To transform what you achieve in HR – build one team

Business partnering is a hot topic with our clients right now. What we learn is that, in practice, for HR to truly partner with the business – learn, respond, anticipate and co-create – the whole function needs to be fully involved.

The good news is that you don’t have to turn the function upside down in order to transform the value it delivers. Most have adopted Dave Ulrich‘s 3-part operating model in some form, and HR functions can transform their performance by driving teamwork between the 3 parts.

Making that happen means pulling HR teams together to explore the right questions.

It actually means making this model work as it was intended. I realise this isn’t rocket science. That’s a plus, not a minus. A huge advantage is that people can understand this model – stakeholders as well as HR.

Everyone agrees that HR needs to get closer to the business, to align their strategy and activities and deliver value.

The HRBP is a vital conduit for learning about what will create value for their client groups, and they need the whole HR team to get lined up behind that. To operate strategically, the HRBP needs to have their time freed up.

Everyone in HR needs to partner with the business – together.

I would love to hear how this works in your HR team.