HR Business Partner Models

Ulrich’s HRBP Model

Ulrich’s HRBP four roles model aimed to transform HRM from being a traditional service provider to be a strategic business partner through focusing on what HR is delivering not what HR is doing. Similarly, Ulrich & Brockbank assumed that to increase organisational performance and business outcomes, the HR role as a business partner should concentrate on how to add value to all stakeholders.

The CIPD report (2007) confirmed the importance of the HRBP role to the business outcomes and organisational success. The report shows that 38% of organisations are implementing the HR business partner role. Ulrich’s HRBP model (1997) suggested four roles for HR to be strategic business partner; the strategic partner role, the change agent role, the employee champion role and the administrative expert role as in figure below. The four roles should work in synergy to achieve the mission of transforming HR from being traditional to be a business partner.

The role of strategic partner is to align between HRM practices and business strategy to facilitate the execution of the business strategies and in return increase the business success.

The role of administrative expert requires HR professionals to handle and improve the HR processes efficiently so as to add value to the business. In addition, it is aimed to increase the financial effectiveness through providing quality low cost services. HR administrative role is significant for organisational efficiency, however; this role could occupy the HR professionals and reduce their chances to have enough time to facilitate the execution of the business strategies.

To avoid this, organisations should work on automating the HR administrative processes to reduce time and effort and give space for HR professionals to devote themselves for adding value to the business. Solving and investigating employees’ problems, defending them internally and externally and responding to their needs is increasing their loyalty and commitment to their organisations and therefore the organisational success.

That is why; Ulrich confirmed that the employee champion role, if performed efficiently, will help in increasing employees’ contribution and performance. Being employee champion requires more supervision on the managerial level especially with what concerns their relationship and attitude with their subordinates. Namely; employee champion role is focused on finding new ways to increase employee engagement, commitment and capabilities.

The change agent role exceeded more than merely being a follower to the change to be a builder to the change capacity, leader in the change process and a guardian to its culture. The change agent role includes HR ability to lead and maintain the change of the organisational culture and confirming that this culture is serving the business goals. The change agent is a crucial role as it is responsible for creating the environment that fits and facilitates the execution of business strategies. It is also responsible for changing the mindset of the top management and line managers and increasing their trust in HR professionals’ ability to be business partners.

Wright, Dyer & Takla (1999) supported Ulrich’s HRBP model; however, they stated that HR professionals do not have the capability to implement it appropriately. This suggestion might be driven from the fact that HR professionals lack the business knowledge or even do not like to leave their comfort zones and take the risk of business partnering challenges. Moreover; the responsibility of being a business partner will shift HR professionals from the ease of executing administrative tasks to the stiffness of executing business strategies to add value to the business outcome. In addition, Ulrich himself notified that if the four HR roles will be looked at hierarchically considering change agents and strategic partners are to add value to the business more than the administrative expert and employee champions do, this might diminish the overall effectiveness of the model due to tasks fragmentation.

According to Ulrich shifting HR from being traditional to be more business centred and more strategic requires HR professionals to acquire business knowledge and develop skills such as change agents, employee advocates and business partners. However; if such competencies will not be linked to an empowerment for decision making especially for talent management related decisions, it will be of no great importance and might fail HR professionals to achieve any strategic role. Also being up to the neck with other transactional tasks makes HR professionals in short of time to implement their new complex strategic role. This could be solved by making HRM paperless department through automating all the administrative and paperwork or by assigning clerks to do the administrative work to free HR professionals to implement their strategic role just as finance parted filing from accounting work.