The role of an HR Business Partner is to work with the leadership of a company, helping them translate the company’s goals and values into a work culture in which employees can thrive.
Leading Your Team
Kati breaks down life as an HR Business Partner (HR BP) saying, “Coaching is kind of the backbone of the job and I find that it’s the most valuable aspect. That’s what my leaders and managers want. They want to be able to talk through things.”
Kati’s coaching not only provides a valuable sounding board for the leaders of her company, it also addresses the paths of the individuals those leaders oversee. She explains, “I might help leaders and managers think through who we want to promote and how we get them to the next level; or, the flip side of that could be discussing performance issues. If we have someone who’s struggling, we can talk about how to help that employee be more successful.”
Search Smart
“The people you have is everything,” Kati points out, highlighting the strategic role she takes in narrowing the scope of a talent search. “Before we open a role, I’ll chat with the manager to think long-term about their team’s needs. Like, what skill sets are they going to need and what level of professional might fulfill those needs? It’s planning for future organizational design.”
A strong HR BP doesn’t just help with talent acquisition behind the scenes. Kati explains that having someone in her role to help transition and coach employees is key to attracting the best candidates possible. “You’ve got to have that agility in your company where people can move into other roles and grow with the company; or change their current scope if the company is growing.”
Stay Awhile
The HR BP sets the tone as the retention superstar. Kati explains that after the hiring process, “An HR BP works to support and onboard all those new people and make sure it’s an inclusive environment where they’re going to want to stay. If you hire and everybody leaves, you’re just spinning your wheels.”
Our HR Insider interviewer, Dave, hits the nail on the head when he says, “If you lose a staff member, you’re flushing tens of thousands of dollars down the drain on that individual. You could just hire an HR BP, stop the bleeding, slow your attrition rate, increase your retention, and you’ve actually saved money by hiring someone. Everybody wins that way.”
He goes on to highlight that having, “This counselor, this mentor, this buddy, this sounding board [who] really dramatically improves the air that people breathe in the workplace,” not only helps talent across the board, it increases individuals’ happiness. It’s all part of the way an HR Business Partner shapes company culture and cultivates an environment in which your employees are happy to be.
Keep an eye out for our next post where we’ll expound on Kati’s approach to executive coaching. If you’d like to get in touch with Kati directly you can email her at [email protected] or catch the whole conversation with Kati on HR Insiders available on Soundcloud and Apple Podcasts.