The role of the HRBP as a growth accelerator

‘Few organizations struggle because they lack strategic ambition. Many struggle because transformation competes with operational priorities for leadership attention, organisational energy and execution capacity.’

Jaime Carrillo Aguilera, Senior HR Leader

The strategically positioned HR leader and HRBP has unique insight into the organisation’s ecosystem. They understand the business drivers, and can see what is lacking or blocked. Creating the conditions for HRBPs to operate at this level demands both skill and credibility. Both of these have to be cultivated, and given – it’s a two-way street.

• The intellectual skills are critical – understanding the business model, how it creates value, the roles of different functions, the potential conflicts between them and how they can best play together to deliver results.
• The behavioural skills work powerfully alongside this deep business insight – helping leaders to lead, to think, to develop, to have the difficult conversations. This kind of leadership support drives the kind of personal growth that drives business growth.

Cultivating these HR talents requires strong intent, curiosity and persistence, and to be given a planned development journey.

In order to deploy both the intellectual and the behavioural skills, the HR leader or BP needs to operate in an environment where they are given respect and credibility, and opportunity.

We begin our client projects by enabling the client to understand their ecosystem, the factors affecting their ability to drive value and how to manage these. This investment is worth it – releasing the real potential of a strategically positioned HRBP to be an enabler of business growth.

Contact me to map out your own HR ecosystem.