Strategic Business Partner

Research clearly indicates that there is a strong need for the Human Resources (HR) function, and the people in it, to adopt a more strategic and business-linked approach. In one study business executives ranked the HR function as third, after sales and customer service, as a function that makes a very significant contribution to a company's bottom line. Unfortunately research also indicates that few HR functions have become strategic. Most still operate in a primarily administrative and tactical manner—the very work that is increasingly being outsourced. Clearly there is a gap between what business leaders and employees need from their HR departments and what HR is providing. HR functions must become more integrated into the business, with some people on the HR team assuming the role of Strategic Business Partner (SBP). Here, Dana and Jim Robinson offer guidance for HR, Organization Development and Learning professionals who aspire to transform themselves into effective Strategic Business Partners. They explain how SBPs build partnerships, based upon credibility and trust, with key organization leaders. These partnerships provide SBPs with opportunities to identify and support projects directly aligned with business goals. The success of these projects deepens the SBPs' credibility, enabling them to be viewed as strategic partners. At this higher level of accountability, SBPs work with business leaders to form long-range business strategies and plans, creating and implementing people initiatives that link into and support the business strategies and plans. This practical guide offers case studies, exercises, tips, and tools you can use to become a Strategic Business Partner in your organization.

How do I balance delivery of the HR strategy with the needs of the business? How can I solve key people issues while also becoming a true strategic HR business partner? This book has the answers. Packed with expert advice, The HR Business Partner Handbook explains how HR Business Partners can be both the go-to people expert needed by employees and the trusted strategic ally needed by the business. This book covers how to develop an authoritative knowledge of HR practice as well as deep understanding of what the organization does and its business goals. It includes guidance on all the people fundamentals needed as well as the importance of empathy, humility and how to demonstrate leadership on moral and ethical issues. It also covers how to adapt advice and activity for different stakeholders. This book explains how to identify the root of an HR issue and not just treat the symptoms and most importantly, how to develop solutions that work for an organization and its people. There is practical guidance on how to develop a strategic mindset, learn what to start doing and what to stop. It also features an assessment of the common pitfalls and intra-profession challenges and how HR business partners should seek to approach them. Written by an HR Business Partner, for HR Business Partners, this is an indispensable guide for everyone wanting to excel in this role and drive improvement in an organization, its leaders and HR. Finally, a 'how-to' guide for HR business partners at every stage of their career!

You'll note our reference to Human Resources and the term HR. We are viewing this area in its broadest sense, inclusive of the HR, Learning, and OD disciplines practiced today. Essentially, this book is written for people who work in the people side of any organization-for profit, not-for-profit, and public. This book is written from the perspective of someone who works within an organization, whether that organization is small or large. However, most of the techniques and practices are relevant to those individuals who work externally in a consultative role.

We are operating in a world defined by constant connection, rapid change, and abundant choices. News that once took months, even years, to spread now reaches across the globe in seconds. Advances in medicine and science are pushing boundaries with gene therapy and stem cell transplants. And decisions about where and how to work and live are nearly endless. As new knowledge--and the possibilities that arise from that knowledge--propels us forward, leadership readiness expert and renowned author Erika Andersen suggests that success in today's world requires the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills quickly and continuously--in spite of our mixed feelings about being a novice. In her newest book, Be Bad First, Erika explores how we can become masters of mastery; proficient in the kind of high-payoff learning that's needed today. With assessments and exercises at the close of every chapter, she encourages readers to embrace being bad on the way to being great--to be novices over and over again as we seek to learn and acquire the new skills that will allow us to thrive in this fast-changing world.

Having the skills is not enough - applying them in the chaotic and frantic world of work while still delivering the transactional duties of HR is the real challenge. This toolkit helps you to first identify those skills gaps and develop your team's capability and then to apply those skills to become genuine business partners.

This book highlights the changes and challenges to the role of the HR Business Partner, overviewing the emerging service delivery models for the HR function (in particular the development of shared services and outsourcing options) and what this means for the HR Business Partner (HRBP) in the modern enterprise. The purpose of this book is to provide a conceptual framework and practical advice, based on real life case studies and recent research, into how HR Business Partners best add value to the organization. The authors have extensive experience of working in the area of HR restructuring (having been HR Directors in blue chip organizations and senior advisers in leading consultancies) and have consistently come up against confusion and contradiction about what is the new role of the HR Manager/Business Partner in supporting business managers in the delivery of strategic and tactical objectives. Theory and conceptual models are used to underpin this book but it has been written as a pragmatic, hands-on guide that will help its readers think through how best they might fulfil the role of the HRBP. The book contains checklists, case study examples and self-assessment tools. It is supported by supplementary material (updates, further case studies, templates and tools) which are available via the authors' website.

This book highlights the changes and challenges to the role of the HR Business Partner, overviewing the emerging service delivery models for the HR function (in particular the development of shared services and outsourcing options) and what this means for the HR Business Partner (HRBP) in the modern enterprise. The purpose of this book is to provide a conceptual framework and practical advice, based on real life case studies and recent research, into how HR Business Partners best add value to the organization. The authors have extensive experience of working in the area of HR restructuring (having been HR Directors in blue chip organizations and senior advisers in leading consultancies) and have consistently come up against confusion and contradiction about what is the new role of the HR Manager/Business Partner in supporting business managers in the delivery of strategic and tactical objectives. Theory and conceptual models are used to underpin this book but it has been written as a pragmatic, hands-on guide that will help its readers think through how best they might fulfil the role of the HRBP. The book contains checklists, case study examples and self-assessment tools. It is supported by supplementary material (updates, further case studies, templates and tools) which are available via the authors' website.