The gap between HR advice and business judgement
Most organisations that describe their HR function as "not strategic" don't have an HR problem. They have a partnering problem.
The function answers the questions it's asked, accurately and on time, and is never in the room when the decisions that generate those questions are being made. It's told about the restructure once it's designed, the acquisition once it's signed, the new site once the roster has been promised.
Business partnering is the practice of being there earlier: and being useful enough when you are that you get invited back.
You might be dealing with
- An HR team that's technically capable but not influential
- Executives who see HR as a service desk rather than an adviser
- Operational leaders making people decisions without HR involvement until something goes wrong
- An HR advisor or coordinator who needs senior support above them
- A leadership team facing a decision with significant people implications
- HR sitting outside the leadership forum where decisions get made
- An internal HR lead who knows what needs to change and needs external weight behind it
What's included
- Executive and leadership support Working directly with your leadership team on the people dimensions of business decisions (structure, capability, cost, risk and timing) while the decision is still being formed.
- Operational partnering Working alongside site and functional leaders on the issues in front of them, with enough operational understanding to be credible.
- Coaching your HR people Developing internal HR staff into partners: commercial understanding, influence, and the confidence to give leaders advice they don't want to hear.
- Workforce insight Turning workforce data into something leadership can act on, rather than reporting for its own sake.
- Complex matter support Depth on the matters your internal team hasn't faced before, while they lead.
- Meeting presence Attending leadership meetings for a defined period, which is often what shifts the pattern permanently.
What partnering actually requires
Understanding the business, not just the people function. Credibility comes from knowing how the operation makes money and what the constraints are.
- Being willing to disagree A partner who agrees with everything isn't a partner. The value sits in saying the uncomfortable thing early, once, clearly.
- Answering commercially "You can't do that" is rarely useful. "You can, here's the risk, here's what it costs, here's a lower-risk version" is.
- Getting there earlier Most HR value is destroyed by involvement three weeks too late.
Our experience
Business partnering at every level. Executive leadership teams, asset and site leadership teams, and as second-in-charge to a group HR leader supporting global functions and an executive team.
Also building partnering capability in others: leading HR teams of up to thirty-five people and transforming traditional personnel functions into business partnering models.
Common questions
How is this different from outsourced HR?
Outsourced HR is the function: the day-to-day work, ongoing. Business partnering is senior advisory support to your leaders, usually alongside an existing HR capability rather than instead of one.
We already have an HR manager. Why would we need this?
Frequently you wouldn't. Where it helps is when your HR lead is capable but junior for the decisions in front of the business, or when they need external weight behind a case they're already making.
Is this just coaching for our HR person?
That's part of it, and it's often the most valuable part. But it also involves working directly with your leaders, which is usually what shifts how HR is regarded.
How long does an arrangement run?
Typically several months: long enough to change the pattern rather than just cover a gap. The aim is that it stops being needed.
Ready to talk?
Tell us what you need and we'll take it from there.