By Ezra Luca
As an HRBP like https://www.adp.com/resources/articles-and-insights/articles/h/hrbp.aspx, you need to develop strategic relationships across the organization. This involves engaging employees and building trust with them. In addition, you will use your Business understanding, problem-solving skills, and empathy. To succeed as an HRBP, you must continuously improve the employee experience.
Business Acumen
In today’s competitive workplace, business acumen is critical. Whether you’re an HRBP, CHRO, or VP of HR, you’ll need to understand your organization’s business to lead it effectively. This means having an understanding of business metrics, the seasonality of the company and reading a variety of articles.
In addition, taking courses in accounting and statistics helps me better understand the business world.
As an HRBP, you can learn about your organization’s business and play a more strategic role in its growth. HRBPs need to be able to talk “in business,” which comes from learning the specifics of the industry they are working in and its acronyms and jargon. For example, lessons like Business Acumen for HR Professionals teach you to become a strategic thinker and use data to make more informed decisions.
Intellectual Curiosity
Being an effective HRBP requires intellectual curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. In addition, you must be passionate about the business workforce and take the lead in determining the company’s workforce strategy. As a result, you should be comfortable partnering with managers and business leaders in addressing workforce issues and challenges. Business partners in HR must be eager to grasp the organization’s objectives and all of its facets. An HRBP should see these objectives as a crucial evaluation of their effectiveness. A proactive force driving workforce planning, HRBPs must also be genuinely concerned for the corporate workforce.
Empathy
Empathy is one of the most important attributes when building strategic relationships as an HRBP. Empathy is a skill that helps us respond to the emotions of others. Therefore, developing empathy is one of the foundational skills of leadership. However, it is not the same as sympathy. To build empathy, one must let go of preconceived ideas and actively listen. Moreover, they should be able to use their imagination to understand the other person’s perspective.
To achieve excellence as an HRBP, it is essential to understand each relationship’s value deeply. Think of each strategic relationship as a benefit bank account: you make deposits and withdrawals from it when you do something for another person. As an HRBP, you should never begin a relationship in debt. Instead, try to help the person and build a relationship.
Knowledge of HR Practices
As an HRBP, you will bridge HR and the business. Your role will be to build strategic relationships with management and leaders in the organization while also implementing HR practices to support business objectives. This role requires a thorough understanding of HR practices and the political landscape. Developing relationships with business leaders and managers is a critical component of this role, and you must be adept at picking up key signals and presenting them to decision-makers.
As an HRBP, you can think of your strategic relationships as bank accounts. You put money into these accounts when you perform favors for someone. Then you make withdrawals from them when they help you. The goal is to avoid putting one person in debt with another.
