What’s Stopping HR Business Partners Achieving Their Objectives?

Human Resources Business Partners (HRBP) are professionals that help align an organization’s people strategy with their business strategy. It’s been nearly 30 years since the concept was created by Dave Ulrich and, to this day, being a HRBP is seen as arguably the toughest job in HR, with a relentless focus on consistently demonstrating that HR is an added value strategic function.

Alarmingly, a Gartner survey discovered that CHROs believe that 82% of their HRBPs are ineffective at strategic activities, and 61% are unable to prioritize strategic partner activities.

This got us thinking – what is stopping HRBPs from achieving their strategic objectives?

In a recent poll conducted on our LinkedIn page, we discovered that only 8% of respondents believed their HRBPs were achieving their goals. Meanwhile, 15% believed that the pace of business change was the problem, 22% said a change in the required skills of the job, and a whopping 55% of respondents believed that it was simply the sheer volume of work that HRBPs were responsible for overseeing which was making their objectives effectively unreachable.

These are just some of the factors that can act as roadblocks to a HRBP’s success, but this doesn’t mean that the role is a redundant one. If crafted correctly, your HRBP can be the defining factor of your strategic success, and to achieve this reality, employers must be identifying the challenges they face in order to find remedies for them:

• Challenge 1: Role Clarity – in some organizations, the role of a HRBP is not well understood by the business or even by HR, particularly if the HR function is evolving to introduce the HRBP role.

Tip: To overcome this challenge, don’t just define the HRBP role and responsibilities, but also define every HR process that goes with it and assign responsibilities for each.

• Challenge 2: Operational Demands – as evidenced by our poll, there is no shortage of daily operational demands, and typically HRBPs want to be responsive problem solvers. But how is this possible when the volume of work is so great?

Tip: This is where it can be extremely helpful to be crystal clear with what the HRBP’s responsibilities are. They need clear parameters around what it is they are responsible for overseeing rather than ambiguous and broad responsibilities – the more detailed and specific, the better. This will mean that HRBPs will allot their time correctly and efficiently, giving them more time to focus on their strategic responsibilities.

• Challenge 3: Lack of HR Strategy – and we don’t mean a complete lack of strategy, but rather a lack of a quality one. Without this, it can be very difficult to operate strategically.

Tip: Establish clear, quality HR strategies at enterprise and business unit/portfolio level, and ensure that there are strong links between the organizational and business unit strategies and the HR strategies (with shared goals where appropriate). It’s also important to engage leaders to co-create/review the HR plan to ensure that the HRBP plays an active role in contributing to the business plan for their portfolio. Essentially, align business and HR KPIs wherever possible.

• Challenge 4: Culture – a company culture that values HR as a strategic partner is essential. Without buy-in from senior leadership, even the most capable HRBPs will struggle to make a meaningful impact.

Tip: By shifting this mindset at the executive level, HRBPs can be positioned to drive positive, sustainable change within the organization that poses no internal limitations to the strategic objectives they can achieve.

• Challenge 5: The Right Fit – it’s important to acknowledge that a strategic HRBP role is not suited for everyone; it requires a particular personality and skill set, and without this, it can make the job even more overwhelming.

Tip: To thrive strategically, an HRBP needs to be a ‘big picture’ thinker, confident, and highly people orientated. Not every HRBP fits naturally into this mould, and that’s okay.

The role of the HRBP is no doubt a challenging one, but with the right support and the right skillset, HRBPs can thrive in their pursuits to marry up people strategy with business strategy in a strategically effective way. If you are an HRBP, or a HR leader leading HRBPs, and have questions or challenges you would like help with, you can get in contact with us today via our private consultation service OrgShakers CL!CK to gain instant access to one of our seasoned HR professionals. Equally, you can contact us via our website!