HR business partnering is commonly understood purpose of HR as a function but it is mostly underdeveloped function as far as business partnering is concerned, that too at CEO levels!

1. 1 | P a g e
Mrinal Krant
Krantmrinal.blogspot.in
Is HR today, CEO's trusted business ally?
Is HR today, really, the 21st century HR? What is strategic HR? The Business Consultant, the Business Challenger, the Change Agent,
the Business Evangelist on People Strategy? The Key Catalyst in terms of "Talent Identification, Integration, Engagement, Nurturing
and Rewarding to report tangible returns in ROI and ‘Value Building’ terms?”
You may wonder, what special and
unique expertise and genetic
combination HR has got, which creates a
great difference to building, a fair,
equitable and transparent, innovative,
creative, profitable, meritocratic and a
Great Place to Work company?
What insights and measures HR uses to
check the factors count that define a
highly motivated and success oriented
work culture?
Does HR build and present the talent vs.
capability scorecard and guides how the
optimization of the talent topography
and execution curve can be achieved?
Has HR ever done the true talent
mapping? I am not talking about
education, certification and relevant
experience columns from the excel file. I
am talking about talent that can result in
direct value add to Capability framework
of the organisation and consequently to
the customer satisfaction and delight.
Does HR help achieve, the eulogised,
true cutting-edge over competition, we
also call competitive advantage?
Does HR know what transaction non-
value adding tasks employees are doing
that can be outsourced/In-sourced to
lower level low cost staff? What is the
value of the time and talent loss due to
the higher paid staff doing the lower end
job or parts of it?

2. 2 | P a g e
Mrinal Krant
Krantmrinal.blogspot.in
Can HR present a talent available versus
talent utilization graph? The percentage
of under or over utilization of talent.
Can HR highlight all hidden spots of
"glass ceilings" in the organisation which
prohibit talent utilisation and
development by creating artificial barrier
to talent’s upward/lateral mobility?
Can HR spot and highlight, where all we
have talent water-shed/rain-shadow and
talent pipe thinning?
Can HR present total talent loss data in
Talent Transmission due to poor and
hurdle-infested processes and archaic
conventions of design architecture of
solution and delivery planning
bureaucracy?
Can HR present thorough a public
dashboard, how many employees or
percentage, on any date feel like; they
are "Thriving, Surviving or Struggling"?
The professional well-being index.
Does HR lose sleep when talent suffers
against boss’s idiosyncrasies and
bureaucracy? Do they raise a red-flag?
Do they put their foot down? Do they
come forward and help removing hidden
and obvious barriers to talent flow and
de-clog growth in the organisation?
Tell me why HR should be considered
the backbone of organisation's talent
management? What role they play is so
different and uniquely value adding and
differentiating than the line manager
does?
Is today’s HR CEO's trusted business ally?
Does he naturally get reminded of the
HR partner when he thinks business!
Think over!!!!
Overriding debates and value judgement tendencies of HR’s worth to business, here are few structured framework to
integrate the ‘HR Champion’ to the business, for impactful results! After all, ‘business of business is people’.

3. 3 | P a g e
Mrinal Krant
Krantmrinal.blogspot.in
ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES---
Capabilities are backbone of delivery,
company’s sustainable competitive
positioning and advantage. Capabilities
are core concepts of long-term plans.
Talent Manager/Org Designer-HR
Champion builds a long-term talent
(skills and Competency) capability
building plan with mandated training
(education, experience and exposure) ,
certifications programs at right intervals
under able mentoring and right kinds of
projects with objective of building a
Subject-Matter Expert, Area Content
Expert and Go-to person for such skills
and competencies. Design time-bound
and opportunity linked Career
Advancement Plan to fit in the
Talent/Capability Optimizing Framework.
Culture and Change Steward-HR
Champion is culture vanguard who aims
at building, propagating and preserving
the unique culture of the organisation by
ensuring culture reflects in every
thought, act and planning of the
organisation. For any Change
Management, the HR Champ ensures all
effective vehicles of communication are
used and right mind-set is built after
proper dialogue and iterations on
people’s responses. Seamless integration
of changes shall be the end objective of
the HR Champ.
Strategy Architect-HR Champ is integral
part of the Corporate Strategy where
People Strategy is closely linked. HR
Champ debates the implications of such
business strategy on people and culture
and upon negotiations and proper
understanding suggest people strategy
that shall fit the new business structure
for right results. Business debates on
people strategy from the perspective of
alignment to plan of action and people’s
capabilities and morale. HR Champ plays
a balancing yet business ally role, within
the framework of HR law of Governance!
SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES---
Systems and processes are arteries and
veins for smooth function of operations.

