Strategic partnering is achieved through relationships
I’m often asked ‘what does strategic partnering really mean?’
I researched this with some senior HR leaders who were responsible for HRBP teams. I asked them what their best HRBPs did. There were two common themes:
- They talked with their ‘client’ business leaders or managers about the business (rather than HR);
- They took the conversation into the future – implications, risks and opportunities (rather than the present).
They were measured on the quality of their meetings with stakeholders – therefore it’s down to the quality, depth and trust in key relationships.
The challenge that many of our clients struggle with is shifting the level at which their HRBPs operate. Transactional work has a sort of gravitational pull, and it’s hard to push back when you’re so busy.
‘Just’ developing the capabilities of the HRBP isn’t enough. We have to create the conditions for them to succeed. This can involve facilitating the growth and re-alignment of the whole HR team, engaging with business leaders and some OD work.
The expectations on both sides need to be changed. First, we help our clients to build a strategic narrative about how HR business partnering can add far more value. That’s the intellectual picture – but you need to get more specific than that.
The real impact comes from the individual stakeholder relationships – building mutual understanding and trust, so that then you can work out exactly how the HRBP (and therefore HR as a function) can deliver more value.
The outcome is that HR deliver what the business actually needs, rather than what HR thinks it needs.
That’s great for HR’s reputation as well as for its impact.
Contact me if this resonates with you, and I’ll be happy to share more insight.
