HCM & HRIS

HR fresher roles are moving beyond process expertise

October 18, 2026
www.ETHRWorld.com
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Companies are considering candidates from diverse academic backgrounds />With human resources (HR) becoming strategic business partners and technology taking over the transactional and administrative roles, the expectations for <a id=” captionrendered=”1″ data-src=”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/135026738.cms?mod=168246″ height=”442″ href=”http://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/tag/entry-level+hr+roles” keywordseo=”entry-level-HR-roles” loading=”eager” source=”keywords” src=”https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/images/default.jpg” type=”Denny” weightage=”20″ width=”590″></img>entry-level HR roles are shifting. Companies now expect fresh HR graduates to bring more than a basic understanding of recruitment, employee relations, and HR processes.</p> <p>According to Kathi Enderes, Senior Vice President, Research, The Josh Bersin Company, the skills that matter most in the HR 2030 vision will be those that enable people to design, govern, and interpret agentic systems, rather than perform the routine work those systems are increasingly handling.</p> <p>The question is whether entry-level HR professionals are being prepared for this shift, and whether companies are already expecting fresh graduates to bring skills in artificial intelligence (AI), data analysis, and business decision-making alongside core HR knowledge.</p> <p>During campus visits, Geetha Thiagarajan, Senior Director – People and Culture, Curriculum Associates India, often felt that most freshers know HR fundamentals and processes. But what is missing is the confidence to put a point of view forward, especially in a room with senior people. They wait to be asked, or stay quiet rather than risk being wrong. That hesitation holds them back far more than any gap in knowledge.</p> <p>“Colleges teach HR as separate functions, such as recruitment, payroll, and compliance, but freshers rarely see how a people’s decision affects a team’s output or a leader’s priorities. That only comes with exposure,” Geetha said.</p> <p><b>Should know the business behind the HR process</b></p> <p>Lagna Panda, CHRO, CSM Technologies, pointed out that the biggest gap is that many HR graduates do not always understand the business behind the HR processes. They need to learn to ask: What is the business problem? What will this decision cost? What value will it create? Can we achieve the same outcome more efficiently?</p> <p>Another gap is financial and cost consciousness. Cost optimisation and productivity have to be part of the HR vocabulary. “HR professionals influence some of the largest costs in an organisation — manpower, compensation, hiring, benefits and learning. Freshers need to understand that good HR is not about spending more to create a better employee experience; it is about achieving the required outcome at the right cost,” Panda said.</p> <p>According to Manish Shekhar, Assistant Vice President, Kalpataru Projects International, one of the key gaps is limited exposure to project operations and manpower planning. While freshers may understand recruitment principles, mobilising engineers, technicians, supervisors, and contract workers across multiple project locations requires practical experience, workforce forecasting, and close coordination with project teams.</p> <p>Kalpataru Projects expects freshers to have a working knowledge of applicable labour laws, statutory compliance, contractor workforce management, wage administration, and employee relations, particularly in construction and project-site environments.</p> <p>In the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) sector, with projects spread across multiple locations, diverse workforce requirements, tight execution timelines, and complex compliance needs, familiarity with HR technology and AI is an employability differentiator.</p> <p>“We prefer HR professionals who demonstrate adaptability and resilience in site-level responsibilities, remote postings, and changing project requirements. They should understand project-driven recruitment, manpower budgeting, workforce mobilisation, and onboarding to ensure the timely deployment of engineers, supervisors, safety officers, and skilled technicians,” Shekhar said.</p> <p>Equally, understanding how workforce shortages and labour costs affect project schedules and profitability enables HR to contribute more meaningfully to business outcomes.</p> <p>In his opinion, bridging these gaps requires a shared effort between educational institutions and employers for industry-oriented internships, site exposure, practical compliance training, and structured mentoring to navigate real-business challenges.