The HR Business Partner in the new world of work — how much has the role really changed?
In his 1997 book, Human Resource Champions, Professor Dave Ulrich outlined the ideas that would form the basis of definitions of the HRBP within organisations. Broadly speaking, the HRBP works with leaders to foster strategic relationships, manage stakeholder expectations, help evolve people practices and address the needs of the business.
Clearly, this role has changed and evolved to suit these needs over the last few decades. Writing in 2018, Ulrich said “the business partner concept has dramatically evolved from roles and outcomes to a logic of how HR delivers value to employees, organizations, customers, investors, and communities through individual talent leadership throughout an organization, and organization capabilities.”
Like almost every other aspect of working life, these changes will likely have accelerated over the last eighteen months’ disruption and transformation.
The People Matters BeNext Cohort Certification ‘The HR Business Partner in the New World of Work’ tackles these issues head-on. The program is privileged to have the creator of the HR Business Partner concept, Professor Dave Ulrich himself joining as a speaker, along with a number of other global thought leaders and HR Business Partners such as Michael Kim, Head of HR APAC at Spotify, Saurabh Nigam, VP, Human Capital, Omidyar Network and Sally McNamara, APAC Director, Future of Work Advisor, HSM.
Ahead of the program opening on July 26th, we talked with some of our speakers about their predictions and expectations for how work will change in the coming years and what the HRBP can do to support these shifts.
What are the key skills and characteristics of the HR Business Partner?
For Saurabh Nigam of the Omidyar Network, HR Business Partners play the role of being “the conduit between teams and the leadership” and act as the “eyes and ears” of the organisation. Therefore, top-notch communication and listening skills are essential.
Naturally, this goes along with stakeholder management, an ability to understand the context of the people practices of the organization and the team they’re operating within. Particularly recently, Saurabh says, the HRBP must have the ability to anticipate changes, to see the shifting business priorities and the implications this will have on teams.
“Gone are the days when you could possibly have a cookie-cutter approach towards people practices,” Saurabh explains. “Now, you need to understand the dynamics of the industry, the culture, the environment, the product, and then come up with the kind of people which the organization is hiring, come up with people practices which are relevant for the organization. To me that’s foundational; that’s hygiene.”
How has the role of the HRBP changed over the last eighteen months?
For Michael Kim of Spotify, the role of the HR Business Partner is more important than ever. “HR should never ask to be at the table; that place should always be there because it’s such a critical part of a business strategy,” Michael shares, adding that HR business partners not only are the “subject matter experts in [their] space” from a people & HR perspective, but also have a “strong understanding of the business [they] support, what drives that business and what the pulse of your organization is.”
Particularly with the mental and emotional health impacts of hybrid and remote work, the support role of the HR Business Partner has been magnified, creating a need for what Michael calls “empathetic listening,” from these leaders. As Michael explains, global studies show levels of depression and isolation are skyrocketing while a sense of belonging is at an all-time low. “HR and HR business partners, it’s their job to bridge that gap, and really ensure that the safety and wellbeing of their people are looked after,” Michael explains.
How will hybrid work continue to transform the role of HR and the HRBP?
Sally McNamara of HSM echoes Saurabh’s contention of moving beyond “cookie cutter” approaches to people practices.
“The aim isn’t to find a workable solution, but actually, what’s the level of flexibility appropriate for the best performance. So, that means starting with the needs of the job, the needs of the organization, understanding what jobs are appropriate for this, and what aren’t, and how are you going to work with that,” Sally shares.
“There’s no perfect solution for hybrid working. I know many of us feel quite desperate for some certainty, but the right solution is going to evolve for your particular organization. So, helping your leaders and people take an experimental approach means that you can adjust and refine as you go,” Sally adds.
Five Milestones in Five Weeks
So what can you expect from the The HR Business Partner in the New World of Work program?
Week 1 — The HRBP and a business that wins in the marketplace
What is the most important thing HR can give an employee in today’s work context? Where are the tensions and opportunities as we build back from the crisis?
Week 2 — Understanding the Present to Build for the Future
What are the skills, roles and responsibilities of the HRBP at this transformative time? Wherever we are now, what can the HRBP do to guide us in the right direction?
Week 3 — Reskilling HR For The New World of Work
How can we rethink the nature of work — how, where and why it gets done? Learn from Dave Ulrich’s specific skill sets for the modern HRBP: 1) dealing with information asymmetry, 2) separating signal from noise 3) finding integrated solutions 4) social responsibility 5) using analytics
Week 4 — Myths Standing Between You and the Future of Work
What are some of the biggest myths swirling around the role of HR and the future of work? How can we disprove these myths and focus on the opportunities of our new reality?
Week 5–5-Step Framework to Redesign For Talent Impact
How can you start aligning all the decisions and learnings to Redesign, Reskill and Reconfigure your Organisation for the future of work?
Looking ahead, the HR Business Partner will no doubt have their work cut out for them as they grapple not only with the fallouts of the COVID-19 crisis, but the ongoing disruptors of digitalization, automation and AI, increasingly distributed teams, a competitive job market and how best to support wellbeing and social initiatives in remote and hybrid teams. Find out more about how to make the most out of this transformative time on the BeNext HRBP in the New World of Work Program by clicking here
