The role of the international HR business Partner in your specific
The sphere of human resource management could be characterized by the increased level of attention given to it nowadays. For this reason, some new elements peculiar to it appear.
Thus, HR business partners (HRBP) could be defined as specialists working together with the main leaders of a certain organization to guarantee its rise and evolution (Beardwell & Thompson 2014). This very cooperation is called HR business parenting, and very often these partners work very close to attain a certain goal.
The industry chosen as the background for the investigation is a retail one. It could be characterized by the unique paces of its evolution as at the moment it is one of the most powerful and beneficial spheres (Hanna 2010).
Besides, one of the main HRBPs tasks is to guarantee the evolution of a certain company and assure that its main aims will be achieved (Lawler 2008). Only under these conditions, a company will be able to rise and evolve. In this regard, the main aim of HR professionals and partners is to create the basis for a companys rise and evolution by efficient cooperation and innovative techniques that could be suggested.
How has the industry and this role changed over the last 10 years and how is the role expected to change in the future?
The appearance of new technologies and their implementation in different spheres of human activity have impacted the development of our society greatly. Additionally, industries also altered and retail one was among them.
In the last 10 years, the retail industry had been altering significantly. At the moment, giant retail shops create the basis of this very sphere. If to compare them with small family-owned shops of the past, the difference will become evident, and the progress is obvious. For this reason, HR function also altered. A specialist has to manage numerous workers and control their functioning.
The current HR roles are characterized by the increased complexity. A modern manager has to be able to combine the improved knowledge of technologies along with the deep understanding of the power of every individual working in a certain retail store. In the last 10 years, the number of tasks had increased significantly. Now, managers in the retail industry have much more tasks related to the delegation of duties, responsibilities, and monitoring.
In the future, we could expect that the complexity of tasks will also increase. Besides, the further rise of technologies and their implementation will introduce the necessity to increase skills in the sphere of digital technologies and be ready to face the complexity of challenges that might appear every day. Moreover, considering the tendency towards the increased number of buyers, we could also predict the enlargement of these stores and the appearance of new responsibilities related to their management.
What challenges do International HR Business partners currently face in the different HRM areas in your chosen industry e.g. recruitment, selection, employee participation, learning, and development, etc?
The rise of the sphere of business and its global character precondition the high paces of the evolution of this sphere. Besides, some factors might introduce some limits as well as guarantee its further evolution
For example, there are several internal stakeholders for HR which impact its current state. These are managers, directors, employees, and other agents which might a direct impact on different aspects of the company’s functioning (Bratton & Gold 2007).
When dealing with the above-mentioned internal shareholders a set of problems might appear. The creation of a solution to every point is crucial as it determines the overall efficiency of the interaction between these actors and contributes to the improved final results (Marchington & Wilkinson 2008).
Recruitment is the first challenge that HRBP might face when trying to improve the functioning of a certain company. The choice of an appropriate worker who possesses all competencies that are needed to become efficient is complex.
Rewards are one of the main factors that serve as stimuli for an employee working in the retail industry. Thus, along with the beneficial impact on peoples performance, it could also deteriorate relations within a collective in case it is given unfairly.
HR professionals should also be ready to create an environment that will have a beneficial impact on a worker, his/her personal and professional development. That is why resources of learning should be provided. Thus, in several recent decades, the approach to this question altered. At the moment, the bigger part of needed information and training is provided with the help of digital devices. For this reason, an HR specialist should be ready to implement technologies and work with them.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are the factors that determine the level of an employee’s engagement in the majority of processes that occur within the company and his/her participation. For this reason, an HR professional should be ready to introduce measures aimed at the increased employees participation and their satisfaction from the process. Besides, this task might be complex as several factors impact the sphere of motivation.
To overcome the majority of the above-mentioned challenges, an HRBP should be ready to create a beneficial environment characterized by efficient cooperation, supportiveness, improved mutual understanding, and high levels of motivation. To accomplish this very task, a manager should consider the peculiarities of workers and introduce the framework with innovations, fair rewards practice, and assistance in personal and professional growth.
What influence do external stakeholders exert on the typical responsibilities of International HR Business Partners?
International HR Business partners perform an important function of a companys promotion, popularization, and development. Besides, they also face numerous problems and challenges which come from the character of their activity. Additionally, they also experience the impact of external and internal shareholders.
For instance, when accepting a certain decision, an HRBP should consider the most important processes that occur in a certain sphere and analyze customer behavior, their buying power, etc. (Dowling, Festing, & Engle 2008) These external shareholders have a great impact on an HR specialists functioning.
At the same time, both internal and external shareholders could also shape the directions in which HRBP functions and decisions he/she accepts. In case other members of a director board do not agree with the suggested solution, or staff has negative inclinations about it, an international BP will have to alter his/her proposal as it will not be accepted. For this reason, we could observe the mutual dependence of these factors and HRs activity.
As an HR Business Partner, how can you contribute to the strategic success of the organization?
Thus, an HR professional is one of the key figures who determine the efficiency of the whole company and its overall success. Therefore, it performs more strategic function and analyses such important aspects as
- marketing strategies
- the level of rivalry
- main forces impacting the current market situation
- opportunities for the further rise.
- new approaches
Considering the importance of the above-mentioned factors, HRBP might play a key role in the formation of the strategy of a certain department or business. For instance, the analysis of the most efficient marketing strategies might provide crucial information related to the usage of the most innovative practices needed to obtain extra benefits and increase the level of income. The functioning of numerous departments could be reorganized to fit new conditions (Altman 2008).
One of the main strategic improvements in the HR process is the usage of analytic software to predict the evolution of a certain phenomenon.
Additionally, the focus on the acquisition of the competitive advantage is another example demonstrating a strategic improvement of the HR process
The adherence to the innovations and their wide usage is considered another significant improvement of the modern HR process.
The exploration of the concept of HRBP and the cooperation with other agents to attain success is another beneficial point.
Finally, as for me, the following points are considered to be the landmarks for my evolution as an HRBP.
These points are chosen as they guarantee my increased efficiency as a specialist and help me to excel in this very sphere.
Reference List
Altman, W 2008, ‘Tuning in to the talent management in organisation’, Engineering & Technology, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 74-77, Web.
Beardwell, J & Thompson, A 2014, Human resource management: a contemporary approach, Pearson Education, Harlow.
Bratton, J & Gold, J 2007, Human resource management: theory and practice, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.
Dowling, P, Festing, M & Engle, A 2008, International human resource management. Cengage Learning, Boston, MA.
Hanna, D 2010, ‘Organization Development and Human Resources Management’, OD Practitioner, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 12-16.
Lawler, E 2008, Making people your competitive advantage, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA.
Marchington, M & Wilkinson, A 2008, Human resource management at work – people management and development, CIPD, London.