business partner model communications

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Dave Ulrich

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Wayne Brockbank

The business partner model: 10 years on - Lessons learned

Dave Ulrich's business partner model was launched to great acclaim in 1997 in the book, Human Resource Champions. Here, Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank, fellow Ross School of Business professor at the University of Michigan, answer recent critics, who say it just doesn't work, by reflecting on what has been learned about the relevance of the model over the past decade

The business partner model is not unique to HR; all staff functions are trying to find ways to deliver more value to either top line growth or to bottom line profitability.

The need for greater business performance has put all support functions under a microscope. If they are not delivering definitive and sustainable value, they have been given the mandate to change, be eliminated or be outsourced.

Information systems, finance, legal, marketing, research and development and HR are all under scrutiny and pressure to create greater value for their companies. This is especially true of transaction and administrative work that can be standardised, automated or outsourced.

2. The aim of the model

The aim of the business partner model is to help HR professionals integrate more thoroughly into business processes and to align their day-today work with business outcomes.

This topic has been approached from several perspectives. For example, we have talked about focusing more on deliverables (what the business requires to win) than do-ables (what HR activities occur).

Instead of measuring process (for example, how many leaders received 40 hours of training), business partners are encouraged to measure results (for example, the impact of the training on business performance).

This approach focuses on HR's role in the creation and maintenance of the capabilities that an organisation must have in order to deliver value to its customers, shareholders, employees and communities.

More on the HR business partners and the Ulrich model:

HR business partner models fail to add strategic value, study says

Dave Ulrich on the evolution of the profession

HR in the boardroom: four tips for maximising HR’s business impact

3. Four main HR roles

Being a business partner may be achieved in many HR roles. HR professionals tend to fit into four categories: corporate HR; embedded HR; HR specialists; and service centres.

Corporate HR professionals define corporate-wide initiatives, represent the company to external stakeholders and meet the unique demands of senior leaders.

Embedded HR professionals work as HR generalists within organisation units (business, function, or geographic). They collaborate with line leaders to ensure that their organisations deliver value to stakeholders by defining and delivering competitive strategies.

They help shape the business strategy, conduct organisational diagnoses to determine which capabilities are most critical, design and deliver HR practices to accomplish strategy, coach business leaders to behave congruently with strategy, and manage the strategy development process.

HR specialists work in centres of expertise where they provide technical insights on HR issues such as staffing, leadership development, rewards, communication, organisation development, benefits, and so forth. They deliver value when their recommended HR practices are on the forefront of their respective areas of expertise and when they create new practices that add value beyond that of their competitors.

HR professionals who work in service centres add value by building or managing technology-based e-HR systems that enable employees to manage their relationship with the firm. They govern activities such as processing benefit claims and payrolls and by answering employee queries.

These individuals may work inside or outside the company. They deliver value to all stakeholders by reducing costs of processing employee information and by providing accurate and timely services.

Sometimes, one of the above roles is uniquely defined as business partnering when, in fact, each of the roles is a partner to the business as they work to create value for employees, customers, shareholders, communities and management.

4. Talent and organisational capabilities

Business success today depends more than ever on softer agendas such as talent and organisation capabilities. HR professionals are centrally involved in providing the right people with the right skills in the right job at the right time. The 'war' for talent rages and will likely continue in an increasingly global knowledge economy.

HR professionals also partner with line managers to identify and create capabilities such as speed to market, innovation, leadership, collaboration, fast change and culture management. These less tangible business activities increasingly have an impact on shareholder value and are top of mind among CEOs and general managers.

Effective HR professionals not only work with business leaders to draft strategies , they also focus and collaborate on how to make strategies happen.

Talent and organisational issues become the mechanisms to best deliver a strategy. Business leaders are increasingly attuned to the importance of talent and organisation as a way to turn aspirations into actions and strategic intent into business results as they co-ordinate closely with their HR professionals.

5. Intellectual and process leadership

As talent and organisation issues increase in business relevance, HR professionals may help respond by being architects , designers and facilitators. General managers ultimately are accountable and responsible for talent and organisation issues.

Just as they turn to senior staff specialists in marketing, finance and IT to frame the intellectual agenda and processes for these activities, so they turn to competent and business-focused HR professionals to provide intellectual and process leadership for people and organisational issues.

Effective HR business partners are those who respond to these general management challenges. The business partner model focuses on the issues that general managers need help with to deliver business results. And because of the changing nature of business, the requirements of a business partner model are more pressing than ever before.

