Getting the Most from Your HR Business Partner

21.08.25 10:58 AM - By Linq HR

In today’s dynamic workplaces, a strong alliance with your HR Business Partner (HRBP) can be the difference between stagnation and transformation. 

When structured and intentional, this partnership becomes a mutual engine for delivering both business success and effective employee practices. Drawing on insights from Dave Ulrich’s “Say Nay to the Naysayers”, here are five practical ways to deepen collaboration and achieve shared goals.

1. Start with the Business Needs
A HRBP’s greatest value arises when discussions are grounded in concrete business requirements. Ulrich emphasises that when HR aligns with business priorities, it moves from a support function to an enabler of results. Frame your objectives in terms of revenue growth, operational efficiency, or strategic milestones, and invite your HRBP to co‑craft solutions.

2. Define Clear HR Outcomes
Visionary statements and mission‑driven language are powerful, but performance stems from outcome clarity. Ulrich suggests that business success hinges on HR delivering measurable outcomes in talent management, leadership development, and culture building . Together, establish key performance indicators such as retention rates, leadership bench strength, or employee engagement and regularly track progress.

3. Innovate HR Practices
Just as technological progress has evolved from cathode ray to high definition television, HR practices too must be modernised. Challenge your HRBP to reconsider any outmoded processes in performance management, learning delivery, reward structures and co‑design forward‑looking, employee centred alternatives. Embrace agility through pilot initiatives, rapid cycles, and feedback loops.

4. Align HR with Culture and Brand
HR doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It intersects with both internal culture and external brand reputation. As Ulrich notes, aligning HR work with broader strategic context reinforces cultural coherence and helps embed organisational values. Whether it’s onboarding, leadership training, or recognition programmes, weave your external brand promise and cultural norms into every facet of employee experience.

5. Be Inquisitive and Forward Looking
Important progress never emerges from nostalgia. Ulrich encourages HR professionals to shift focus from the past to crafting what’s next. Approach your HRBP as a forward thinking collaborator in one who anticipates challenges, experiments with solutions, and shares a hunger for continuous improvement.

A HRBP becomes transformative when both parties commit to a transparent, strategic, and innovative partnership. Start with business priorities, define meaningful outcomes, embrace modern practices, align with culture, and remain future focused. By doing so in partnership, you can achieve extraordinary results that benefit both the organisation and its people.


Reference

Dave Ulrich, “Exclusive: HR guru David Ulrich – ‘say nay to the naysayers’”, HRD Canada, 18 July 2014, accessed 18 August 2025, https://www.hcamag.com/ca/news/general/exclusive-hr-guru-david-ulrich-say-nay-to-the-naysayers/125905.