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.

My view is that the future value is in challenging the client to develop a different point of view. This is a coaching skill. It is about asking great questions, what we call strategic question.

Strategic questions shift the client’s thinking. Helping them to view an issue differently, enhance their understanding, deepen their perspective or if they are stuck, become unstuck. Many of our clients ask how they can do this. What are the skills and mindset they need to successes?

Well they are multi-faceted. Obviously, a deep trusting relationship with the client helps and the ability to test that you are in rapport at the appropriate time is essential. Judging the right time and place to have the conversion is also useful. We call this pacing and leading the client. Working with them from where they are and helping them to move their thinking and ideas forward.

Understanding the essentials of coaching and adopting a neutral, curious stance is also important. However, we have found coaching skills are not enough. HRBP’s who take this approach are often taking a risk. They are often in the ‘un-discussable’ territory. The place and topics that people avoid, brush under the carpet or generally feel that to raise them is career threatening. However, it is just these topics that are potentially most damaging to the organisation. Raising and shifting the thinking on them can provide the most value.

Therefore, the essential skills or attitudes that the BP needs are courage and self-belief.

Courage to rise the ‘un-discussable.’ In my experience people who do this skilfully, that is at the right time with evidence and options for shifting the issue rarely damage their career. Usually they enhance it. Many of these BP’s tell us they seek out these types of situations not only because it adds the most value to the business but also because it enhances their credibility and the respect of the management team. They also see these as the areas that really test and hone their skills.

They second essential attribute is self-belief. These types of issue take time to resolve and to get people to shift their views. The Business Partner needs to believe that they can make a difference and the issue must be one about which they are personally passionate. These factors help them to keep going in the face of opposition, to be creative about tactics and solutions and to adopt different influencing methods.

So my advice is on the bases that we become what we practice begin to adopt the beliefs and attitude of the next generation of HRBP’s and you will be in the forefront of the transformation.