Global research analysing thousands of HR business partners reveals resources are being misdirected, causing their role to regress into a predominantly tactical function and lose its global utility. Analyst Kathi Enderes suggests seven actions that HR leaders can implement now to transform HRBPs into strategic business drivers
A generation ago a transformative idea revolutionised the HR field: HR business partners (HRBPs). These professionals work in tandem with business leaders and managers to synchronise human resource strategies with the overall objectives of the organisation.
This idea remains profoundly important and indispensable to organisations today. However, somewhere along the journey we lost sight of its strategic value. Consequently we've seen resources misdirected and the HRBP role regressing into a predominantly tactical function, losing its global utility.
Now evidence from top organisations shows the need to enhance the influence of this vital group of HR professionals on your company's financial performance, customer satisfaction and ability to innovate by reimagining their role.
An erosion of impact of the HR business partner
Right now HRBPs are overwhelmed with additional responsibilities from business managers seeking immediate assistance with operational – rather than strategic – issues. For example, they are often asked to handle tasks like navigating the hiring process or facilitating transfers without familiarity with the system.
While this may address immediate needs it strays from the promise of the role. It means many HRBPs aren't operating at their full potential.
To demonstrate this point our latest research analysed 55,000 comments from HR professionals participating in our learning course The Strategic HR Business Partner. These comments showed that despite understanding the significance of their roles they struggle to put this into practice and add real value. They simply don’t have the influence and authority they need to make a significant impact.
The same research also included a self-assessment of 7,100 HRBPss across 96 HR capabilities. It reached the same conclusion–HRBPs are excelling in less impactful work centred around individuals, rather than engaging in broader, strategic actions impacting the organisation.
In today's rapidly evolving business environment, characterised by heightened competition and accelerated operational speeds, this ineffectiveness is no longer affordable.
Imagine you're a financial services company considering expansion into a new market. Ideally an HRBP should be part of the leadership group discussion, bringing labour market insights for the geography, providing forecasts on talent availability, considering leadership implications and internal mobility and advising on change impacts for the workforce that may alter the company’s strategic direction. If the talent pool in the area is limited the group would need to reconsider the decision, outsource key activities to contractors, provide remote work opportunities or redesign employment scenarios accordingly.
Also, given the significant change every company is going through now, HRBPs should be leading the charge on change management. They should be skilled at managing and leading organisational transformation, helping to navigate and smoothly implement new processes, technologies and strategies, and shaping the culture of the company. Their focus should be on the big picture, avoiding distractions or getting weighed down by any individual issues within that process.
To empower your HRBPs to be in a position to make such vital contributions allow them to perform the strategic role they could live up to. Doing so isn't about increasing headcount costs. It's about enhancing the training and utilisation of the talented individuals you already have in your organisation.
Therefore, the mission of the CHRO should be to develop HRBPs, help them build the right relationships across the business, give them the support they need,and consciously organise them in a more agile way to support their success.
We can summarise this as a new focus on:
- Establishing the new HRBP role and responsibilities and helping them build the right relationships with the business and HR
- Developing HRBPs with critical capabilities to prepare them to function as a business consultant
- Consciously organising them in agile teams to support their success
Some of that will involve formal learning. With the advent of digital technology, globalisation and evolving workforce expectations, HRBPs must rapidly expand their skill sets. However, a significant part will be helping them find mentors or connections. This often means involving them in projects where they can gain valuable experience and exposure.
This is where The Josh Bersin Company’s recently introduced idea of Systemic HR™ thinking starts to help. By definition, Systemic HR is an evolution from HR being a siloed service provider to a more integrated, consultative function solving a company’s most pressing business problems.
Doing so means the HRBP is no longer merely an HR ‘jack of all trades’ but a highly useful, data- and tech-savvy business consultant. In our data only 11% of companies currently have a systemic HR function operating at the highest level of maturity, so there is plenty of room for optimisation here – and in fact, the kind of next-generation HRBP I’m talking about here can help accelerate the journey and drive successful business outcomes.
But to get there, you need to be ready to pose and find answers to questions like:
- How can we better integrate our new HRBPs into strategic planning?
- What specific skills would these reimagined HRBPs need to develop to align with our business goals?
- How can we leverage technology and data to enhance this new vision?
Prepping for a complex but exciting next HRBP chapter: TomTom and LEGO.
In summary, HRBPs are serving an incredibly important role, but it’s underutilised. However, the winds of change are beginning to clear the path for a new generation of HRBPs as business consultants.
At geolocation firm TomTom HRBPs now sit on the HR strategy and strategic business partnering team, which also includes HR strategy, people analytics and insights, HR portfolio management and organisational development. Collaborating with the business in this fashion allows them to play an increasing role in supporting the highest-priority initiatives and makes the HR function much more impactful. Through this new approach to leveraging the HRBP TomTom ensures that its HRBPs are well-equipped to support the dynamic needs of the organisation, driving effectiveness and efficiency.
Meanwhile, LEGO also offers a shining example of how to build up the capabilities of its HRBPs, by offering them specialised training programs in change management, organisation design, strategic thinking and data analytics. This enables them to make informed decisions that align with business objectives.
LEGO also consistently encourages its HRBPs to participate in cross-functional projects, helping them get a holistic, deeper understanding of the organisation. After all, how can one be expected to contribute to strategic, company-wide discussions without that?
Making the difference, starting today
The forward-looking CHRO needs to follow the example of LEGO and TomTom and help develop HRBPs to help their organisation deal with all the challenges that the next few years of massive digital change in business will expose us to.
Your to-do list includes:
- Alleviate HRBPs from administrative duties: Find ways to streamline your operations and use HR technology to support this. Your HRBPs should be doing as little as possible about employee relations and compliance, for example.
- Define the new role: Explicitly define how your HRBP is now expected to be a business consultant, and how they will be involved in critical planning projects alongside their business counterparts.
- Facilitate their relationships with senior leadership: Involve your HRBPs in high-level meetings and decision-making processes and support them in building trust with leaders.
- Enhance their skills: Embrace a culture of continuous learning, and invest in specific development programs to help them with strategic and analytical thinking. The example of LEGO, as mentioned above, can provide inspiration here.
- Modify your organisational structure: Flatten your hierarchies and promote cross-functional collaboration, pooling HRBPs where they are needed most–not where they are assigned .
- Manage resistance from leaders: Change always brings a level of tension and resistance. Get ahead of it–showcase the value of your HRBPs and celebrate the early wins wherever you can. Use leaders who have success with the new HRBP role as change champions.
- Establish a strong feedback system: Make sure you have a robust way of assessing the impact your HRBPs have on business performance–use it to bring others on-side, show they’re making a difference and continuously refine their role.
By following that checklist you can transition your HRBPs from transactional tasks to making the valuable, strategic contributions you know they are capable of.
Kathi Enderes is SVP research and global industry analyst, at human capital advisory organisation The Josh Bersin Company. For more on the analysis Kathi refers to in this article, check out this Josh Bersin podcast here