HR Business Partnerships and Leadership Development

1. HR Business Partnerships and Leadership Development September 30, 2011 Mark Stevens Director, Human Resources

2. Agenda • Introduction • Business Partnership basics • Leadership Development

3. Who is Mark Stevens? • Director, Human Resources; St. Luke’s Magic Valley • HR experience includes • Employee/Labor Relations, Talent Acquisition, Comp/Benefits, Leadership Development • Supported a variety of businesses/industries • Biomedical, Transportation/Warehousing, Healthcare

4. Business Partnership Basics • What is a “business partnership”? • Benefits • Challenges • Practical tips

5. What is a “business partnership” • At it’s core, is an alignment of the “business” of HR around the core of the businesses we support • It’s a relationship-based approach to HR; • Connecting operations to HR • Providing proactive, strategic service to the organization and staff • It’s a shift from “traditional” functional HR programs

6. “business partnership” cont. • David Ulrich’s (Professor of Business, Univ. of Michigan) well known model centers around the relationship HR needs to have with the organization: • Strategic Partner • Change Agent/Champion • Employee Advocacy/Champion • Administrative Expertise • Business Partners (HRBPs)aren’t simply “generalists”; they need to be skillful business executives who can tie business results to human resources programs

7. Benefits • Better Relationships with operational leaders • Improved strategic planning with HR included in the plan; “a seat at the table” • More proactive understanding of human resource needs • More engaged and developed leaders (outside of and within HR) • Better business outcomes

8. Challenges • What can impede designing a business partnership with HR? • HR Department size (staffing) • HR skillset/competency/business acumen • HR staff will need to develop skills beyond traditional HR • HR staff will need to function in multiple roles • Strategic Partner • Employee Relations • Staffing/Work-force planner

9. Challenges continued • Time Investment • Budget • Teaching operations what “it” is and how they benefit • Unwilling leaders • HR’s unwillingness to change from traditional roles

10. Practical Tips for implementation • Despite business or HR department size there are some practical approaches to establishing or advancing an HR Business Partnership • Tactical-level practices can help advance HR as a “value-added” partner • Higher strategic-level benefits may require more staffing or more HR infrastructure to truly realize the benefit

11. Seek to Understand… • You must first establish a trust-based business relationship with the leaders you support: • Learn their industry • Learn about their department/focus area • Learn about their needs • “Seek to understand before you wish to be understood” • Then teach them about HR and how it applies • Link HR programs to the results they seek

12. Don’t be the “policy police” • “All HR does is tell me what I can’t do!!!: • Traditional HR has taught us all to say “no” • We need to learn to say “yes” • “Now that I understand your needs, let me show you some ways I believe we can work together to get the outcomes you’re looking for.”

13. Be “Data Driven” Be able to show information to your operational partners and show the context: Examples include: • Turnover (what it means, not just the number) • Corrective action data • Staffing data • Engagement information

14. Hold “business” meetings Schedule regular “business partnership” meetings: • Example: 1 per month or every 5 to 6 weeks • Approach the leaders vs. responding to requests • Discuss: • Business results • Tie results to staff needs / HR Programs • ER • Staffing (proactive vs. reactive) • Compensation • Staff Development

15. “Business” meetings continued Drive Proactive HR support • Help the leader assess the health/quality of his/her team: • Performance/Talent management • Proactive discussions of turnover or staffing • Master staffing strategies and planning • Workforce planning and staff role development • Align HR programs to business objectives or obstacles

16. HR Organizational Structures With a larger HR department, use a service/support approach; • Arm the HRBP with decision-making authority on ER, Compensation, Staffing • The HRBP becomes the face of HR to operations • Provide support to the HRBP through backroom support • E.g.; Compensation provides support on market surveys, pay ranges and practices; the HRBP helps set salaries • Recruitment manages the hiring process; the HRBP is the liaison to the manager or leader on staffing/workforce planning

17. Is this right for you? Business Partnerships in the large, “corporate” sense might not work for smaller businesses However, relationship-based HR/Operations partnerships have their place in all businesses Be thoughtful about implementation

18. Competency Growth Future HRBPs have to be dedicated to growing themselves in order to be successful; without the right competencies, the HRBP model is difficult to implement: • Conflict Resolution • Staffing/Workforce Planning • Business Acumen • Leadership Development/OD • Innovation • And more…

19. Leadership Development • Leadership Competencies • Development tools

20. Leadership Competencies Leadership Competency models help to identify what a leader “should look like” They can be designed around a consistent framework or set by “level” within the organization Models are available from numerous sources including: • PDI (Personnel Decisions International) • Lominger Limited, Inc.

21. Talent Management HR and OD should work with the organization to identify not only the competencies which are important but the methods for identifying, assessing, and growing leaders (Talent Management) Talent Management should include: • Talent Acquisition • Performance Management • Succession/Workforce planning

22. Simple Leadership Model • Self Leadership (how you lead yourself) • Team Leadership (how you lead others) • Results Leadership (how you ensure outcomes) • More defined options might include: • Thought Leadership • Strategic Leadership

23. Developmental Strategies • Create competencies • Tie competencies to performance • Use “development” as a means of growing all leaders, not just under-performing ones • Encourage a feedback culture where the agreed upon competencies become the basis of growth • Inventory the talent of the team (for succession and developmental purpose) • Encourage, design mentoring programs,

24. Personal Development Assess your own leadership style and skill sets. In context to the leadership competencies of your organization ask: • What needs do you have or weaknesses do you need to mitigate? • What strengths can you leverage? Who to ask: • Yourself • Others (peers, leadership, subordinates)

25. Personal Development, cont. Create your own “development plan” with: • List of Strengths/Opportunities (2 each maximum) • Actions designed to enhance or mitigate • Partners in your development • Timelines • Measurements

26. Closing Designing an HRBP model can help to tie your efforts more directly to the business Focusing on your own development and that of other leaders within your organization can help to ensure that your company has the talent it needs to reach its objectives and be positioned for future needs

27. Questions?