Top 12 HR Administrative Assistant Skills to Put on Your Resume
In HR, the administrative assistant role hums at the center of everything. Precision meets empathy. Systems meet people. Hiring, pay, records, compliance—your skill mix determines whether the engine purrs or sputters. A sharp resume that showcases the right tools and habits can tilt the odds in your favor and get you into that seat where the real work happens.
HR Administrative Assistant Skills
- Payroll Processing
- HRIS (Human Resources Information System)
- ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
- Microsoft Office
- Employee Onboarding
- Benefits Administration
- Compliance Management
- ADP Workforce
- SAP SuccessFactors
- Conflict Resolution
- Performance Management
- Workday HCM
1. Payroll Processing
Payroll processing means calculating pay accurately, applying deductions and benefits, handling taxes, and getting money to employees on time—while documenting every step to meet legal and audit requirements.
Why It's Important
It keeps morale steady, ensures compliance, and anchors your finance rhythm. Employees trust it. Regulators watch it. Small errors balloon fast, so good process pays for itself.
How to Improve Payroll Processing Skills
Make it tight, then keep tuning it:
Automate the math: Use payroll software to handle earnings, taxes, and deductions. Tools like QuickBooks or ADP are common picks.
Integrate time and benefits: Connect time tracking and benefits data to reduce retyping and slipups. Suites such as Zenefits or similar platforms help sync the flow.
Track laws proactively: Stay current on wage, overtime, multi-state, and local tax changes, plus pay transparency rules where applicable.
Train and cross-train: Keep procedures documented and build redundancy so one absence doesn’t stall payday.
Set policies that stick: Timesheet deadlines, approval paths, correction windows—write them down and enforce them evenly.
Outsource when complexity spikes: For intricate multi-state or global setups, a managed payroll service (e.g., Gusto for SMBs) can reduce risk.
Audit routinely: Reconcile earnings, taxes, and benefits; sample test calculations; verify remittances and filings.
Cleaner data in. Fewer surprises out.
How to Display Payroll Processing Skills on Your Resume
2. HRIS (Human Resources Information System)
HRIS is the centralized system for employee data—hiring, compensation, benefits, performance, time, and more—connected so routine work runs faster and records stay consistent.
Why It's Important
Centralized data reduces duplication and errors, speeds reporting, tightens compliance, and frees time for more human work. For admins, it’s the cockpit.
How to Improve HRIS (Human Resources Information System) Skills
Keep it current: Apply updates, maintain org structures, and clean stale fields before they snowball.
Integrate adjacent tools: Payroll, ATS, time tracking, learning—link them for seamless data flow.
Tune the workflows: Use approvals, alerts, and self-service to reduce email chains and bottlenecks.
Level up user training: Short, role-based guides help teams enter better data and trust the system.
Lock down access: Role-based permissions, MFA, audits, and privacy controls to protect sensitive info (think GDPR/CCPA where relevant).
Listen and iterate: Gather feedback from frequent users; adjust forms, fields, and dashboards accordingly.
Good HRIS hygiene multiplies your capacity.
How to Display HRIS (Human Resources Information System) Skills on Your Resume
3. ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
An ATS organizes hiring—from job posts through offers—so you can track candidates, schedule steps, and coordinate with managers without chaos.
Why It's Important
It cuts manual tracking, sharpens communication, and fast-tracks the right candidates. Less friction for applicants, less confusion for teams.
How to Improve ATS (Applicant Tracking System) Skills
Match workflows to reality: Map your actual hiring stages and automate handoffs, reminders, and status changes.
Write clear, inclusive job posts: Keywords that match skills, plain language, no jargon maze.
Simplify the application: Mobile-friendly forms, quick resume upload, and transparent timelines.
Connect the stack: Sync ATS with HRIS and onboarding to shorten the gap from offer to day one.
Update and train: New features arrive often; brief the hiring team so they actually use them.
Read the data: Track time-to-hire, source quality, and drop-off points; adjust where candidates stall.
Tidy pipelines lead to faster yeses.
How to Display ATS (Applicant Tracking System) Skills on Your Resume
4. Microsoft Office
The everyday toolkit: Word for polished docs, Excel for data and analysis, PowerPoint for stories that land, Outlook for the moving calendar and inbox.
