5 Skills and Strategies a Human Resource Business Partner Needs To Know

Before knowing the definition of Human Resource Business Partner, did you know that the HR function and its position, which is considered to have less role and contribution to the company, has caused a shift in HR demands from academics and HR practitioners? This is due to the assumption that HR is too fixated on bureaucratic procedures and small administrative matters, so a change in the role of HR managers is needed to provide more value to stakeholders. 

Consequently, it is necessary to reconceptualize the role of HR so that they become strategic partners (even consultants) for senior managers, which will later be beneficial for achieving company competitiveness. Based on the above demands, the HRBP concept was born. This article will give you further insights about Human Resource Business Partners and tips on skills and strategies to manage this job successfully.

What is a Human Resource Business Partner?

Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) is an HR professional who creates results by working closely with the company’s management and divisional managers, as well as business partners or advisors from aspects of HR management and organization. HRBP is a new role in the HR field that connects the business context with HR.

In recent years, HR has taken a more strategic role. Companies prefer to consult with HR business partners who can effectively create and operate their businesses. The HR position now involves active participation in all pre-planning activities, such as how initiatives are performed, their influence on the business, the anticipated outcome, and how success may be measured.

Employees and management have been more receptive to the change towards a more central HR function, even though it requires substantial buy-in from the business. This has resulted in the significant growth of Human Resource business partner positions over time.

Also read: Best HRM Software For Singaporean Companies

What does a Human Resource Partner do?

The human resources business partner is responsible for ensuring that the organization’s policies and procedures regarding human resources are consistent with the requirements and objectives of the company’s top leadership.

Administration, compliance, and management receive less attention than they once did. The HR business partner focuses on the bigger picture rather than conducting the day-to-day training, dealing with the drafting of policies, or the specifics of benefit packages and hiring.

The professional who holds this position is responsible for establishing and guiding the goals of the organization’s human resources department, with a major concentration on developing a strategy rather than the administration of policy. The Human Resource Business Partner is responsible for ensuring that the HR strategy is in line with the overall business plan of the enterprise.

The Human Resource Business Partner is not a vice president of the company, nor is this person a human resources manager. On the other hand, a human resources business partner is more of a consultant who works in human resources. This person works in the field of human resources and focuses on fostering partnerships and offering resources to departments throughout the corporation.

5 Skills HR Business Partners Need for Success

In addition to the management skills needed for employee matters, business sense is needed to carry out interpersonal negotiations from a management perspective. Implementing a skills management platform can be a strategic move to enhance these negotiations, ensuring a more effective and data-driven approach to HR management.

Here are 5 of the skills required to become an HRBP:

Knowledge of HR as a profession

As an HR professional, in addition to knowledge of laws and regulations, you must ensure that company policies and practices comply with human resource management requirements. It also covers your need to be kept up to date with the latest practices and trends in the HR field. With this, you will be ready to face daily challenges and also ready to face future problems that the company may face.

Communication skills

HR professionals must be excellent communicators and negotiators. An HR professional’s main job is to facilitate company-employee communication. This means you’ll need strong verbal and written abilities at all levels. HRBP must communicate well with multiple business units. These communication skills will help HRBP to build relationships with decision-makers.

Business understanding

To ensure credibility, HRBP must be able to speak ‘in business’. This is done by knowing the details of the company’s business. HRBP must proactively find out about the business in the sense of helping to spot opportunities that the HR role generally doesn’t see. One of HRBP’s missions is to consider business strategy from the same perspective as management.

Data analysis ability

As a Human Resource Business Partner, you must be able to analyze data and perform problem-solving based on the data. Human Resource Business Partners must understand the data generated by rapidly increasing individuals and organizations and make decisions based on that data.

Management skills 

When you are a Human Resource Business Partner, you need to have management abilities, such as managing your time effectively and self-discipline. In order to be successful in HRBP, you will need to be able to efficiently manage both your time and your work.

What Differs HR Business Partner from HR Manager?

The roles of HR manager and HR business partner are distinct from one another and represent two distinct approaches to managing HR functions within an organization. The work of the HR manager focuses primarily on the conception of policy and the regulation of procedure. This position is responsible for various systems such as the processing of payroll, recruiting and hiring new employees, the administration system and more. The Human Resources manager is in charge of the Human Resources department.

On the other hand, the human resources business partner is not accountable for the administrative tasks of a specific department. Their primary responsibility is to collaborate with the senior leadership team of the company as well as with the managers of the various departments in order to help guide and communicate the overall company strategy. HR business partners work collaboratively with the HR department while providing advice to the executive team on HR-related issues and initiatives. They might have some input into formulating HR initiatives and strategies that have implications for the entire company.

Also Read: 5 Major Function of Human Resources

Building Strategic Relationships as a Human Resource Business Partner

A strategic relationship needs the active pursuit and development of a connection. Strategic relationships are mutually beneficial exchanges in which each person has something to offer the other. The strategic relationships of an HRBP will contribute to the interdepartmental cooperation between executives and the HR department, filling in gaps to keep employees satisfied and the company on pace to achieve its goals.

Here are some tips for establishing strategic relationships:

Knowing the goal

Current or aspiring HRBPs should consider what they want to accomplish and how long it will take. Their objectives may include fostering relationships that facilitate a career transition, implementing organizational reforms, enhancing the lives of their employees and more.

Identifying relationships

An HRBP must be realistic about the number of people they can invest in at once and invest in those individuals. More connections are not necessarily preferable. HRBPs should be selective and concentrate on cultivating relationships for a specific objective.

Doing some homework

An aspirant HRBP should conduct research on the individuals on the list of potential partnerships. What are their backgrounds? Analyze LinkedIn and company website profiles. There is no need for a great deal of information. Just forming an impression is sufficient enough.

Determine what each person in the relationship has to offer

Consider strategic partnerships as a bank account for benefits. When an HRBP performs a favor for a client, they make a deposit. When someone contributes to the HRBP, a withdrawal is made. They do not like to begin a connection with an account that is ‘in debt’. Initially, it is necessary to invest in the connection by assisting the other party.

Develop the relationship through outreach

After an HRBP has chosen persons for strategic relationships, completed their research, and decided what each individual can give the other, they can begin to build these relationships.

Conclusion

In the end, a Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) assists management in accomplishing their goals while also elaborating on the uniqueness and capabilities of each employee by linking management strategy, and personnel management will continue to expand the field of activity as a management business partner.

The existence of HRBP can be interpreted as a balance between Business and HR. The ability to communicate and integrate various views is the main point in building strategies to face business challenges. To pursue those challenges, you need an integrated system that can manage everything HRBP needs. HashMicro is the right solution to help all those needs with the best HRM Software. Click here to get the HRM Software price calculation scheme from HashMicro.

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