Becoming a HR business partner

Becoming a HR business partner can offer great career development potential. We explore the role in more detail.

Is the market full of HR business partner job opportunities?

The HR business partner jobs market is looking attractive right now because businesses are hiring generalists. Even a relatively small company is likely to have three or four HR business partners and – because of their importance – will always replace these individuals when they leave.

Is the current climate highly competitive?

HR business partner roles are very popular for a number of reasons, including that they offer a great springboard for future career success. As a result, the market is highly competitive, so you’ll need to stand out to secure one of these jobs.

What is required from a HR business partner?

HR business partners are also often known as HR generalists or HR managers, and they should be exactly that – they should partner with the business to implement the HR strategy and policy. For example, they are fully involved in performance management, redundancies, outplacement and compromise agreements.

What are the typical HR business partner responsibilities?

They usually include:

• Performance management
• Talent management
• Succession planning
• Recruitment
• Learning and development
• Employee relations
• Rewards and incentives
   

Do you have what it takes to be a HR business partner?

A lot of HR business partners we place come from a junior-level generalist background. However, we often also see professionals who had previously specialised in a specific HR area (such as learning and development, reward and employee relations) securing these coveted roles.

Employers want someone who works well as an account manager, has the ability to interact at a senior level and has strong client relationship management skills. Having a good commercial understanding of how a business operates and understanding specific industry jargon is a large plus.

What are the progression opportunities?

For HR professionals, career development opportunities are excellent. The skills you can develop in these roles – particularly business partnering – are highly transferable to a number of non-HR areas. But if you choose to stay in HR – as most people do – you can move to specialist or senior generalist role.