4. 4 | P a g e
Mrinal Krant
Krantmrinal.blogspot.in
It ensures standardised work-flow and
right sets of compliance and control.
Systems abilities and Process abilities are
matter of continuous improvement for
efficiency of services, effective results
and internal-external customer
satisfaction.
Operational Executer- HR Champ is an
operational Paranoid, a Perfection Freak
and Customer/Employee Services
obsessed professional. He ensures his
systems and processes are idiot-proof
and free from individual biases (linked to
approved policies and guidelines) and
person-independent. It is trick-free and
easy to understand and operate. HR
Champ ensures proper updates and
upgrades are embedded on time to all
systems and processes. Trains people on
changes and new processes and systems
ahead of implementation.
Business Ally-HR Champ works with
business, for business and ensures
business success! Owns his piece with
professionalism and integrity, keeps
business aware of each steps of
development and raises red-flags on
seeing possible risks, suggest s
alternative plans and solutions, truly
partners with business and ensures
success as One-team!
RELATIONSHIPS-
Relationship s is the software which sits
on the hardware and connects with users
only if activated. There is no-auto-pilot in
relationships. Relationship is the first and
the last step in building alliance and
partnerships. With relationships, come
understanding and trust. HR Champ
cannot be a success unless he
champions the art of relationships. He
needs this skill in his DNA.
Credible Activist-HR Champ is the most
visible face of people activism, policy
implementations, gathering feedback on
existing policies and plans, building
networks across levels and functions, all
kinds of diversity and opinions. HR
Champ is a middle-ware, who deftly
senses and captures people’s reactions
and responses as a neutral body and
helps build platforms for debate,
propagation, implementation or change
by involving right set of people to
ensure plan and policies are enforced,
rightfully.

5. 5 | P a g e
Mrinal Krant
Krantmrinal.blogspot.in
The other important part of Credible
Activism of the HR Champ is, acting as
vanguard of values and ethics, adherence
to sacrosanct policies of the organisation
even in difficult situations. Ensure that
actions are in conformance with
established norms and conventions of
the organisation, even in absence of
written rules. Ensure that he has
challenged the deviations that erode
trust in established values and processes,
whenever it is evident to him or brought
to his notice, irrespective of how high
positioned is the violator/infringer!
References--- HR from the Outside In
(2012, Jon Younger, Wayne Brockbank,
Mike Ulrich),
Global HR Competencies (2012, Wayne
Brockbank, Jon Younger, Mike Ulrich),
The Why of Work (2010, Wendy Ulrich),
HR Transformation (2009 Justin Allen,
Wayne Brockbank, Jon Younger, Mark
Nyman),
Companion for Strategic Human
Resources (2008 John Storey, Pat
Wright),
HR Competencies (2008 Wayne
Brockbank, Dani Johnson, Kurt Sandholtz,
Jon Younger),
Human Resource Value Proposition (2005
Wayne Brockbank), The Future of Human
Resource Management (2005 Michael
Losey, Sue Meisinger),
Tomorrow’s (HR) Management (1997,
Gerry Lake, Mike Losey), Human
Resource Champions (1997),

6. 6 | P a g e
Mrinal Krant
Krantmrinal.blogspot.in
Dave Ulrich
Author
David Olson Ulrich is a university professor, author,
speaker, management coach, and management
consultant. Ulrich is a professor of business at the
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
and co-founder of The RBL Group. Wikipedia