Career advice

Become an HR Manager

A career in human resources management is focused around people skills – whether it’s recruiting and developing staff, overseeing strategy or managing the HR department. Start your HR career with short online human resources courses from top universities.

  • Best jobs in the UK #15
  • Job satisfaction 4.1 / 5
  • Median base salary £49,000
  • UK job openings/month 664
Source: Glassdoor's Best Jobs (2019)

What skills do you need to become an HR manager?

  • Policy

    An HR manager will need to have a strong understanding of human resources policy, and the legal issues around recruitment and staffing a company.

  • Organisation

    HR professionals keep track of vast amounts of personal information, including contracts, calendars and companies' personnel strategies.

  • Relationships

    Working in HR, you'll build relationships with people across all levels, and trusted to deal with personal information such as salaries and grievances.

  • Understanding

    Empathy and understanding are key as you’ll be working closely with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and with different needs.

Develop these skills. Take a short human resources management course

Shanghai International Studies University (SISU)

Intercultural Communication

Learn to appreciate, adjust to, and work or study in different cultures, with this free online intercultural communication course.
5 weeks
4 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited
CIPD - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

HR Fundamentals

Get an introduction to the practice of Human Resources, and develop the skills you need to become an HR professional.
5 weeks
3 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited
CIPD - Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

People Management Skills

Learn about the key methods, strategies and principles of people management and develop your own management style.
5 weeks
3 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited
Durham University

Leading and Managing People-Centred Change

Learn how to bring people with you as you lead or manage organisational change and navigate challenges to keep them on-board.
3 weeks
3 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited
The Open University

Modern Empowerment in the Workplace

The 21st century is transforming the workplace. Explore the role of human resources (HR) in this modern empowerment era.
4 weeks
3 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited
Purdue University

Improve Your Intercultural Competence

Develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge required to thrive in diverse workplaces.
4 weeks
3 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited
Queensland University of Technology

Leadership Coaching through Turbulent Times: Playing with eFIRE

Use eFIRE, a coaching mindset and methodology, to make better leadership decisions in the face of a complex and challenging world.
3 weeks
3 hrs per week
Included in Unlimited

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What do people say about these HR courses?

Step by step, I gained some knowledge and experience in intercultural communication. During the discussion sessions of some intercultural problems, I've found interesting posts with the information on how to communicate with other cultures and avoid misunderstandings.

Maria
Learner on Intercultural Communication

What a fabulous course and the topic is so relevant for today's workplace that is full of change and diversity. So much excellent advice to be found here! Thank you again to the providers and FutureLearn and fellow learners.

Karen
Learner on How to Succeed in the Global Workplace

The benefits of taking an HR manager course online with FutureLearn

Learn flexibly online, for free

Develop valuable skills with an HR management course. Start learning for free, on desktop, tablet or mobile.

Upgrade for tests and Certificates

Upgrade your course to get unlimited access, take tests and prove what you’ve learnt with a Certificate of Achievement.

Meet HR management experts

Learn with experts from top universities and business schools. Network with HR managers all over the world.