Resources Manager

Controller Job Description

A resource manager is the one who helps project managers with planning and allocating resources for a project; determines an organization’s demand for resources and ensures its capacity to meet staffing needs of projects; assigns employees to a project’s tasks; and participates in the hiring process.  Resource managers are usually required in fast-growing companies or mid-sized and large organizations with distributed teams and an increasing number of projects.  The job of a resource manager is still not as common as a project manager’s, but just the same important: apart from allocating the right resources to the right tasks at the right time, a competent resource manager’s efforts can improve the overall project flow, keep employees’ load balanced and prevent them from burnout, overcome resource shortages, and ensure that all the projects running in a company are staffed with perfectly matching employees. 

Listening, empathy, and honesty are vital skills that someone interested in becoming a human resources manager should have to succeed. An HR manager can impact the lives of employees by changing policies or programs. Therefore, they should listen to employee concerns and handle feedback with transparency and care.  These include problem-solving and critical-thinking abilities. HR managers need these skills to ensure that all the parts of the HR department, such as benefits and performance management, work together effectively. When policies and procedures change, an HR manager needs to call on sound management skills to be a positive change agent and help employees navigate the disruption. When an employee and organization disagree about a policy or contract, the HR manager should be prepared to manage the conflict by fielding complaints or acting as a moderator during difficult conversations. These skills are also used during union labor disputes, negotiating salaries, and discussing insurance claims.

Companies typically expect those pursuing human resources management jobs to have a bachelor’s degree in human resources or similar field. Some possible majors that apply to HR include business management, education, or information technology. Courses in conflict management and organizational psychology can be helpful for managing a variety of workplace issues. For the best chance of landing human resources managers jobs, a master’s degree is the way to go. Some positions will require candidates to have a graduate degree in an area such as human resources or business administration (MBA). A human resource management degree at the master’s level typically focuses on honing your leadership skills.

• Assigning available employees to projects in accordance with their skill sets, previous experience, and availability.
• Monitoring day-to-day project activities and corresponding resourcing.
• Capacity planning, i.e. making sure that a company’s resources have capacity to work on upcoming projects.
• Monitoring and managing employees’ workload, utilization, and overtime hours.
• Managing resource conflicts.
• Overcoming resource shortages by means of resource management techniques, reallocating resources, assigning more staff, etc; informing senior management of any issues related to inability to meet clients’ needs due to resourcing.
• Providing project managers with support when it comes to resource management issues or improving resource management processes.
• Knowing all the current and upcoming projects run in an organization and business development activities and being able to plan resourcing accordingly.
• Collaborating with the HR department regarding staff training, compensation and benefit planning, payroll administration, and hiring new staff for projects.
• Being familiar with labor laws as well as resource management trends.
• Documenting processes (e.g. weekly utilization report, etc.).

Typical duties of a Controller

Skills:
• Proficiency in human resource and project management,
• Ability to use technology (analytical tools, CRM, PSA or resource management software),
• Knowledge of applicable labor laws,
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks efficiently,
• Critical thinking, analytical and forecasting skills,
• Conflict-resolution and problem-solving skills,
• Flexibility and good decision-making skills,
• Managerial and time-management skills,
• Interpersonal interaction skills (effective communication, negotiation, collaboration, the ability to be diplomatic and stand one’s ground).
Qualifications: A Bachelor’s degree in human resource management, business, management, or a similar field.