</p> <p><b>Technical skills and beyond</b></p> <p>HR today generates enormous amounts of data on hiring, attrition, productivity, manpower costs, compensation, and workforce utilisation. The ability to interpret that data, identify patterns, and convert it into actionable business decisions is becoming fundamental.</p> <p>With automation, HR is moving from processing to interpreting. At Curriculum Associates, a fresher who takes ownership and follows through without being chased is valued most.</p> <p>“A fresher who can read people’s data, spot a pattern, and explain what it means for the business will be noticed quickly. But with AI in play, outputs can look right and still be wrong, so the ability to question what the tool tells you is just as important as the ability to use it,” said Thiagarajan.</p> <p>Panda also pointed out that being able to produce a report is not enough; HRs need to understand what the numbers are saying and what action should follow.</p> <p>Shekhar asserted that freshers should be proficient in Excel, HRMS, and basic HR analytics to track manpower productivity, attendance, attrition, manpower costs across project sites, site-wise absenteeism, and overtime costs to help project managers address manpower shortages.</p> <p>Panda shared a list of the technology toolkit every new-age HR professional should build:</p> <ul> <li>Comfortable usage of generative AI and AI Copilots for drafting job descriptions, creating learning content, summarising employee feedback, preparing policy notes, analysing qualitative data, and automating routine communication.</li> </ul> <ul> <li>Key skills in Excel, Power BI/Tableau, dashboards and data visualisation, and basic statistical analysis can help to analyse attrition, hiring velocity, absenteeism, engagement, productivity and workforce capability.</li> <li>Managing digital employee records and document management.</li> <li>HR professionals do not need to become programmers. But they should understand workflow automation and low-code/no-code platforms.</li> <li>Digital identity and employee verification.</li> <li>Digital learning and skills intelligence: The future of learning and development will be increasingly personalised. HRs should understand AI-enabled learning platforms, skills taxonomies, competency mapping, and workforce-skills analytics. The objective is to identify which capabilities the organisation will need next, not merely which skills it lacks today.</li> <li>AI governance: HR handles some of an organisation’s most sensitive data. Professionals therefore need a working understanding of data privacy and consent, access controls, algorithmic bias, cybersecurity, and responsible use of AI.</li> </ul> <p>Panda further pointed out that beyond acquiring technical HR knowledge, what is harder to teach is the mindset of thinking commercially, questioning costs, working with data, and constantly looking for a better and more efficient way of doing things.</p> <p><b>HR degree is not a prerequisite</b></p> <p>Companies are considering candidates from diverse academic backgrounds, placing greater emphasis on curiosity, commercial thinking, and the ability to apply knowledge to real-world workplace challenges.</p> <p>Geetha opined that an MBA can add structure, and that is useful, but it is not the deciding factor. “A degree gets someone shortlisted, but it does not tell me how that person will show up on the job. Some of the strongest people professionals come from psychology, sociology, education, and other backgrounds that have nothing to do with HR on paper,” she said.</p> <p>“I would rather see how a candidate thinks and how they handle a conversation when they do not have the answer. That comes through in an interview far more than on a certificate. HR is about people, and it is a skill you build by spending time with them,” she added.</p> <p>Panda also agreed that having a specialised HR degree is not a prerequisite for building a successful HR career. An MBA may open a door, but it is competence that creates value.</p> <p>She encouraged HR professionals to build capabilities beyond traditional HR — particularly in finance, analytics, technology and AI. An HR professional who understands manpower cost, productivity, profitability and data can have a far greater impact on the organisation than someone who knows HR theory but does not understand the business.</p> <p>“In today’s environment, I would choose a candidate who is curious, commercially minded, data-oriented and willing to use technology to improve the way HR works — irrespective of where they studied,” she said.</p> <p>As HR moves beyond process execution towards business impact, bridging the gap will require more than classroom knowledge. Industry exposure, practical training and technical proficiency will be essential to preparing the next generation of HR professionals to navigate the changing skill equation. </p> <div> <div aria-label=

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