in-demand human resources jobs.

Certain accounting skills are needed for HR professionals specializing in fields like payroll and benefits administration, where selecting retirement plans and handling invoices is part of the job. Additionally, sound financial fundamentals help HR pros in other areas, too, like assessing staffing levels and determining sustainable salaries and pay rates.

Employment laws and regulations are always in flux, so organizations will always prize HR professionals who can thoroughly understand and stay on top of the latest changes to keep their operations compliant. Strong policy-development skills are also a must to ensure laws get translated into actionable company-wide programs.

Short for human resource information system, HRIS is a type of HR software that facilitates the management of a variety of key HR functions, like employee data management, benefits administration, scheduling and performance management. As technology continues to integrate itself into the HR professional’s workflow, mastery of these systems will be key to improving employment opportunities for HR pros going forward.

Strong communication and relationship-building skills are still the bread and butter of the professional networker’s toolkit, but being able to take the candidate search process online is also necessary. Beyond just contacting potential recruits on professional platforms like LinkedIn, social media recruiting has grown in prominence, enabling recruiters to tap into underutilized talent pools and engage passive candidates.

Think of onboarding as a new employee's first impression of your organization: Get it wrong, and you could sour their experience for good. The onboarding skill set involves being able to effectively design orientation programs to communicate necessary information and ease new hires into their roles.

Compensation is king when it comes to retaining today’s top talent, and payroll professionals are the ones ensuring payments get made accurately and on time. The payroll skill set involves being able to handle and organize large amounts of financial data and knowledge of relevant employment tax laws and regulations.

The recruiting skill set combines being an expert judge of talent and potential with excellent communication and networking skills. As you may have guessed, the role involves more technology than it used to, with many recruiters now using tools like advanced sourcing technologies and social media to discover and vet potential candidates.

Developed by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the SHRM certification — which includes the SHRM Certified Professional and SHRM Senior Certified Professional credentials — is designed for HR professionals looking to take the next step in their careers. While not needed for all positions, acquiring a certification can help boost employment opportunities for HR pros as certain employers may require it.

As digital transformation continues to reshape occupations all across the workforce, continual training and development has never been more important. HR pros who are able to assess skills gaps, project future needs and develop effective training programs to address them will be needed even more going forward.