6. Some will never be business partners

There is concern that some HR professionals cannot perform the work of a business partner and cannot link their day-to-day work to business results. Our research shows that the HR profession as a whole is quickly moving to add greater value through a more strategic focus.

We have shown that high-performing HR professionals have greater business knowledge than their low performing counterparts. Thus, there is empirical evidence to support the business partner model.

But also empirically supported is that some HR professionals are not able to live up to the new expectations. This dynamic is true for almost all change efforts. In any change there is almost a 20-60-20 grouping of those involved.

The top 20% of individuals asked to change are already doing the work the change requires. The lower 20% will never get there. With training, coaching and support, the other 60% can make the move.

Occasionally, some pundits and researchers selectively report either extreme: the 20% who either can or cannot make the change. Those that want to find failure focus their reporting on the bottom 20%; those that want to find success focus on the top 20%.

Likewise, some leaders often like to spend time with the successful 20% and claim they had caused it when they had not. Leaders often feel forced to spend time with the bottom 20% and try to ensure universal acceptance when they cannot. They should spend time with the middle 60% and work to inform, motivate and move them to be more successful. The same is true for HR professionals.

As with all support functions, it is undoubtedly the case that some HR professionals may never become business partners. They are mired in the past administrative HR roles where conceptually or practically they cannot connect their work to business results.

Other HR professionals are natural business partners, seeking first and foremost to deliver business value through the work that they do. Most are somewhere in between.

We see the majority of those in between moving towards rather than away from business relevance. If you look at the content of HR conferences over the past 20 years, it is clear that a shift is occurring in what HR professionals want and need to know. A decade ago there was a clamour to 'get to the table' and to become part of the business.

Today, many effective HR professionals are already at the table and need to know what to do now they are there.

Being at the table poses a new set of challenges in language and logic of being an HR professional. For example, historically many HR professionals use the term 'customer' to refer to internal customer. At the strategy table , the customer is generally the external retailer or end users.

When HR professionals are at the table, the question, 'what do we need to do to make our customers happy?', has a different meaning from that of HR's traditional meaning. As HR professionals assume the business partner role, the standards for HR success shift along with the expectations of their language.

7. Don't blame the gadgets - teach the users to use them

Being a business partner requires HR professionals to have new knowledge and skills. Traditionally, HR professionals have tended to focus on negotiating and managing terms and conditions of work and administrative transactions.

The required HR skills focused on admin issues such as policy setting and administration, union negotiation and managing employee transactions.

Today, the business partner model requires HR professionals also to connect their work directly to the business. Some HR practitioners lack these skills. If they fail to acquire them, their ability to function as business partners is diminished. This strongly supports the business partner model.

Our research indicates that as HR professionals acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to be business partners, they add significant value to financial and customer business results.

Likewise our research shows that those that do not make the transition in knowledge and skills are less likely to have business impact. When HR professionals are business partners, business success follows.

By way of metaphor, if a person cannot work the remote for the new electronic gadget, we should not blame the gadget, but should teach the user how better to use the gadget.

8. Reasons for failure

The inevitable failures in the application of the business partner model may be due to several factors.

As indicated above, 20% of HR professionals will probably never be able to adapt to the full business partner role. Asking HR professionals who have focused on policies and transactions to do talent and organisation audits and make major changes may be too great a shift for some.

Some may not make the shift to business partners because of personal interests that deter them from engaging in the business partner role. Their interests and abilities may make them focus administrative detail rather than embrace the larger and more complicated perspective of the business as a whole.

Some HR practitioners may want to be business partners but simply do not how to proceed. Such individuals need to understand the frameworks, logic, knowledge, and skills that are necessary for them to grow into the business partner role.

Substantial empirical evidence shows that HR professionals who are provided with such information can quickly apply it in adding greater value to the business.

For example, defence and aerospace company BAE Systems undertook a serious commitment to enhance the competencies of its HR professionals. As a result of the developmental programme, HR's perceived impact on business performance increased dramatically (the percentage of line managers rating HR as four or five in business effectiveness increased by 120%.)

There may be some cases where an organisation's success does not depend on individual abilities or organisational capabilities. For example, a company may have a monopoly, and may be protected from competitive pressures. In such circumstances business performance may be dictated primarily by the maintenance of that monopoly. Internal dynamics will have relatively less to do with business success than the maintenance of the monopoly.

Therefore, HR professionals who push for alignment, integration and innovation in talent and organisation are less likely to contribute to business success. In addition, our recent empirical work together with our colleagues, Alejandro Sioli and Arthur Yeung, shows that HR is most closely associated with business performance under conditions of significant change and has substantially less influence under conditions of little change. So, HR's impact on business may vary depending on the business setting.

