Essential Skills for Future-Ready HR Business Partners

Want to be a highly valuable and indispensable talent leader or a "business partner"? Here are five practices that will get you there: 1. Know the business you are supporting - inside and out. Not just a tour of your operations or a training course, but understanding what specifically drives the top and bottom lines on the balance sheet. How? Seek out your closest financial analyst at the corporate level. 2. Know your people at ALL levels. Start small. Build 1 employee and 1 business leader relationship with 1 single area of the business you support. Meet with them for 15 mins. each week to learn about how they feel about work and life beyond the engagement or pulse surveys. 3. Know where your leadership and skill gaps are across the business you support. How? Use the employee relationships to identify leadership gaps and your business leaders to identify skill gaps. 4. Stay current on technology trends and legal risks. E.g. AI/GPT in the workplace and what it means for CHROs and business leaders to drive their top and bottom lines in a compliant way. 5. If you are a people leader, grow your team by giving them latitude to try these practices. #chiefpeopleofficer #talentstrategy #talentmanagement #talentacquisition

Advice for aspiring HRBPs ⬇️ . . . My last post about the role of an HRBP kind of went viral 😳 (which I think is a testament to the influence and importance of this role in every organization). There were quite a few comments from individuals aspiring to move into this role and what advice I’d give so here are a few things I would do… 👉🏾 Develop a solid HR foundation and understanding of HR fundamentals (recruitment, employee relations, performance management, talent development, compensation, etc) I was a mathematics major in undergrad and my first job after graduating was in IT. After deciding I wanted to transition into HR, I decided to go back to school and get my Masters in HR Management to build my foundational knowledge. 👉🏾 Build strong relationships with stakeholders across the organization from the bottom all the way to the top. Being a trusted partner requires effective communication, active listening, and the ability to collaborate with various teams. I pride myself on being a relationship cultivator. At the end of the day, the more people that you know in this role, the easier your job will be. 👉🏾 Take the time to learn about the business, strategic objectives, and challenges. This will help you align HR initiatives with organizational goals and provide valuable insights to support decision making. This is extremely important, because the HR strategies and solutions that we are putting in place need to be unique to the business. And so, if you don’t understand it, you don’t understand the vision and the priorities, you won’t be able to provide the partnership needed. 👉🏾 Develop your analytical skills to identify trends, measure the impact of HR initiatives, and propose data-backed solutions to address organizational needs. Being able to ground your HR strategies with data helps to ensure that you are addressing the right problems and proposing the right solutions. 👉🏾 Stay up to date on the HR latest trends, best practices, and industry developments by attending conferences, participating in webinars and engaging in professional development opportunities to enhance your skills and knowledge. As with all industries, HR is changing so much so it’s really important to stay up-to-date on what’s happening. HRBP friends, what else would you add to this list?

Digital & Business Acumen: Must have Core Competencies for Today's HR Leadership Gone are the days when HR leaders focused solely on traditional personnel management; today, they are pivotal figures at the strategic core of global businesses. As executive search professionals, we've witnessed a significant shift in what defines successful HR leadership. Modern HR leaders emerge as hybrid experts, skillfully blending sharp business acumen with in-depth digital HR knowledge. This unique combination reshapes how organizations approach human capital, aligning HR strategies closely with broader business and digital goals. Some recent searches we have done on global VPs of HR show how they must now navigate more digital challenges and opportunities. Their role has expanded beyond managing workforce dynamics; it now encompasses leading digital transformation, understanding diverse cultural contexts, and aligning HR initiatives with the organization's financial and strategic objectives. This evolution still requires traditional skills, but now, with a firm grasp of digital tools and business strategies. Such dual expertise is essential to drive organizational success and sustainability in a digital-centric business world. This article presents a case study of a confidential global VP of HR who realigned HR strategies to support her company’s rapid international expansion. She successfully integrated diverse HR practices and implemented a forward-thinking, digital-centric HR strategy, ensuring alignment with the company's global vision. Her story illustrates the transformative impact that a strategic HR approach can have in a global business setting. As we look ahead, HR Leaders face a landscape filled with new trends and emerging challenges. They are at the forefront of addressing critical issues such as mental health in the workplace, harnessing AI in talent management, and fostering diversity and inclusion. These leaders are redefining the employee experience in an era of remote work and digital communication. This article aims to explore these dynamics, offering actionable insights and strategies for those navigating or aspiring to navigate this complex and exciting domain of HR leadership. #digitalacumen #businessacumen #hrleadership #topnotchfinders #sanfordrose

Zenger Folkman's research of over 5,000 global HR leaders has provided insights into the makings of truly transformative HR figures. While their strengths, unsurprisingly, lie in areas like: ✅ Developing others ✅ Being coachable & receptive to feedback ✅ Championing DEI initiatives It's the areas of potential growth that are the real game-changers. Feedback from managers, peers, and direct reports points towards these pivotal skills as the cornerstones of future success: 🔍 Ability to anticipate & swiftly tackle challenges 🌏 Expanding strategic vision to embrace the broader picture 🔁 Transitioning from a solely internal lens to a more external focus If there's a goal for HR leaders, it's clear: elevate your game by honing these essential skills. Because the future of HR isn't just about supporting - it's about leading with vision and agility. Tune into 🎙 The 90th Percentile Podcast this week to delve deeper into what distinguishes the great HR trailblazers from the crowd.  #HRLeadership #StrategicVision #zengerfolkman #The90thPercentilePodcast

Throughout my career, I understood that I needed to become an expert in order to grow as a leader. So, I learned these THREE ESSENTIAL SKILL SETS to become just that. 🕵️ People Expert I observed a seasoned company veteran presenting and just from his body language, I could tell that he'd be gone within the year. Although my intuition was met with skepticism, three months later, he resigned. This experience shaped my understanding of being a people expert—reading and analyzing subtle cues within an organization. 💸 Business Expert During my career, I faced a crucial choice that required a business expert's mindset. I almost didn't take a risk with a retention bonus hire. If it weren’t for my boss’s intervention, I wouldn't have been able to foresee how this investment would yield millions. This marked the moment I truly understood the qualities and insights associated with a business expert. 🫶Culture Expert We’ve all had the experience of changing jobs in hopes of a better opportunity… We’re crushed when the work culture is awful. I can relate. It’s a terrible feeling to know you can do this job, just not here. That’s why being open about work culture is so crucial. Why am I sharing all this with you? Because as HR leaders, you need to take a commanding role in the workplace. To achieve this, you HAVE to become experts— not just in one area, but across the spectrum of 1) understanding people, 2) navigating business, and 3) fostering healthy cultures. It's not about being an expert; it's about evolving into the kind of expert who positively transforms workplaces. SHRM #SHRM #HR #HumanCapital