HR Business Partner Skills of the Future: How Organizations Should Develop Their HRBPs
As we navigate the complexities of Gen AI, fluctuating labor markets, and escalating skill shortages, the role of the HR Business Partner is under pressure to evolve to meet the emerging challenges organizations face. Developing HR Business Partner skills of the future is essential.
In the late 1990s, the field of Human Resources underwent a significant transformation when the HR Business Partner (HRBP) Operating Model became popular. This model emphasized the strategic alignment of HR with core business goals, marking a critical shift toward integrating HR more deeply into organizational strategy. As a result, HR business partnering solidified its role as a key contributor to the HRBP operating model and strategic partner to the business.
Going forward, HRBPs must be ready to navigate not only the current reality but also future demands. What’s more, they need to address the perception that the HRBP role has not delivered sufficient strategic impact. To achieve that, businesses must prioritize the development of HR Business Partner skills.
In this article, we explore the changing skill requirements of the HRBP, propose an HRBP profile based on our T-Shaped HR Competency Model, and show a three-phased approach to developing HRBPs that are ready for the future.
Contents
The changing expectations of the HR Business Partner
The current reality of the HRBP
Defining the skill set of the HR Business Partner of the future
Adopting a phased approach to developing HR Business Partner skills
The changing expectations of the HR Business Partner
The HR Business Partner role aims to bring HR closer to business, elevate its contribution to a strategic level, and ensure alignment between HR priorities and business goals. This positions the HRBP role as the HR representative in business and the business representative within HR. Often described as “wearing multiple hats”, the role is of a multifaceted nature, facing a variety of demands and expectations.
As business and the world of work change, we see three fundamental shifts in the HRBP role:
- The positioning of the HRBP role
- Its scope and focus
- The future impact of the HRBP role.
Regarding positioning, the HRBP role will need to address an increasingly complex stakeholder landscape. This will include breaking the stereotype that HR only exists as a “partner to business” but instead becomes a strategic advisor to all, including various employment groups, the Board, and community stakeholders.
The HR Business Partner role will also broaden to include a more market-oriented focus. This expansion involves integrating HR activities with business and market demands and adopting a commercial mindset that aligns closely with evolving market trends.
By doing so, HRBPs will be better positioned to anticipate and react to the dynamic needs of the business. This way, the HR strategies can not only support but also drive key business objectives in alignment with the broader market landscape.
The impact of the HRBP will also shift to become more focused on business continuity and sustainability, ensuring that the business can deliver today and in the future. This can translate into building proactive workforce capability, proactive risk management, and fluid talent strategies to gain access to skills.
Positioning
As a partner in business
As a strategic advisor to all stakeholders
Focus
Internal from HR to Business
Market to Business to HR
Impact
Demonstrates the impact of HR on business performance
Drives business continuity and achievement of strategic goals
We discussed how HR can embrace change and succeed in the future with Jan Laurijssen, HR Evangelist from SD Worx. See the full conversation below:
The current reality of the HRBP
The changing expectations will demand more from HRBPs, and organizations must create an environment that enables HRBPs to perform their role successfully. This includes investing in relevant technologies, equipping HR teams appropriately, and ensuring a clear mandate and legitimization of HR within the organization.
Unfortunately, these factors are not in place for many HRBPs. A lot of HRBPs feel they are pulled into transactional work given the lack of infrastructure and resources, and many also cite high levels of burnout. Beyond these challenges, we also need to realistically assess where the HR Business Partners are today in terms of skillset to determine how big the transition will be in the future.
AIHR’s T-Shaped HR Competency Model is based on multiple years of research with more than 20,000 HR professionals and various organizations using it as the standard for their HR teams. For HRBPs specifically, we find the following insights about the current reality of how HRBPs evaluate themselves against the model:
- HRBPs leverage their interpersonal skills and focus on driving execution to create business impact
- HRBPs have less preference and confidence in using data and digital in their day-to-day execution
- Confidence in business acumen is steadily increasing, yet this seems to be developed at senior levels and may not be a focus area at other levels within the organization
- People advocacy remains a reported strength for HRBPs, often also based on the experience and exposure that they have had.
HRBPs highlight their drive to balance business expectations with HR solutions, often stating that they are drawn to the career as they want to help make the business successful.
Delving further into the career of the HR professional, we see that the HRBP role remains one of the leading preparatory roles for future CHROs, even though many HRBPs do not necessarily aspire to move into a future CHRO role.
Defining the skill set of the HR Business Partner of the future
Based on these realities and insights, we used our T-Shaped HR Competency Model to identify and prioritize the behaviors that we believe will be crucial for the HRBP of the future.
These competencies, skills, and behaviors aim to outline the competencies HR Business Partners need to be future-fit and remain relevant:
Let’s break this down.
Competency 1: Business Acumen
From its inception, the HRBP role demanded business focus and commercial awareness. A strong focus on business acumen formed the bedrock of the HRBP profile and will continue to do so in the future.
Going forward, the HRBP must have greater market understanding and the ability to translate how emerging trends can influence their business. This will naturally lead to more involvement in the strategic processes of organizations. In addition, we firmly believe that scenario planning will become a key area of expertise for HRBPs in the future.
Competency 2: Data Literacy
As organizations become more data-driven, the emergence of evidence-based HR is ushering the field in a similar direction.
The ability of HRBPs to be aware of how and where data can be utilized, how to apply data to business and HR hypotheses, and communicate data in a meaningful and effective way will become crucial. The HRBP of the future is a master data-driven storyteller and is comfortable infusing data across the HR value chain.