Some line managers have trouble either accepting the importance of talent and organisation and/or accepting HR professionals as significant contributors to these agendas. This may be due to their having a limited perspective on the changing nature of business or due to past bad experiences.

Research by a number of consulting firms shows that senior level executives are focusing more on issues such as strategy execution, leadership, talent, and change - all HR agendas. Therefore, managers often want and need what effective HR professionals can help them deliver.

9. What's the alternative?

There are really few other options. When someone said to us that the business partner model was not working , we asked: 'What would you suggest?' The following are the two responses we received.

First, 'Some HR professionals do not know the business well enough to be able to function as business partners'. Second, 'Some HR professionals are too enmeshed in transactional administrative work to be able to function as business partners'. Both of these problems have direct and obvious solutions.

The solution to the first response is that HR professionals need to learn the business inside out. They must know it well enough not only to do better HR work but also to be able to contribute to the strategic decision-making processes of the senior management team. The solution to the second is that much of the admin work will need to be outsourced or digitalised for electronic processing.

The reality is that HR professionals must evolve into being the best thinkers in the company about the human and organisation side of the business. The nature of business is dramatically changing.

Changes are occurring in virtually every element of the social, political, and economic environments that affect business. They include technology, globalisation, communications, regulations, competitiveness, demographics, shareholder demands and a tight labour market for key talent.

Under such conditions, the human side of the business emerges as a key source of competitive advantage. Therefore, specialists in the processes of human and organisation optimisation become central to business success. These specialists should reside in the HR department as business partners.

Read part two, The Challenges Ahead , published in our Year Ahead publication with the 2009 January issue.

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Further reading

Is the Ulrich model still valid?

Exclusive: The six competencies to inspire HR professionals for 2012

The Year Ahead 2009: View from the top - Evolutionary forces are at work

How does the business partner model work for learning and development professionals?

Dave Ulrich: Don't blow up HR, appreciate and evolve it

Dave Ulrich: The evolution of the profession

HR influence: The next 10 years

What we’ve learned about culture over the past 10 years

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9 Best Practices for To-Partner Communications

Channel news directly into your inbox.

• Channel communications (particularly to-partner communications) are vital to developing relationships, building trust, and generating revenues with sales partners.
• Capturing and retaining partner mindshare is a competitive endeavor.
• To-partner communications should focus on delivering value to partners and partnerships.
• Experts advocate providers speak to solving partner pain points and how they help partners grow their businesses.
• Brevity and relevance of to-partner communications are all-important to cut through the noise.
• The timing of to-partner communications is often overlooked and can substantially impact the efficacy of through-partner campaigns.
• When it comes to metrics, traditional engagement metrics matter but sometimes overlook meaningful relationships and soft measurement metrics like loyalty.
• Centralizing your metrics helps you respond to trends and quickly improve your “to-partner” communications.

Talk with an expert in the channel about partner communications, and they’ll tell you it’s essential to relationship development, trust-building and revenue generation. All are true, but those communications don’t happen in a vacuum. You must compete for sales partner attention with:

• Competitors that also work with your sales partners. Many sales partners have portfolios of service providers – including your competitors – upon which to draw.
• Competitors that want to work with your sales partners. Your sales partners – especially the most active and productive – are aggressively recruited by many of your competitors.
• Everything else in your partners’ email boxes, SMS messages, social accounts, voicemail boxes and event calendars. Your partners face the same onslaught of communications overload that you do.

To help you get the most from your partner communications efforts, we interviewed eight industry experts:

• Bill Steen , Director of Channel and Field Marketing for cybersecurity and cyber resilience provider OpenText Security Solutions
• Danielle Flannery , Senior Manager of Global Partner Marketing at edge cloud network provider Fastly
• Heather K. Margolis , Senior Vice President of Marketing at channel technology provider 360insights
• Heather Tenuto , Chief Revenue Officer here at Zift Solutions
• Khali Henderson , Senior Partner of channel marketing firm BuzzTheory
• Lauren Coltrane , Senior Enterprise Partner Marketing Manager at hardware, graphics, computing and AI company NVIDIA
• Lauren Morreale , Channel Account Manager at email security and cyber resilience firm company Mimecast
• Ollie Whitfield , Growth Marketing Professional at sales engagement technology firm VanillaSoft

What Are To-Partner Communications and How Do They Differ from Through-Partner Communications?

