Hiring an HR Manager in 7 Steps

Hiring an HR manager means finding a professional to plan and direct the human resources functions of a business. This includes overseeing staff, spearheading company recruiting efforts, managing the hiring process, and meeting with business owners to discuss HR objectives and compliance issues.

Follow the below steps when hiring an HR manager:

Determine your HR needs
Write an HR manager job ad (we provide a free template)
Post ad to a job board
Screen and interview candidates
Check professional references
Run a full background check
Make a robust offer

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Step 1: Determine Your Needs

In terms of human resources needs, every business is different. Maybe you’ve been handling HR-related matters and want to pass those duties off, or you’re noticing higher turnover and want an expert to assess your company’s situation and make changes. With the right tools, an HR manager can increase employee engagement, reduce turnover, and help your small business attract top talent in your industry—all while keeping your company compliant.

Assessing your needs will help you figure out what type of HR manager to hire. They can help do the following:

Build and execute an HR strategy
Manage company compliance and risk management
Handle payroll and benefits administration
Recruit and train new employees
Manage employee documentation
Handle disciplinary actions
Hire and fire employees

Hiring an HR manager can also help your business as it grows, as they typically have extensive knowledge of HR laws that might apply once you surpass a certain number of employees. If you don’t ensure compliance with these laws, you could face serious fines and penalties from government agencies or employee lawsuits.

Set a Salary Range

While you should have created a general budget for this position, make sure you do research to ensure you’re offering a competitive rate. Look at what your competitors in your area offer new hires. The average HR manager salary is over $100,000. The specific amount you need to pay will depend on the talents and experience of the person you’re hiring, where your business is located, and the duties you need this person to perform.

You also need to refer to your state laws. Some states require you to put a salary range in your job posting, so you’ll need to be prepared to make this information available to applicants.

Whatever you do, don’t shortchange the person—that often leads to resentment and a feeling that they are not a valued team member. You don’t have to spend a fortune, but you should pay a competitive wage.

Step 2: Write a Job Description

Hiring an HR manager starts just like hiring any other employee—with a job description. Some HR managers will have more hands-on experience dealing with personnel issues, while others will have more legal compliance experience. Knowing which type of employee you need will help you focus your job description.

A clear job description will help you attract the right candidates. Download our HR Manager job description template to customize to your specific needs:

ZipRecruiter can help you find quality candidates with pre-made job description templates, applicant tracking, and hiring assistance.

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List the specific duties and responsibilities in your job description. If you want to ensure legal compliance, for example, list employment law experience as a requirement. Regardless of the level of experience you need, there are certain skills every HR employee should have:

Reliability
Analytical skills
Ability to keep conversations and information confidential
Conflict management skills
Knowledge of HR best practices
Prior use of HR software

Listing these skills will help you weed out applicants who don’t meet your minimum standards. Hiring an HR manager will take time, so anything you do to reduce the number of unqualified candidates is helpful.

You may want to adjust the title of the role depending on what type of employee you’re hiring as well. If you’re looking for a full-time in-house employee to manage all facets of your company’s HR, then “HR manager” will suffice. If you’re looking for a contractor, consider calling the position “HR business partner” or “HR consultant.” If this job requires someone slightly less experienced, consider using “HR administrator.” When you choose the right job title, potential candidates can see right away what level of qualifications you are seeking and how much they will be compensated.

Step 3: Post Job Ad & Review Applicants

You can post your open position on one or more of our recommended job boards. You should also consider posting to human resources-specific job boards, such as SHRM or iHireHR. These niche job boards will put your ad in front of already qualified and vetted candidates.

Once you receive applicants, review their qualifications. To help you quickly sort applicants, have a list of your must-have qualifications. For instance, if you need your HR manager to help keep your company compliant, look for qualifications that show experience managing corporate compliance, like someone with a law degree. If your HR manager position is more focused on performance management, then look for candidates with HR certifications. Having a short list of half a dozen top skills and qualifications will help you screen the resumes faster and more effectively.

We strongly recommend asking for referrals. Whether from your own employees or other small business connections, referrals are often some of the best hires companies make. They’re more likely to fit your company culture and stick around.

Step 4: Schedule Interviews

After you have reviewed the applicants, it’s time to schedule interviews with the most qualified individuals. Try to keep your interviews to just a handful of people. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself with too many potential hires.

During the interviews, ask similar questions of every candidate so you can evaluate them on similar responses. Consider posing real-world situations to candidates to see how they would have handled the issue with your company.

Here are some good questions to ask every candidate:

What are the most important policies you would review or create in your first month?
How do you ensure confidentiality when someone makes an HR complaint?
Tell me about a time you handled a difficult and tense HR situation.
Tell me about a time you recommended a policy but were told by your manager not to implement the policy.
If you were hiring for this position, what questions would you ask?
Tell me about your experience building and leading an HR team.

A few of the above questions attempt to have the candidate respond to situational questions. While you’re not intentionally trying to trip anyone up, you want to make sure the candidates are familiar with some basic HR laws. You need to rely on this person to keep your company compliant. If they don’t know basic employment laws, they may put your company at risk.

Pro Tip: Check out our list of best interview questions for more questions to ask candidates and our list of illegal interview questions for those to avoid.

Step 5: Call References

Making reference calls is a vital part of the hiring process, especially when hiring an HR manager. You should contact at least three supervisory references from recent jobs for each of your final candidates.

When you call a reference, make sure you ask at least the following questions:

How long did you supervise this employee?
Did they ever make an HR or legal mistake?
How do they handle conflict?

You don’t need to spend a lot of time with a reference, but you do want to get a decent sense of what it’s like to manage this person. References can give you insight that you won’t get from the candidate directly. However, do understand that not all references will provide you with any additional information beyond the candidate’s job title and dates of employment.

Check out our guide to doing reference checks for help with how to do them and what questions to ask.

Step 6: Run a Background Check

Because an HR manager will have access to sensitive and confidential information about your company and your employees, it’s a good idea to run a background check to make sure they don’t have a criminal record. While you don’t need to run a financial background screen, you should at least do a standard seven-year criminal check.

If you don’t and sensitive information is stolen, your company could be accountable for negligent hiring practices and suffer a significant loss of trust among your employees. Keep in mind that certain states require background checks to be run after a job offer is made. To stay compliant, double-check your state laws.

If you need help performing a background check, use one of our recommended background check providers.

Step 7: Make an Offer

Once you have determined the candidate you want to hire, call them. Speak with them briefly and convey the good news. This gives you the chance to gauge their reaction and excitement level, while also giving you time to hammer out any last-minute details, like how much notice they need to give their current employer.

After all of the specifics have been worked out, send a formal offer letter to the chosen candidate. In the offer letter, make sure to include important details like title, salary, start date, and benefits. Be sure to include the job description and have them sign off on it, attesting to their ability to handle the core duties of the position.

Give the new employee about a week to return the offer letter. This gives them time to review it and speak with any family members.

Bottom Line

Hiring an HR manager doesn’t have to be a laborious process. With the right tools at your disposal and a clear grasp of what you need this person to do, you can make an informed decision. But don’t rush it—if you cannot find the right person for the job, keep looking. This is a critical position, and you’ll need someone qualified to assist you in keeping your small business compliant and your employees engaged.