Competency 3: Digital Agility
Leveraging technology in the future will be critical to the success of the HRBP. Utilizing technologies to improve individual productivity and knowing how and where to introduce technology into HR practices will allow the HRBP to partner in a more meaningful manner at scale.
As organizations adopt digital collaboration tools and ways of working, the HRBP must also be able to effectively drive the HR agenda using these digital platforms. This goes beyond being an expert in MS Teams or Zoom; it is rather about knowing how to do HR work effectively in a digital world.
Competency 4: People Advocacy
Globally, employees are overwhelmed, and uncertainties related to the future workplace will place increasing pressure on them. HRBPs must master creating organizational cultures that balance wellbeing and productivity, advocating for a healthy workforce to drive organizational performance.
This delicate balance will require HRBPs to advise business leaders on balancing targets with health, all in the name of creating sustainable organizations with workforces that can deliver today and tomorrow. Managing this process will require significant change management, not only in evolving workplace practices but also in the leadership team’s mindset.
Competency 5: Execution Excellence
Execution Excellence refers to how the HRBP shows up in the organization. Specifically for the HRBP of the future, the ability to problem-solve, think systemically about the organization, and a strong drive towards action will be required.
Given the nature of the role, interpersonal skills such as networking, managing conflict, and leading with empathy will remain important. Yet, we see the increasing importance of what the HRBP does and how they do it, highlighting a renewed focus on interpersonal skills.
Specialist competencies
Complementing these core competency domains, we see several specific domains that will increase in importance for the future HRBP.
First, HRBPs will need a thorough understanding of the HR value chain. This will equip them with the foundational knowledge to integrate HR practices and policies into comprehensive business-focused solutions.
The attraction, development, and retention of talent will remain a critical driver of business success. In addition, the future HRBP needs a thorough understanding of talent management, performance management, and compensation and benefits as the foundation of building comprehensive employee experiences.
Given these realities, as a starting point, we need to invest in HRBP reskilling and ensure a continuous and responsible development experience for HRBPs to transition into this expanded role over time.
Adopting a phased approach to developing HR Business Partner skills
Reflecting on these requirements, it is important to be realistic regarding how HRBPs can transition into the future.
As we’ve seen in the past when organizations redefine the role of HRBPs without stipulating a realistic development roadmap for them, the HRBP operating model fails to bring the desired results, and the role itself is seen as nothing more than a title change.
To address this challenge, we propose a three-phased approach to developing HRBPs, prioritizing the skills highlighted above at different times to increase the fastest route to value.
Phase 1: Entry to the game – By building solid foundations
To ensure the fastest time to value for new HRBPs, there should be a focus on the following skills:
The focus in this phase Actions to take Business Acumen: Understand the organization’s operations, finances, and strategy to effectively align HR practices with business objectives.
Interpersonal Skills (Relationship Building and Communication): Building strong connections with senior stakeholders and ensuring clear and transparent communication
Change Management: Proficiently handle change initiatives, from communication to overcoming resistance, ensuring successful implementation.
Data Awareness: Analyze and understand data from a variety of sources
Applying Data: Aggregate and apply data from multiple sources to inform decisions– Rotate HRBPs into the business so they can spend time on the commercial side of the business. This can include projects to develop new services and products or meetings with clients.
– Formal training on how to work with data with a particular focus on interpreting data
– Get HR professionals to partner with experienced Change Management individuals on specific projects to gain practical and hands-on experience.
Phase 2: Adding value – By building emerging skills
Once the foundation has been established, the focus should shift towards emerging skills that include the following:
The focus in this phase Actions to take Communicating Data: Package, visualize, and relay key data outcomes in a way that resonates with the target audience
Action Orientation: Implement actionable and adaptive plans to achieve results.
Talent Management: Expertise in talent acquisition, development, and retention to effectively support the organization’s workforce needs.
Problem-Solving: Identify and solve complex HR problems, often requiring a creative and analytical approach.
Interpersonal Skills (Collaboration): Co-operate and work
with others to improve ideas, find solutions, and
deliver impact– Formal training for HRBPs on the talent management lifecycle, with a focus on in-house processes and tools.
– On-the-job feedback with regards to the action orientation of the HRBP based on stakeholder 360 reviews.
– Exposure to problem-solving and consulting approaches, preferably using real organizational challenges. This can be done by nominating HRBPs to work on multi-disciplinary projects across the business.
– Make HRBPs responsible for monthly HR reporting as a starting point, tasking them to translate operational numbers into HR insights.
Phase 3: Making impact – By differentiated skillsets
During phase 3, as the HRBP steps towards more senior responsibilities, prioritize the following, considering the potential transition to a future CHRO role.
The focus in this phase Actions to take Strategic Thinking: Adeptly devise and execute HR strategies aligning with organizational goals while anticipating and addressing future business needs.
Interpersonal Skills (Influencing Others): Persuade and guide stakeholders to embrace HR initiatives and decisions.
Comp and Ben: Devise reward philosophies, strategies, and mechanisms to incentivize desired employee behaviors across different groups.
Performance: Assess and enhance employee performance through targeted strategies and interventions.
Culture and Wellbeing: Cultivate a positive organizational culture and prioritize employee well-being through comprehensive initiatives and support programs.– Scenario simulations to learn how to manage conflict, coach, and influence.
– Formal training on rewards, performance, and wellbeing.
– Development of strategic thinking ability by exposing the HRBP to strategic business topics and seconding them to key strategic business initiatives as a project team member.
Final words
As the world of work changes, so too must the scope of the HRBP role. We believe the HRBP role will become increasingly important in a future characterized by AI, increasing skills gaps and talent shortages, and shifting economic powers. As businesses navigate these turbulent waters, they will require HRBPs with the required skill set to guide them.
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