With my partners in Orion (www.orionpartners.co.uk), we regularly run HR Business Partner Forums with groups of BP’s from a wide variety of companies. Participants can nominate topics, or we share data from our research and then exchange views and experience. At our meeting last Friday, one of the interesting questions was;
"what is the next development in the Ulrich model?"
Who is creating the next phase of HR development?

More specifically how will the HRBP role develop and where is the current best practice? This got me thinking. What is the next role for HRBP's- they know the business, know the clients and have a seat at the table.

For years HRBP’s have been urged to know the business. To understand the numbers and the levers that create the competitive advantage for the business they work in. Most competency frame works will place this high in the priorities. But my view is that having business knowledge is just a point of parity for HRBP’s today, The point of differentiation is applying the knowledge to make a strategic difference.