HR Business Partnering Concept

Another article NOT written by me ... but felt it is my responsibility to shared with my followers ...

Human Resources is not just a support function, it has to build a regular HR Business Partnering concept as it seen by the managers as the valuable partner for the business. The HR Business Partnering is about the understanding the business of the partner and helping to decide issues in the people management area.

The HR Business Partnering is about changing the focus of Human Resources. The people in Human Resources cannot be focused on solving the issues of managers and employees of the organization and they have to focus on delivering the value added to the business leaders and they have to focus on building new quality relationships across the organization.

The real business partnership is based on the common trust and it is extremely difficult to build a position of the business partner for Human Resources. The HR Manager can speak about the business partnering HR Model, but he has to be accepted as a partner in a discussion.

The HR Business Partnering model is about setting the HR Strategy and customizing it to the needs of the individual business partners, but within set boundaries. The business partnering is about the proactive approach of both partners, it is not about the requests of the business leader and potential solutions finding from Human Resources. They both have to work on elaborating the best suitable solution and it has to be a result of the work of both partners.

The HR has to be proactive in setting the business-partnering model. It is easy to say “I will be your business partner.” and it is extremely hard to say, “I really know, I am your business partner.” HR has to fight for its position as the department valuable to listen to. It is not built from a day to day, it takes months and years to implement the concept.

The HR Department has to change itself to be seen as the partner. The HR Business Partners have to be hired and they are usually the people with no previous experience in Human Resources. They have to learn the basics of Human Resources and they have to learn the details about their partners. They have to demonstrate their skills of the area of expertise of the client as they are accepted as partners in discussions.

Each HR Director has to think about the benefits of the HR Business Partnering model for the organization. Many organizations do not need such a concept and the HR Director should recognize it.

[Source: http://www.simplehrguide.com/hr-business-partnering-concept.html]

Tips on HR Business Partnering

This is not my article but felt it is a good reading for people who want to know what is HR Business Partnering ...

1. Know what the business drivers for change are. What do managers need to be able to do to deliver what the business requires? What will HR need to do to support them in this?

2. Decide how best to structure HR to support the line. Review how well HR is currently meeting these needs and make changes to deliver what is required.

3. Involve the business and HR in implementing partnering. It is important that people are involved in any changes that take place, as imposed models have little chance of success. We need to understand how the approach will work for everyone involved.

4. Ensure senior management are seen to be driving the changes. This is not just an HR initiative or fad, it is an organisational change and a whole new way to deliver support services to add value in a cost-effective manner.

5. Recognise the impact it will have on line managers. Are managers 'willing', 'able' and 'allowed' to change. You will find resistance if any of these conditions are not met.

6. Be very clear on the roles within HR. Ensure everyone is very clear as to their responsibilities. Wherever possible, ensure that it is the HR business partners that drive what is required within HR to meet the needs of the organisation, rather than the more central parts of HR or indeed line managers themselves.

7. Know how all the roles will work together. Choose some key situations, such as implementing a new organisational strategy, developing the people plan, disciplining a very senior manager, implementing a new job evaluation program or managing a large scale recruitment, and track through with the whole of the HR team, exactly who will do what and where the 'hand-off' points will be and how they will take place. Be clear on the entry points for managers as well as those for other employees.

8. Continually review effectiveness of the model you have introduced. It is unlikely that you will get the model that suits you straight away. Making the necessary tweaks and changes as required will increase chances of long-term success. Include line managers in your reviews.

9. Make sure you have the right people in the right roles. Not everyone is suited to the more strategic role of the HR business partner and it is often down to preference and attitude as much as it is to skill. Put in place a development program for all individuals and roles to help people to meet their career aspirations.

10. Where possible, use virtual teams and align to different parts of the business. By introducing a formal HR business partnering approach, you will have broken the service up into bits. It is important for the line that these areas then work together again in teams to deliver a seamless service for different parts of the business.

(Source: http://www.hcamag.com/resources/learning-and-development/steps-to-successful-hr-business-partnering/113976/)

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What is Garden or Gardening Leave in HRM Context?

Garden leave (or Gardening leave) is the term given to a situation whereby an employee is required to serve out a period of resignation notice at home.

During this period the employee continues to receive all salary and benefits but is prohibited from commencing employment with new employers until the gardening leave period has expired.

It is a practice which employers often adopt with employees who have access to confidential information or customers and where they are leaving to join a competitor.

During the gardening leave period the employee’s access to such information or customers is restricted.

(source: http://www.roydens.co.uk/content11.htm)

What is Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS)?

Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) is a scheme where employees are allowed to resign voluntarily from an organization by receiving fair compensation. The purpose of organizations implementing VSS is to reduce the headcount of employees working in the organizations so that the overhead cost especially employment cost can be reduced. The employees will be given a reasonable compensation to resign from the company for each year of service.

Usually, most organizations choose not to retrench / lay-off their employees in order to reduce the headcount of employees. It is to avoid bad reputation to the organizations.

In some countries, organization may need to get approval from the government (e.g., Ministry of Human Resources; Labour Dept; etc.). One of the criteria the government considers in approving VSS is that the organization is losing money for a certain period of time or has implemented other alternative cost cutting measure before resulting to retrenchment / VSS.