Business partnering: key points
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HRM developed from personnel management in
the 1980s
Personnel management was subject to
criticism, including that it was largely
administrative and reactive
HRM was regarded as more strategic, proactive
and aligned to the needs of the business
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HR in practice: key points
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Surveys* suggest a change in the aspiration of
the HR function, i.e. how it would like to be
Such surveys* also provide some evidence for
actual change in the function
The changes include moving from a reactive
role to one that adds business value and has a
more strategic perspective
* See for example CIPD, 2003, Where we are, where we’re heading Survey Report
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Role(s) of the HR Manager:
key points
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Various attempts to classify personnel
management and HR roles
Examples of personnel roles include an
administrative role, a welfare role and an
industrial relations role
Storey’s (1992) adapted model outlines four
roles for HR:
• service provider
• regulator/internal contractor
• adviser
• changemaker
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HR business partnering:
key points
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Ulrich’s original model outlines four HR roles:
• administrative expert
• employee champion
• change agent
• strategic partner
This was later updated to five
Ulrich’s ideas have been influential, particularly
with regard to the strategic partner role
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Ulrich’s model in practice:
key points
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Evidence of implementation of the model by
organisations, but often only partially
One implication has been restructuring of some
HR functions
An example of restructuring is the ‘three-legged
stool’: shared services, centres of excellence
and strategic business partners
Key reasons given for implementation:
efficiency and cost savings, competitive
pressures and rising expectations of HR
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What then is business partnering?:
key points
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Ulrich sees the business partner as being part
of each of his four (or five) roles
In practice, the term has tended to be used
either for more senior strategic HR posts or for
HR middle managers working with business
units
In practice it is argued that a business partner
is someone who is part of management team,
understands the business and ensures that
people issues are taken into consideration
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Implementing business partnering:
key points
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Organisations need a clear rationale for
implementation
Key drivers can include: to align people
management practices to business goals, to be
accessible to managers and to improve service
delivery
Needs proper planning and preparation
Line managers in particular need to understand
the implications
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Requirements of business partner
role: key points
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The role is different from traditional ones and
therefore has different requirements
Organisations may have difficulty recruiting
people with the right skills and abilities for the
role
Requirements include: strategic thinking,
consultancy skills, business and financial
understanding, change management skills,
networking, influencing and political awareness
skills
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Issues and possible problems:
key points
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Possible difficulties in application of the model
May be difficulties in recruiting the right people
for the role
Cultural shift needed
Splitting HR function into three may create
‘boundary problems’
For HR business partners to be successful, it is
necessary that the other elements of HR are
fully functioning and efficient
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Learning summary
By the end of this chapter you should know:
• The key ways in which HRM can be seen to
differ from personnel management
• The key roles of Ulrich’s model
• What business partnering looks like in practice
• How to successfully implement business
partnering
• The key requirements of the role
• The potential issues and possible problems and
how these can be tackled
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Chapter 13