HR Business Partner Resources Repository

Whether you are an experienced HR business partner or you are interested to learn some business partner skills, this resource page will provide you with all the resources you need. We will cover content on the strategic role of the HR business partner, the basics of HR metrics & analytics, communication skills, employee experience, and the future of work. All resources are carefully curated based on their quality of information and their impact on the field.

1. The Strategic Role of the HR Business Partner
2. Strategic Measurement & Analytics in HR
3. Communication Skills
4. Employee Experience
5. Future of Work

The Strategic Role of the HR Business Partner

• HR Business Partner Benchmarking Report
  The HR business partner role is evolving. This report gives an overview of the challenges that the HRBP is facing, their role, requirements, and responsibilities.
• HR Business Partners and Centers of Expertise
  HR is at a turning point. For a decade now, it has been undergoing a process of transformation. But for many organizations, this process has increasingly failed to produce the results expected of it. This Deloitte paper provides some key insights into how to change this.
• The Effective HR Business Partner
  This research paper is a classic: it provides a strategic overview of the HR business partner, the role, customer expectations, where they fit in the organization, as well as a number of strategic challenges the HRBP is facing.
• HR Business Partnering: A Custom Approach
  CEOs expect the Human Resources function to play a much more active role in enabling business strategies. This article outlines a number of ways HR can do so better.
• Human Resource Business Partner Lifecycle Model: Exploring how the relationship between HRBPs and their line manager partners evolves.
  Are HRBPs excelling or maladapting? And how can you set the business partner up for success? In this paper, the author proposes an HRBP life cycle that needs to be actively managed and provides tips on how to do so.

• Are we there yet? What’s next for HR?
  In order to create impact, we still have a long way to go. The role of the HR business partner, as well as the other parts of HR need to be reviewed. This article provides a vision for what’s next in HR and how that changes the different roles in HR.
• The right strategy? Examining the business partner model’s functionality for resolving Human Resource Management tensions and discussing alternative directions.
  The way most organizations have designed their HR operating model does not work. This article explains why the three-legged stool is an insufficient solution for HR’s challenges and proposes a new way that will enable (HR) organizations to perform better.
• O Partner, Where Art Thou? A Critical Discursive Analysis of HR Managers’ Struggle for Legitimacy.
  HR is failing to become an equal partner of the business. This article takes a critical look at HR’s attempt to become a partner of the business and challenges some core assumptions we have in HR (like HR is a strategic partner of the business).
• 21st Century Human Resources: Employee Advocate, Business Partner, or Both?
  There is tension between the traditional role of HR as an employee advocate versus HR as a business partner. This brief article provides some tips on how HR can both strengthen the business as well as the workforce.

Relevant videos. This is a lesson from AIHR’s HR Business Partner Certificate Program on how to become a more strategic HR business partner.

Strategic Measurement & Analytics in HR

One of the core competencies of an HR business partner is data literacy. In this section, we list a number of introductory articles on analytics and a couple of deep-dives into strategic HR goal setting through metrics.

• What is people analytics?
• Enabling business results with HR “measures that matter”
• The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance
• The rise (and fall) of HR analytics: a study into the future applications, value, structure, and system support
• Case Study: How we Determined Optimal Staffing Levels
• Reducing Workplace Accident using People Analytics
• Case study: Key Drivers of Retail Sales Performance
• What is an HR Dashboard & HR Report? Examples, Visuals and a How-To
• Human Resources KPIs: An In-depth Explanation with Metrics & Examples
• Why People Analytics isn’t Delivering on its Promised Value
• A Different Kind of Dashboard

Communication Skills

An HR business partner is a consultant to the business. This requires excellent communication skills. This section lists some useful resources aimed at improving communication skills.

• 6 Ways to Look More Confident During a Presentation
• A Checklist for More Persuasive Presentations
• Create a Conversation, Not a Presentation
• How to Tell a Great Story
• How to Build and Maintain a Professional Network
• How To Network The Right Way: Eight Tips

Relevant videos. This is a lesson from AIHR’s HR Business Partner Certificate Program on how to report and communicate data-driven findings.

Employee Experience

Another emerging topic is the employee experience. It is the responsibility of the HR professional to create an employee experience that will increase performance for the individual and the organization. We recommend the following articles on this topic.

• A Complete Guide to the Employee Experience
• The Financial Impact of a Positive Employee Experience
• Reimagine and craft the employee experience
• Measuring the Customer Experience of HR (Why and How)
• A Maturity Model for Employee Experience
• Balancing humanity and technology in the employee experience
• Employee Experience 2020 Global Report & Case Studies

Relevant video. This is a lesson from AIHR’s HR Business Partner Certificate Program on one of the employee experience case studies in the program

Future of Work

The world of work is ever-changing. In our final section, we list a couple of articles that touch on the future of work.

• Unplug from the past
• The HR Image Makeover: From Cost Center to Profit Maker
• Digital transformation as a path to growth
• Covid, Hysteresis, and the Future of Work
• Getting practical about the future of work

Relevant video. This is a lesson from AIHR’s HR Business Partner Certificate Program on the future of work.