What good (and bad) HR partnering looks like
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This should go without saying but disclaimer: The information provided below is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, medical, or other professional advice. You should consult with a qualified professional for specific advice tailored to your circumstances.
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Before we talk about what is good and bad, we need to talk about what business partnering is- it’s easy to talk about what good looks like and what bad looks like, but we need a definition so we are all on the same page. Partnering is working with someone, so business partnering is acting alongside a business unit on their problems and collaborate on solutions. With a partner, you discuss options with them prior to deciding. With a service provider, you make your decision and go to them for the means to execute. To demonstrate this, let’s talk about what good/bad looks like.
Read here for a more in-depth discussion on what business partnering is.
Good: They come to you for answers
Bad: they’ve already decided
This is the strongest example of good partnering. Managers have people problems all the time, whether big or small. If you’ve build a strong partner relationship with them, they call you while they are still figuring out what to do, and the earlier the better- ideally they call you while they are still figuring out what the problem is, let alone what they outcome could be. Trust is a big part of this- they need to both trust your judgement, trust that your motives align with theirs, trust that they have be ‘vulnerable’ with you , and acknowledge that they don’t know everything.
If they call you late, they either don’t trust you for the reasons above, haven’t understood how you can add value to them, or think they will lose control when they contact HR. This can be real problem if they have taken a wrong step that can’t be undone. Too often a manager will call me to discuss an issue, during which I discover the best option is off the table because they’ve called me too late.
Read here for how to be a good mentor, or here for the hot/cold cycle of managers.
Good: They value your input /
Bad: they go above your head
Some managers are hierarchical in their thinking, and think the more senior the person, the better the advice. This might be true- odds on, your boss is more capable than you are. But you don’t want your boss doing your job for you, it’s not ideal long term, and it runs the risk of your manager accidentally overruling you. If the manager(s) you are supporting are regularly going over your head to your boss, you need to either to shift your approach to help, and/or discuss with your manager about how to get them back to calling you. You don’t want to be cut out of these loops you should be in.
Read here for how to build trust
Good: Disagreements are a healthy debate
Bad: personal confrontations
This is a large and complex topic which we can only scratch the surface of. Approximately half the time, the manager wants to take an action that carrying some form of legal risk- whether a lot (such as firing them) or a little (pushing through a questionable warning), and sometimes it’s your role to disagree with them. It’s your role to disagree because the business expects you act as gatekeeper to risk; that if you agree with it, it’s either legal compliant or a minimal risk.
In these disagreements, it’s important to focus on the argument and not make it, or take it, personally. Play the ball and not the player. I’ve observed HR people accidentally make it a contest of wills or seniority, take it personally or make it personal when they not listened to, and vice versa- managers who take it personally when they don’t get their way.
Read here for the lost art of listening, or here for why managers can’t do what we want.
Good: You talk to all levels
Bad: you only talk to the top
Sometimes when I talk to organisations, they tell me all about the CEO or the executive. Sure it’s interesting, but it’s an error on business partnering to only think about the top. Most of people problems are throughout the business, from all levels, and most of the time the biggest people problems to solve are on the floor, not at head office. I’ve known too many HR professionals who only ingratiate themselves to the top, and while this is good visibility for your career, it’s not great business partnering. You need to be known, approachable, and in contact with all levels of the organisation.
Listen here for the podcast episode- going to the mountain.
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It’s easy to think of the tasks that HR performs for the organisation, but what’s the big picture? what does HR do? Understanding the part HR plays in the big picture of the organisational machine helps us understand why we what we do, so that we can see why it’s important to do, and how we could do it better.