The HR manager handles issues directly with employees and is responsible for recruiting, compensation, training, safety, and welfare. Key skills for an HR manager include strong communication skills, business acumen to understand how HR fits the organization's strategic plans, and understanding people through verbal and nonverbal cues. HR managers also require a sense of fairness, organizational skills, and additional skills like recruitment, training, compensation, performance evaluation, and time management. The HR process is influenced by internal factors like organizational structure and culture as well as external factors in the political, economic, and labor environments.