Why It's Important
Most HR administration runs through these tools. Templates, lists, trackers, decks—your fluency speeds everything else up.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Excel depth: Formulas, pivot tables, lookups, conditional formatting, and basic dashboards for KPIs.
PowerPoint clarity: Clean slides, consistent styles, visuals that explain rather than decorate.
Word systems: Templates, styles, tracked changes, mail merge for recurring HR letters.
Outlook control: Rules, categories, calendar sharing, meeting polls, and time-blocking.
OneNote for capture: Meeting notes, SOPs, and checklists in one place you’ll actually search.
Teams collaboration: Channels, recorded meetings, file coauthoring, and @mentions to keep threads tidy.
Automate the routine: Use Power Automate to move data, route approvals, and notify stakeholders.
Validate with certification: MOS credentials can signal serious proficiency without saying a word.
Small Office hacks create big time wins.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
5. Employee Onboarding
Onboarding folds a new hire into the company—paperwork, systems, culture, people—so they’re oriented, equipped, and ready to contribute.
Why It's Important
First impressions echo. A smooth start boosts engagement, reduces time to productivity, and sets trust. Disarray does the opposite.
How to Improve Employee Onboarding Skills
Start before day one: Send welcome notes, schedules, and forms early. Keep it friendly, not bureaucratic.
Plan the first week: Mix intros, training, and small wins. Give them a clear, humane agenda.
Structure learning: Role-based training paths using your LMS or curated tutorials—bite-sized and practical.
Assign a buddy: A go-to person for norms, tools, and “how we really do things here.”
Collect feedback fast: Quick check-ins at day 3, week 2, day 30. Fix the friction you hear about.
Connect the team: Use chat channels, intro posts, and casual meetups to build belonging.
Track milestones: 30/60/90 goals, equipment and access checklists, and manager touchpoints.
Make it warm. Make it clear. Make it repeatable.
How to Display Employee Onboarding Skills on Your Resume
6. Benefits Administration
Benefits administration covers enrollment, eligibility, life-event changes, vendor coordination, and explaining the “what” and “why” of plans—health, retirement, leave, and more.
Why It's Important
Clear benefits management keeps employees informed and appreciative, protects compliance, and supports retention. Confusion turns into tickets, frustration, and risk.
How to Improve Benefits Administration Skills
Stay current: Track regulatory changes (ACA, ERISA, MHPAEA, COBRA) and plan updates.
Use the right system: Benefits platforms that sync with payroll and HRIS reduce duplicate work and errors.
Explain plainly: Build one-pagers, FAQs, and enrollment guides that demystify choices.
Educate regularly: Host short sessions before open enrollment and for new hires; record them for on-demand viewing.
Gather input: Survey needs and pain points; refine plan options or communications accordingly.
Audit annually: Verify enrollments, dependent eligibility, vendor bills, and plan documents.
Benefits are promises—admin makes them real.
How to Display Benefits Administration Skills on Your Resume
7. Compliance Management
Compliance management ensures HR policies and practices align with laws and internal standards, minimizing risk and safeguarding people and the company.
Why It's Important
It prevents costly penalties and reputational damage, promotes fair treatment, and creates a safer workplace. Invisible when it works, unforgettable when it fails.
How to Improve Compliance Management Skills
Monitor the rulebook: Federal, state, and local changes move quickly. Build a cadence to review and update policies.
Systematize compliance: Use tooling to track trainings, acknowledgments, certifications, and deadlines.
Train everyone: Short, role-specific modules on harassment, data privacy, wage and hour, and safety.
Clarify policies: Easy-to-find handbooks and SOPs. Clear ownership. Version control.
Audit and remediate: Run periodic checks, investigate promptly, and document actions taken.
Foster reporting culture: Safe channels, non-retaliation statements, and swift follow-through.
Compliance thrives on clarity and consistency.
How to Display Compliance Management Skills on Your Resume
8. ADP Workforce
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud HCM suite that brings payroll, time, benefits, talent, and compliance together so administrative tasks run in one environment.
Why It's Important
It centralizes workflows and data, speeding payroll, simplifying benefits, and producing reliable reports your leaders actually read.
