The transition from Generalist to Business Partner is more than changing your job title – it involves looking at HR through a new lens, and truly understanding and embracing the changing business world.
While foundational HR knowledge and skills will always be required, and laws and legislation will demand a focus on risk management and compliance, the days of the Evil HR Lady should be well in the past. If “No” or “We can’t” are frequently heard in your HR realm, perhaps the Evil Queen still resides. Now is the time to ban her from the kingdom!
While my interpretation of the term HR Generalist may not be yours, let’s use it as a starting point as it reflects a traditional HR approach. In this role you are required to know a little about a wide range of employment laws, regulations, HR services such as benefits, compensation, payroll, HRIS, investigations, EEO reporting, recruiting, onboarding, etc. “Jack of all trades - Master of none.” It tends to be re-active, a service provided for our employees. In fact you may be the proud owner of a large comprehensive policies and procedures manual, and having spent much time word-smithing each phrase, and going through the process of getting each change approved and implemented, you are determined that everyone should follow it….. If this is the way you do things, it is your HR culture, and while you may defend it, it is unlikely that your managers and C-Suite view this as solutions orientated, or adding value to the business. You are simply the necessary evil – often viewed as a cost – to be reduced.
It is time to stop, and look at the business through new eyes. Change is happening fast. The speed of change is constantly increasing, so that if we stay with the old ways of doing things, we will always have too much to do, and run the risk of being perceived as the barrier or road block.
Technology is changing rapidly. Information is now readily available. Processes or systems that did not connect, now do. Agile methodologies that have been prevalent in IT for years are flowing into project management in other support functions. The planning, design or implementation stages are no longer linear… Agile methodologies deliver the final product faster.
How often to you hear or wish “I need it now”. Not only is it an expectation of Millenials, but with the speed of change, our HR programs have to be viewed as both relevant and critical, be designed and delivered fast, and be flexible enough to respond to unpredictable future events. In HR we must stay relevant, business focused and adaptable. The world is changing and we need to find better ways to deliver value.
(This is the first in a series of articles about emerging trends and HR career development, and specifically about developing the business partner capabilities.)