Think Like an HR Business Partner

Human Resource business partners are experienced and highly skilled HR professionals who work directly with an organization's senior leadership. These professionals work to develop and direct human resource-related agendas that support organizational goals. The HR business partner offers expertise in developing strategies rather than implementing policies. They steer the HR department's objectives and ensure that it aligns with the company's overall business strategy, which is long-term. This means that HR business partners must think about the future. 

One of the most important things to consider when implementing policies is impact. The aim is to positively impact the most people or the most parts of the business for the longest time. Many times, the most impactful answer will encompass all the other answers.

For example, imagine you were given four choices:

• You can have ice cream on your birthday.
• You can have a birthday cake on your birthday.
• You can have friends over on your birthday.
• You can have a birthday party. 

Which would you choose? These are all excellent options, but the first three offer only one opportunity. If you chose to have a birthday party, you could have all the other three! This is the most impactful choice. Long-term thinking is to look beyond what is currently happening and think about how what is currently happening can affect the future-whether positively or negatively. If something positive happens, we want to consider how we can have that favorable circumstance affect the most people and for the most extended amount of time. 

If it is negative, we should consider how to ensure the negative impact is withdrawn from most people for the longest time. By doing this, we look ahead, remove any threats to the strategic goals, and enhance any circumstances that move toward the vision. Looking into the future and making long-term decisions is precisely what it means to be proactive. Rather than waiting for things to happen, business partners consider what could happen and either prepare, mitigate, or eliminate. To be reactive is to be behind in the game. 

Football has an offense and a defense; the defense's job is to look into the future and stop the opponent from penetrating. The defense doesn't wait for the opposing team to score and then formulate its plan. Instead, they anticipate how the opposer might score and plan to stop them. The offense's job is to look for opportunities and then use those opportunities to reach the end goal: a win. So we are both offense and defense! 

Thank you for reading my blog post on the importance of long-term thinking and the strategic role of HR business partners. If you want to delve deeper into this topic and enhance your skills, I invite you to explore my full course or mini-course explicitly designed for HR professionals. With my extensive experience and a proven track record of helping 900+ students pass their exams, you'll be in great hands as you work toward achieving your goals. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn from my expertise and further develop your skills in the ever-evolving world of human resources. Click the link below to enroll and take the first step toward a brighter future in HR today! (link)