The State of HR Business Partnership

THE STATE OF HR BUSINESS
PARTNERSHIP
OPENING UP THE LENS
Human Resources Leadership Exchange (HRLE)
September 14, 2018

ABOUT THE STUDY
© 2018 A.J. O’Connor Associates HRLE Conference - Sept 14th, 2018
2
 Gather feedback on the state of HR Business Partnership from
members senior HR Leaders who participate in AJO’s HR
Leader Exchange (HRLE)
 Discussion topic at HRLE conference
in Sept 2018
 Total number of participating
companies: 18 representing all sizes
 Cross-section of of NJ/tri-state industries
Employees #
>100 2
100-999 6
1000-4999 6
5000+ 4
Survey results should be used as “directional” vs “statistically reliable benchmarks.”

3
Q: HR, like most teams these days, are asked to “do
more with less.” Is this true of your organization?
100% Responded Yes!

4
Q: HR, like most teams these days, are asked to “do
more with less.” Is this true of your organization?
HR Leaders weigh in:
 “In every way imaginable.”
 “Work 6 days per week to stay even with
expectations; little time to think.”
 “Less resources to connect to all people
managers in the organization.”
 “We have to be creative in what staff we
have and what they do - is it value add?”
 “Automate, outsource or stop doing things that are administrative
or non value add.”

5
HR Leaders define the term,
“Strategic HR Business Partner”
 “HRBP understands and aligns business needs with HR support and
solutions to move the business ahead in a VUCA environment.”
 “Effectively influences organizational transformation through analytics
and decision-making in the areas of leadership, talent management,
development, talent acquisition, succession planning, change management,
work force planning, organization development and design, performance
management, employee engagement and relations, communications and
all aspects of employment.”
 “Partnership in building company strategy, determining organizational
capability (Including individual talent) needed to meet strategy and
enabling delivery against this through targeted programs.”
 “Trusted HR Expert sought after to provide guidance and input to both
leaders and employees.”

6
How do you define the term,
“Strategic HR Business Partner?”
What does Strategic vs
Transactional mean?

7
How do you define the term,
“Strategic HR Business Partner?”
• Activities vs Outcomes
• Programs vs Solutions
• People vs Business

8
How critical do you believe it is for HR to be
viewed as a strategic partner by:
94%
78%
72%
100%
6%
22% 22%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Your CEO? Your Org. Peers? Other Mgmt
Levels?
You?
To a Very Great Extent To a Great Extent To Some Extent

9
To what extent do people in your organization
actually view HR as a strategic partner?
33% 33%
17%
39%44%
28% 28% 33%
22%
33% 39%
29%
6%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Your CEO Your Org. Peers Other Mgmt
Levels
You
To a Very Great Extent To a Great Extent
To Some Extent To a Little Extent

10
Can you provide 1-2 (brief) examples of when a CEO has
recognized and communicated HR’s strategic value?
 “The CEO has always communicated HR’s strategic value.”
 “Examples of organizational change, leadership strategies and
diversity were all communicated by the CEO.”
 “CEO has on multiple occasions in… global town halls talked
about the strategic importance of our culture strategy and the
great work the HR team has done to support that.”
 “HR growth as company has grown.”
 “Performance reviews.”

11
Rank order the perception of HR
by your CEO vs:
7%
53%
13%
27%
33%
40%
53%
60%
60%
7%
33%
13%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Finance IT Marketing Legal
HR Higher Equivalent HR Lower

12
Have you been able to measure outcomes of
strategic HR value added?

 “Success transfers & placements of employees… Zero legal
actions out of 600+ employees.”
 “Leveraging metrics in areas such as Key Talent, diversity
metrics (# of hires, terms, promos, lateral moves).”
 “Employee engagement scores and the connection to
willingness to stay with an organization and/or willingness to
refer others to the organization.”
 “Successful acquisition decisions
strengthened company culture
(employee survey) Stock growth.”
13
Please describe example(s) of strategic value HR has
provided over the past 3 years.

14
Comparisons: To what extent do people in your
organization actually view HR as a strategic partner?
33% 33%
17%
39%44%
28% 28% 33%
22%
33% 39%
29%
6%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Your CEO Your Org. Peers Other Mgmt
Levels
You
To a Very Great Extent To a Great Extent
To Some Extent To a Little Extent

15
Do any of your answers to the above question differ by
level within HR?

16
Why does HR’s
perception
decrease as we
go lower in the
organization?

17
Why does HR’s perception decrease
as we go lower in the organization?
 “I believe the higher level, the more belief of being a strategic
partner.”
 “Level provides exposure; Lack of exposure does not provide
the associate with the opportunity to influence or realize the
impact of their work.”
 “The HR generalist or specialist was not considered strategic.”
 “The generalist role is more tactical in nature and supports all
vs. specific leader.”

