We spend a lot of time in the marketplace, talking with HR leaders who have a common challenge: getting their HR generalists to become more strategic business partners. As the role of "HR Business Partner" has emerged and, over the years, become more defined, leaders struggle to help their team understand what this new role really looks like - and what defines "great" performance in the role. It doesn't require tons of time, resources, outside classes, or external mentors to build tangible skills, though.

Here are three tips that HR leaders can take, today, to improve the skills of their HR Business Partners:

1. Insist that they each create a business-based individual development plan.

Regardless of whether or not your company has a process or a form, they can do it. Direct them to relate their goals to the business strategy or the organization's leadership competencies - so no 'I will learn French' when your business isn't in France, or 'stress management' coursework. Have each person identify at least two strengths to leverage (think: peer mentors, team training, lunch-n-learns, virtual speaker series, etc.) and two needs to improve upon (keeping a journal about behaviors they're trying to change, meeting with a trusted peer for advice, getting feedback from business partners, etc.)


2. Push them to land on specific, relevant goals - nothing vague, nebulous or impossible.

So, instead of "improve leadership skills", work them toward solving the real issue, which might be: "delegate tasks more aggressively and frequently". Instead of "learn the business", make it "become more familiar with my division's business strategy, plan and results on a quarterly basis". And remember, in HR (where objective measures can be hard to come by), time-bound goals are essential.

3. Integrate feedback from their business partners, peers, direct reports, and other key stakeholders.

Don't have a 360° process? There are incredibly robust 360° feedback tools out there priced, even a small group, at about $100 per person. Don't have the time to get one up and running? Ask your HR team to build a short, anonymous survey on a free survey tool and ask basic questions: How responsive am I? How often do I solve your problems? Describe ways I could better support you and your team. . . .

With or without established development processes and tools, there are a lot of things your team can be doing now - to improve their skills. And it doesn't even require money. Just a tiny bit of initiative and creativity. If you'd like more ideas about how to make self-directed career management happen in your organization, give us a buzz. We love this stuff!



You may find some of these solutions helpful - click on the links to learn more:

Recruiter Assessment and Development Center

HR Business Partner Assessment Development Center

Leadership Development