Business Partnering | Factsheets | CIPD

The most effective way to create a BP model is to consult with the business to nurture the right value proposition and operating model that’s understood and supported by the business. Too often, the business partnering concept is delivered as a solution without any consultation to ensure it’s aligned or even understood.

Much of business partnering to date has focused on it being a defined role within an HR team – often a strategic BP or operational BP, and sometimes a specialist partner (such as recruitment, reward, talent, etc). It’s also evident that other business functions have picked up on the benefits of business partnering, creating finance partners, marketing partners etc, to align their capabilities more effectively with the organisations they support.

There are four key areas to consider in being an effective business partner:

• Understanding the business model at depth – getting to know and understand how the business operates, how it creates value, its strategic drivers and its purpose.

• Generating insight from data and evidence – using and applying evidence to support business cases or strategies, as well providing insight, inspiration and the opportunity to validate and qualify the impact of their work.

• Connecting with curiosity, purpose and impact – asking the right questions, crafting networks and understanding where HR can identify opportunities to create the most value.

• Leading with integrity, consideration and challenge – having the courage and confidence to challenge the business and its leaders.

Our report Business savvy: giving HR the edge looks at these four foundations, and offers further ideas on what people professionals need to understand their business better.

Of course, understanding the business is essential for a business partner role. However, BPs also need to be able to take ‘an outside look in’. Ulrich talks about this in his book ‘HR from the outside in: six competencies for the future of human resources’ (see Further reading) and it’s also evident in research by Orion Partners which has shown that there are five main criteria for success:

• Self-belief – HR needs to believe in its own capabilities and how it can add strategic value to the organisation.

• Independence – HR needs to be courageous enough to challenge the business and leadership, even when it might not be the most popular option.

• Knowing the business – HR needs to understand the business, its strategy, its purpose, its culture and be able to have meaningful conversations about them.

• Relationships – HR needs to be able to build and facilitate relationships across the organisation that are based on trust and are productive for all stakeholders.

• ‘One HR’ – HR needs to connect its capabilities into a joined-up approach so that the business sees a seamless service. This is internal partnering in practice.

These points will help people professionals re-evaluate, rethink and refresh their business practices, but also position of HR as a true partner to the organisation.

The nature of the BP model has and will continue to change. The CIPD engages with organisations to survey and understand how it is evolving and constantly develop and grow learning programmes to meet the needs of current and aspiring business partners.