THE HR TEAM
FEEDBACK
18

19
To what extent do the following HR team members in your
organization believe themselves to be strategic partners?
6%
13%
56%
13%13%
38%
13%
6%
13%
31%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
“Client-Facing” roles (e.g. HRBP, HR
Generalist, etc.)
“Centers of Expertise” (e.g.
Compensation, Talent Management,
Recruiting, etc.)
To a Very Great Extent To a Great Extent To Some Extent
To a Little Extent Unsure/Don’t Know
57%

20
How does your organization distinguish
among HR generalist roles? By:
67%
33% 33%
47% 40%
33%
47%
67%
53% 60%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Level of “internal
customer”
supported?
Size of internal
customer?
Number of
businesses
supported?
Complexity of
internal
customer’s
business?
Size of
geography?
Yes No

HR TEAM DEVELOPMENT
FEEDBACK
21

22
Does your organization have a defined
HR career ladder?

23
Does your organization have an
HR Competency Model?

24
Has the HR Competency Model been valuable?
Note: Only 4 responded to this question. 15 skipped

25
Have you tried to formally build HR Business
Partner Skills in your organization?

 Business savvy, financial analysis/business data analytics
 Strategic planner/thinker
 HR technical skills i.e. basic employment law, compensation
administration, performance management
 Influencing skills, listening skills, communication - written/verbal,
 Leadership and employee development strategies
 Coaching and political astuteness
 Collaboration; Partnership
26
What knowledge, skills and or behaviors do you believe
are important for providing strategic HR value?

27
To what extent has the HR Business Partner
skill-building effort produced positive outcomes?
Very Great Extent, 6%
Great
Extent, 44%Some
Extent, 19%
Little
Extent,
6%
Not Applicable,
25%

28
To what extent has the HR business partner skill-
building effort produced positive outcomes?
 “To some extent, through training (business acumen); strategy
sessions; introduction/training on change models; consultative skills;
examples of courage in HR, etc.”
 “I have used it [HR Competency Model] to assess current HR
managers by those competencies and developed a plan with them to
increase their ability to partner with the business. Drive the role
away from the very tactical aspects.”
 “Not yet.”
 “Purchased upgraded talent.”
 “I have hired HR staff with a higher skill set
than what the business is ready to use.”

HR TEAM COLLABORATION
FEEDBACK
29

30
To what
extent do the
different parts
of your HR
organization
support each
other?

31
To what extent do the different parts of your HR
organization support each other?
 “In my experience, COE’s (Talent mgmt, compensation, payroll)
support the business unit HR business partners. All levels
support each other.”
 “Often times our centers of excellence are unclear as to the
HRBP role. At times, the HRBP is concerned about stepping on
toes of the shared services functions.”
 “That COE's had no or little visibility at
the business level - was not good.”

HR TECHNOLOGY
FEEDBACK
32

33
Has your company implemented HR technology
over the past 5 years? Has the HR technology outcome
been successful?
81% 72%
19% 31%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Q25: Implemented Technology? Q26: Successful Outcome?
Yes No

 “Technology is leveraged by organization/colleagues and
seen as a tool to move the business forward.”
 “Easier to find and access certain data.”
 “We now have data that we can use to assist the business
in making more informed HC decisions.”
 “HR out of data admin. Employee and Manager can see
real time data and make changes.”
 “Learning can be done anytime
versus instructor led.”
34
Has the HR technology been successful?

 “No.”
 “No but has forced us to really rethink processes and
controls - what do we really need? - and simplify our
processes.”
 “Yes, can sometimes be viewed as pushing more work
directly to manager/employee as self serve, further
move HR away from being a resource
to employee.”
35
Has there been any downside to the move
towards technology?

36
Has HR technology
freed up the HR
Generalist to be
more strategic?

37
AJO Hypothesis
 “HR has become more strategic.”
 “HR provides greater contribution than in the past.”
 “Perception AND Reality.”
 “We still have a ways to go.”
And, the opportunity exists beyond the CHRO!

 Our business colleagues have more interactions with the HR
team than with the CHRO
– More touch points
– More immediacy
 HR Generalists have mixed (uneven) capability
 The biggest gains will be had from
improving HR Generalist
capability
38
The State of HR Business Partnership
- It’s time to expand our focus!

AJO HR TEAM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
39
Business Strategy
HR Strategy
HR Org. Design
HR Process
HR Team Behavior
HR Competency
 HR Programming
 HR Solutions

HR DATA ANALYTICS
FEEDBACK
40

41
To what extent does your organization use
HR data analytics?
6%
19%
25%
37%
6%
6%
Very Great Extent
Great Extent
Some Extent
Little Extent
Not At All
Don't Know/Unsure
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

 “Basic levels. Only reports on turnover, time to hire.”
 “Lagging indicators only, turnover, census data and time to fill.”
 “Effectiveness measures (New Hire Survey, program survey, etc.)
Efficiency measures (CPH, TTF, etc.)”
 “L&D, Key Talent movement,
development planning.”
 “Employee Ratings vs Company
performance High Potential/High
Performers growth.”
42
To what extent does your organization use
HR data analytics?

43
Has the use of HR data analytics changed over time?

44
“HR is seen by leadership
in my organization as data driven.”
0%
12%
50%
12%
25%
Very Great Extent
Great Extent
Some Extent
Little Extent
Not At All
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

The State of HR Business Partnership

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie The State of HR Business Partnership

Ähnlich wie The State of HR Business Partnership (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (17)

The State of HR Business Partnership