How to Improve ADP Workforce Skills
Train with intent: Take role-specific courses and practice in a sandbox if available.
Customize your workspace: Tailor dashboards, shortcuts, and alerts to daily priorities.
Connect integrations: Link with ATS, LMS, or finance tools your team already uses.
Adopt new features: Review release notes, pilot updates, and collect user feedback.
Join the community: Swap tips and troubleshoot with peers who’ve solved the same puzzles.
Mastery shows up as fewer clicks and cleaner data.
How to Display ADP Workforce Skills on Your Resume
9. SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud HR suite covering core HR, talent, learning, performance, and more—built for global scale with strong configuration options.
Why It's Important
It streamlines HR processes, connects talent workflows, and supports analytics that inform better people decisions.
How to Improve SAP SuccessFactors Skills
Keep pace with updates: New features arrive frequently—review release highlights and test before rollout.
Configure thoughtfully: Align forms, fields, permissions, and workflows to business reality, not wishful thinking.
Protect data quality: Set validation rules, clean duplicates, and schedule periodic data checks.
Train end users: Quick reference guides for managers and employees raise adoption and reduce tickets.
Automate the grind: Use intelligent services and workflow rules to remove manual handoffs.
Gather feedback: Build a feedback loop; prioritize changes that reduce friction for the most frequent tasks.
Mind privacy: Configure retention, masking, and consent to meet privacy requirements across regions.
SuccessFactors shines when the configuration matches your culture and cadence.
How to Display SAP SuccessFactors Skills on Your Resume
10. Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution means spotting friction early, listening well, and guiding people toward a workable agreement—calmly, fairly, and with clear next steps.
Why It's Important
Unresolved conflict spreads. Resolved conflict builds trust, protects productivity, and reduces risk.
How to Improve Conflict Resolution Skills
Listen actively: Reflect back what you hear. Separate facts from feelings without dismissing either.
Build emotional intelligence: Notice triggers, regulate tone, and keep conversations safe.
Use principled negotiation: Focus on interests, not positions; brainstorm options; seek mutual gains.
Structure the dialogue: Set ground rules, define the issue, agree on actions, and follow up.
Learn mediation basics: Neutral facilitation techniques help parties own the outcome.
Apply frameworks: Tools like the Thomas–Kilmann model can guide when to compete, collaborate, compromise, avoid, or accommodate.
Calm presence beats clever words.
How to Display Conflict Resolution Skills on Your Resume
11. Performance Management
Performance management aligns people to goals, clarifies expectations, gives feedback, and tracks growth over time. It’s not just a review; it’s a rhythm.
Why It's Important
Done well, it sharpens focus, reveals skill gaps, feeds development plans, and improves outcomes. Done poorly, it becomes paperwork no one trusts.
How to Improve Performance Management Skills
Define measurable goals: Tie objectives to team and company outcomes; make success obvious.
Adopt continuous feedback: Short, frequent check-ins beat once-a-year surprises.
Enable development: Offer training and stretch assignments that match the goals you set.
Leverage software: Use tools to track goals, feedback, and reviews in one place.
Recognize wins: Call out progress and impact; reinforcement fuels momentum.
Clarity, cadence, and care—those three lift performance.
How to Display Performance Management Skills on Your Resume
12. Workday HCM
Workday HCM is a unified, cloud-based platform for HR—core data, payroll, talent, time, benefits, analytics—joined up and accessible.
Why It's Important
It consolidates processes, strengthens reporting, and reduces swivel-chair work. Admins save time; leaders gain insight.
How to Improve Workday HCM Skills
Master the basics: Navigation, security roles, business processes, and common transactions.
Personalize dashboards: Surface your most-used tasks, reports, and alerts.
Use Workday Learning: Follow targeted paths and practice with real scenarios.
Join the community: Learn from other users’ configurations, lessons, and workarounds.
Automate routine: Configure business processes and approvals to reduce manual touches.
Collect feedback: Ask managers and employees where friction lives; refine processes accordingly.
Stay current: Review releases, pilot features, and update SOPs after each change.
When Workday matches your workflow, everything moves cleaner.
How to Display Workday HCM Skills on Your Resume
