Key Steps to Become an HR strategic Partner

What is the difference between an HR manager & HR strategic partner?

The difference between an HR manager and an HR strategic partner is that an HR manager is responsible for the day-to-day administration and execution of HR policies and programs, while an HR strategic partner is responsible for developing and communicating the organization’s strategy and aligning it with the HR agenda.

An HR manager typically handles tasks such as payroll, recruiting, hiring, development, termination, and compliance. An HR strategic partner, on the other hand, focuses on strategic planning, problem solving, mentoring, coaching, and independent leadership. An HR strategic partner works with senior leadership to ensure that the organization’s human capital supports its business goals.

How to be an HR strategic partner?

Most HR professionals and organizations recognize the importance of being more strategic. However, knowing that you should do something is not the same as actually doing it. 

It takes time to develop into an HR strategic partner. It will need an investment of time, new skills, and maybe new processes, as well as a new degree of trust with your business partners.

However, once you’ve been there, the rewards will far outweigh the effort you put in along the way.

Let’s look at the ways to become an HR strategic partner:

Understand your business:

• HR professionals cannot be effective in this role without a deep understanding of the company’s products, services, customers, and competitive landscape.

Here are some additional thoughts on how to build your business knowledge:

• Read industry publications and reports. This is an excellent approach to keep abreast of the most recent trends and advancements in your business.
• Talk to your customers. This is a great way to learn about their needs and expectations, and how your company can better serve them.
• Attend industry events and conferences. This is a great way to network with other professionals in your field and learn from their experiences.
• Take business courses or workshops. This is a great way to learn about specific business topics, such as finance, marketing, and operations.
• Once you have a good understanding of the business, you can start to develop HR strategies that are aligned with the company’s overall goals. You can also work with business leaders to identify and address their HR challenges.
• By taking the time to understand the business, HR strategic partners can play a vital role in the success of their organizations.

Make time for strategy by eliminating transactional tasks:

• Even if you can’t control the big picture of HR, you can still steer your own ship. There will always be pressing matters that demand your attention, but don’t let them distract you from what’s truly important.
• The Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful tool for avoiding the “urgency trap.” This framework, popularized by former US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, divides tasks into four quadrants: urgent and important, urgent and unimportant, important and not urgent, and unimportant and not urgent.
• Your strategic HR work belongs in the “urgent and important” quadrant. This is the work that has a direct impact on the company’s bottom line and success.
• Use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize your work and focus on the tasks that matter most. Delegate or eliminate unimportant tasks, and save less urgent but important tasks for later.
• Review your priorities regularly. Things change, so it’s important to make sure you’re still working on the most important tasks.
• By using the Eisenhower Matrix, you can ensure that you’re spending your time and energy wisely and that you’re making a significant contribution to the company.

Gathering and analyzing data:

• HR professionals must be able to use data to make informed decisions and drive results. This means being able to collect, analyze, and interpret data to inform both HR and business strategies and initiatives.
• It is important to align HR data with strategic imperatives and track progress against goals. This data can span all areas of HR and the business, such as talent acquisition, learning and development, employee engagement, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and retention/turnover.
• One way to organize and manage HR data is to use key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are measurable values that track progress towards a specific goal. They can help strategic business partners drive decision-making, improve performance, and ensure value realization.

Here are some examples of HR KPIs:

1. Time to hire
2. Employee engagement scores
3. Turnover rate
4. Training completion rates
5. Diversity metrics

By tracking and analyzing these KPIs, HR professionals can identify areas where improvement is needed and develop strategies to address them.

Here are some additional tips for using data to drive HR and business results:

Make sure you have the right data. Before you can start analyzing data, you need to make sure that you are collecting the right data. This means identifying the KPIs that are most important to your organization and ensuring that you have the data you need to track them.

Use data visualization tools. Data visualization tools can help you to make sense of complex data and identify trends and patterns. There are a variety of different data visualization tools available, so you can choose one that is right for your needs.

Share your findings with others. Once you have analyzed your data, it is important to share your findings with others. This could include sharing your findings with business leaders, HR colleagues, and employees. By sharing your findings, you can help to raise awareness of important HR issues and inform decision-making across the organization.

By using data effectively, HR professionals can play a vital role in helping their organizations achieve their goals.

Develop your strategic talents and competencies:

Becoming a strategic HR partner is a new challenge for many HR professionals. If you or your organization is trying to transform the way HR works to be more strategic, you will need to develop new skills and capabilities.

I recommend using the 70-20-10 approach to developing strategic HR capabilities:

• 70% experiential learning: This means learning by doing. Look for opportunities to work on strategic HR projects and initiatives.
• 20% social learning: This means learning from others. Talk to other HR professionals who are successfully working as strategic partners. Finding a mentor who will help you develop your skills.
• 10% formal training: This means taking courses and workshops on strategic HR.

You will not become a truly strategic HR partner by reading books alone. You need to get involved in hands-on experiences that stretch your strategic capabilities.

If your organization has an HR competency model, you can use it to identify the skills and competencies that you need to develop. If your organization does not have an HR competency model, think about the skills and competencies that are essential to success as a strategic HR partner in your organization.

Here are some additional tips for developing strategic HR capabilities:

• Become a business expert. Learn about your organization’s business strategy, products, and services. Understand the challenges that your organization is facing and the opportunities that it has.
• Develop your analytical skills.  Discover how to gather, examine, and evaluate data. You can use this to spot trends, patterns, and business possibilities.
• Become a change leader. Learn how to lead and manage change. This includes being able to communicate effectively, build consensus, and overcome resistance.
• Develop your relationship-building skills. Build relationships with business leaders across the organization. This will help you to understand their needs and priorities and to develop HR strategies that support the business.
• By developing the necessary skills and capabilities, you can become a valuable strategic partner to your organization.