HRBP should stop doing these 3 things

Business partnering role in HR has gained significant importance in recent years. While we see that the exact meaning of Business partnering differs from org to org, we also see the HR Partners committing few common mistakes which may be disastrous in longer run. Here are few of my observations

1. Never Be a "Yes Man" to the Business

While a HR Partner tries hard to develop a strong rapport with his stakeholders, it is often observed they end up saying YES to everything the Business proposes. You may make them happy for the moment agreeing to what they say, but soon you will realize they have stopped respecting you & are taking you for granted.

Who would like to listen to a person who is always agreeing to any shit he spoken about and rarely has his own opinion to put forth? What does such person bring to the table ? Nothing.

You should be assertive in conveying your point of view to the business even if it goes against what they are planning to do. Your work is to not only develop a rapport with the business but also act as an Advocate for your employees. You may agree to what the business proposes if it is for the greater good but not to everything they say. When the business realizes that you fight for your employees, you are ready to go to lengths getting your point across if it is correct enough - That is when they start respecting you, seeing you as a value add. They are happy to have someone who adds the "People perspective" to their "Business perspective".

2. The connect to Retain the employee shouldn't be your first one

In India, on an averag, each BPHR handles a portfolio of around 800- 1500 employees or even more. We accept the fact that it is difficult to connect with everyone, but not impossible. One thing one of my Ex-manager taught me was to connect with 4 different individuals everyday. If you consider this pace, 1500 employees can be covered in approximately 1 year. How does this work ?

First, your employees start knowing you, they start reaching out to you for their issues. Because the daily coverage is low (4) you can handle those queries or concerns effectively, not stretching on your bandwidth. 15 mins catch up for 4 individuals sums up to 1 hour a day. Is it too much to ask for what you are being paid for ?

Why is it essential to be connected with each and every employee ?

Say tomorrow you have to have a retention discussion with Mr. X and you had connected with him before. He would be more open for discussion or retention negotiation. This increases your chances of succeeding on retaining him. On the other hand, had you not connected with him earlier, he would surely have a deaf ear to any negotiation you propose. Why ? He feels you are reaching out to him only because your job asks you to do so. He doesn't feel important at all. Why would someone listen to you if you are speaking with them with only a selfish motive of fulfilling your KRA ?

3. Don't misunderstand Events as Engagement. Pls for God's sake !!!

I have been interviewed at multiple places and two of those times when I got selected was also the fact that I didn't speak about events like Diwali, Rangoli or X-mas when they asked me about the engagement activities I conduct. I was surprised to know from the hiring manager that most of the BPHR's who got interviewed spoke only about events as if people really find some deep sense of involvement in them. NO, THEY DON'T !!!

Entire HR fraternity in India gets mocked at for only doing Diwali & Rangoli celebrations as a part of Engagement plan. Do you even have a fair idea that such events are just like fire-crackers and only to be used optimally as a top up and not as an entire program ? Till how many years are we going to get ourselves mocked at for Diwali, Rangoli, Eid & X-mas celebrations ?? We have to move levels above. I am not against festive celebrations but I definitely hate it when that is all that you have under the title of "Employee Engagement" ?

Invest your time and efforts in understanding the Business, how things work from A to Z, Learn the Lingo of your employees. Sales folks have some jargons and so does every profession. Learn that, Learn how the business works, Learn how they invest their day in what all activities ? So that you understand your employees better and also have an EUREKA moment. EUREKA moment when you actually understand what engages your workforce and then design interventions to address those aspects. You will start making sense to the business, getting liked by your employees because you speak their language, understand their pain and are doing something about it. They don't expect you to have a magic wand and resolve all their issues. What they want is someone genuinely listening, understanding them and making an effort to make a change.

These were some thoughts which I had been planning on to put across to my fraternity. I love my job, I love the part where my employees are happy due to my efforts. But, I am hurt the most when our fraternity does get trolled for doing silly things. I want my fraternity to gain true respect and not given fake respect on the face only because you hold a position of importance. NO.

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