize tasks and work pressure Technical Skills 48 Teamwork skills Human Skills 49 Ability to carry out duties independently and productively Technical Skills 50 Ability on strategic thinking Conceptual Skills 51 Coaching skills Technical Skills 52 Consultative skills Technical Skills 53 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, payroll management, & disciplinary procedures Technical Skills 05 Manager - Human Resources and Administration and Related Jobs Table 13: Categorization of Skills of Manager - Human Resources and Administration Job S/N Type of Skills Category 1 Interpersonal skills Human Skills 2 Human Skills Human Skills 3 Communication Skills Human Skills 4 Team building skills Human Skills 5 Managerial and leadership skills Human Skills 6 Computer literacy Technical Skills 7 Proficiency in English language Human Skills 8 Computer skills Technical Skills 9 Managerial skills Technical Skills 10 Skills in manpower planning, recruitment, training, development, payroll management, & disciplinary procedures Technical Skills 11 Decision making skills Conceptual Skills 12 High level of IT proficiency Technical Skills 13 Ability to effectively liaising with all stakeholders Human Skills According to the second major finding of this study, most organization expect from HR professionals to have human skills than technical skills and conceptual skills to qualify for HR Managerial jobs. Conclusions and Recommendations Researchers of this current study considered 150 HR Manager vacancy advertisements to achieve the research advertisements. Those advertisements were published to recruit Senior Manager (Human Resources), Manager (Human resources), Manager- HR (Specialized Functions), Manager (Human Resources and Administration), Group Human Resources Manager and Group Human Resources Manag. Adm. Sci. Rev. e-ISSN: 2308-1368, p-ISSN: 2310-872X Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 337-352 351 and Administration Manager. Highest number of vacancy advertisements (94) were published to recruit for Human Resources Manager. Least number of advertisement (01) was published to recruit Group HR and Administration Manager. Fifteen (15) skills were identified by the researchers which should possess by candidates for Senior Manager (Human Resources). Thirty four (34) skills were identified by the researchers which should possess by candidates for Manager (Specialized HR Function). Seven (07) skills were identified by the researchers which should possess by candidates for Manager (Specialized HR Function). Fifty-three (53) skills were explored by the researchers which should possess by candidates for Manager- Human Resources. Another thirteen (13) skills were explored by the researchers which should possess by candidates for Manager- Human Resources and Administration. As the second major finding of this study those one hundred twenty-three skills categorized into main three managerial skills (technical skills, human skills & conceptual skills). According to the study it was revealed that most HR Managers should possess human skills. The findings of this current study may be advantageous for teachers, university lecturers and educational policy makers to develop curriculum in universities and higher education institutes in a way to develop future HR professional which will help to meet the requirements from organizations from job candidates of HR Manager job. Also corporate trainers should utilize theresults of this study to design their training and development programmes which will be useful for current HR professionals to develop skills for managerial jobs. HR Executives, Assistant Managers (HR) and Deputy Managers (HR) can be beneficial from the results of this study by developing those skills in order to get promotional opportunities for HR Managers job position. Any current job seekers for HR Managerial job positions should develop their skills according the findings of this current study. As future directions of this study, researchers would like to suggest that future researchers should conduct their studies on the same topic by using primary data. Primary data can be gathered by interviews and surveys with HR Managers in the organizations. Similar studies should conduct by other functional areas such as marketing, finance, operations management, information technology and accounting. 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