The definition of a business partner includes any contractual, exclusive bond between parties that represents a commercial alliance. The two parties may be individuals who agree to work together to create and manage a business. The parties may also be separate teams, groups, or businesses that agree to cooperate and work together for a mutually beneficial common purpose.
Human resources (HR) managers and business partners both perform similar roles of connecting the management of an organization to the HR department. They differ in that HR business partners are more focused on business details such as knowing business terminology, and they may rank higher than HR managers.
HR Manager
HR managers ensure that new hires are placed to maximize their skill set, among other important employee management tasks. One of their most important functions is to meet with company or organization executives to focus on strategy and planning. Meeting with top executives is useful for their important task of linking management with employees. HR managers also make sure that many important HR tasks are completed, such as managing benefit programs, consulting with managers, and sorting out staff issues.
Job responsibilities of an HR manager include:
- Coordinating support staff and specialists
- Handling the recruiting and hiring process
- Managing discipline for employees
- Ensuring regulatory compliance
- Measuring the productivity of employees
HR Business Partner
HR business partners also report to the senior executives in a company or organization. Their goal is to support the business structure of an organization by collaborating with the HR department. They have knowledge about where to place employees to their best advantage as well as have consulting advice for different members of business leadership. HR business partners have a strong knowledge about as well as experience with the business they work for, making them suitable for effective business communication.
Job responsibilities of an HR business partner include:
- Strategic planning
- Coaching executives about HR issues
- Driving talent or HR initiatives
- Developing HR or organizational strategies
Duties/Responsibilities:
- Conducts weekly meetings with respective business units.
- Consults with line management, providing HR guidance when appropriate.
- Analyzes trends and metrics in partnership with the HR group to develop solutions, programs and policies.
- Manages and resolves complex employee relations issues. Conducts effective, thorough and objective investigations.
- Maintains in-depth knowledge of legal requirements related to day-to-day management of employees, reducing legal risks and ensuring regulatory compliance. Partners with the legal department as needed/required.
- Provides day-to-day performance management guidance to line management (e.g., coaching, counseling, career development, disciplinary actions).
- Works closely with management and employees to improve work relationships, build morale, and increase productivity and retention.
- Provides HR policy guidance and interpretation.
- Develops contract terms for new hires, promotions and transfers.
- Assists international employees with expatriate assignments and related HR matters.
- Provides guidance and input on business unit restructures, workforce planning and succession planning.
- Identifies training needs for business units and individual executive coaching needs.
- Participates in evaluation and monitoring of training programs to ensure success. Follows up to ensure training objectives are met.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
Required Skills/Abilities:
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills.
- Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to comprehend, interpret, and apply the appropriate sections of applicable laws, guidelines, regulations, ordinances, and policies.
- Ability to acquire a thorough understanding of the organization’s hierarchy, jobs, qualifications, compensation practices, and the administrative practices related to those factors.
- Excellent time management skills with a proven ability to meet deadlines.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
HR Business Partner vs. HR Manager
Once, HR was a department solely focused on the administrative tasks and compliance issues involved in the recruitment, hiring, management and termination of employees. While HR managers continue to focus on these critical issues, an HR business partner has a different role.
They are typically involved with individual units within an organization, rather than just overall administrative duties. They work with department managers on developing a plan to hire the right people with the skills needed specifically for a job opening in that area.
By working closely with department managers on a hiring strategy, an HR business partner has a better idea of the context surrounding each job opening. Rather than listing a generic job opening for an accountant, they understand the specific job duties as well as the goals a manager has for that position.
Their work is directly related to current and future business success. They are concerned less with administration and compliance issues and more on how a strategic plan for employee recruitment and retention can improve the effectiveness of a business unit.
In short, rather than being an administrative support position on employee issues, the HR business partner is an operational and strategic resource position.
It’s important to note that the lines between an HR manager and HR business partner can be blurred depending on the organization. Not all businesses have individual people in these separate roles.
Why the Change has Happened
Proactive HR departments have moved into a business partnership role for the simple fact that they see value in aligning human capital efforts with strategic goals of the business.
Years ago, the manager of a department may have requested that HR recruit someone for an important job, and HR would manage the process of recruiting and hiring that person.
With the shift to a business partner role, HR professionals are more active in working with that department manager on an overall strategy for hiring personnel. They know, in detail, what the manager hopes to achieve with the employee in that position and how it serves overall department goals.
HRBP Barriers
Organisations are struggling to make their HR professionals add direct value to the business through linking them to the business execution. However; they are missing to equip them with the needed tools to achieve their new mission. HRBP implementation challenges are chasing HR professionals since it has been launched.
To avoid most of these challenges HR partnering should be treated as a mission to be achieved more than a task to be added. Therefore; all hands should be in the process of transforming HR to be a business partner. Partnering HR with the business should start by creating an environment which accepts HR to be a business partner. This includes preparing HR professionals for their new role by introducing them to the business context and helping them to master the business strategies so as to be able to add value in the execution of the same.
The transformation of HR from being merely a service centre to be an effective partner in the business in an organisation is not an easy task as it requires several criteria and standards to be fulfilled to ensure its successfulness. Brockway stated that the first driver for HR to be a business partner is to be business oriented and focused on long term benefits. Secondly, HRPs need to maintain a strong relationship with the line managers through providing them an easy accessibility for HR functions and maintaining a trust based open communication with them. The third and last driver is the business knowledge skills that HRBPs need to be equipped with to be able to add value to the business and the sufficient time they need to perform their new tasks.