Our experts had lots to say about partner communications—so much so that we’re running their advice in two blogs: this blog on to-partner communications and another forthcoming blog on through-partner communications. The line between these two terms is drawn at sales enablement.

When discussing to-partner communications, we’re talking about communications expressly created and sent to sales partners for:

• Recruitment

Common to-partner communications include information, such as:

• Partner program benefits
• Compensation and incentives
• Company news and events
• Product information
• Industry updates
• Partnership management meetings like channel program QBRs

Through-partner communications usually refer to communications designed to be passed through partners. (Don’t overlook distributors. Two-tier distribution models are not going anywhere, according to our 2022 channel partner program predictions .)

Through partner communications, then, include marketing:

• Through sales partners to end-users
• Through distributors to their sales partners
• Through distributors and sales partners to end-users

Benefits of To-Partner Communications

To-partner communications are essential to your channel partner engagement plan and help you achieve several strategic objectives within the larger umbrella of partner communications we touched on earlier. Here are some concrete examples:

• Invite them to register and attend the webinar.
• Deliver the webinar content.
• Follow up with emails after the webinar.
• attention, investment, and commitment to the partnership.
• knowledge, leadership, and understanding of your partners’ challenges.
• Generating revenue. Communicating to partners and capturing mindshare dramatically increases the likelihood that the partnership will generate revenue, which is what brought you together in the first place.

Nine Best Practices in To-Partner Communications

Digging into our discussions with experts, we found nine noteworthy best practices your team should consider.

1. Make to-partner communications about your partners

Our experts expressed a range of preferences regarding the frequency and format of partner communications (see point 4). However, they agree on the nature of the content; it must focus on providing value to partners rather than promoting you and what you need from them.

“All to-partner communications should demonstrate that you understand your partners’ businesses, what they need and how you can help,” says BuzzTheory’s Henderson. “Even when you’re communicating about your company, your products, or an award won, present the information in ways that benefit your partners, e.g., how this can help them prove your joint value to their client, close the sale and grow their revenue.”

NVIDIA’s Coltrane agrees and advocates for creating a “help first” mentality. “To do this effectively, there needs to be a deep understanding of your partners’ needs,” she says. “This requires not just marketing at them but having a path for true dialogue. Request feedback often and show that you’re listening by putting that feedback into action.” 

2. Tailor to-partner communications for partner types and titles

Tailoring content by business model and individual roles is another way to deliver information that resonates with your partners.   

“There’s no ‘one size fits all’ strategy when it comes to communicating to channel partners,” Margolis says. “[T]hey’re constantly being bombarded with information from vendors. It’s important to ‘cut through the noise’ and communicate to partners based on their preferences and specializations. At the end of the day, relevancy and authenticity are key to successful to-partner communication.”    

Tenuto at Zift Solutions notes that best-in-class partner relationship management (PRM) suites can simplify the process of creating relevancy by role and company type. “The challenge with customizing your communications is scaling them,” she says. “Your PRM should be able to manage your segmentation and unique messaging so your communications team can focus on delivering the right message at the right time to the right party.”

3. Get to the point in to-partner communications

Another tenet our expert panel agreed on is that brevity is a virtue when delivering to-partner communications

“Keep it brief and to the point!” says OpenText Security Solutions’s Bill Steen. “Partners, like all of us, have way too much information being pushed at them. Email, newsletters, blogs all need to be consumable very quickly with an eye to how you are solving a partner problem.  

Flannery from Fastly echoes these sentiments. “Now more than ever, partners are inundated with information,” she says. “To be effective, partner communications need to be clear, concise and focused on what’s meaningful from a partners’ perspective. It’s about providing value for partners. If your communications don’t offer real-world value, they will ultimately be ignored. They also need to be actionable.”

Mimecast’s Morreale also focuses heavily on brevity and relevancy. “Partners are inundated with vendor emails daily,” she says. “Keep to-partner communications frequent but short, sweet and to the point to remain top-of-mind.”

Margolis of 360insights advises: “They need to understand what’s in it for them in the first few seconds or they will tune out.”

4. Be purposeful about frequency and format of to-partner communications

Given the universal state of content overload, our experts expressed concern about to-partner communications fatigue. How to solve it, however, is a matter of debate.  

Margolis of 360insights recommends that vendors “aggregate your content into a newsletter, so you’re not sending too many one-off emails.”

Whitfield from VanillaSoft concedes that channel marketers are “treading a fine line between frequent comms [and] actually adding value.”

“We avoid regular, routine emails so that when our partners hear from us, they know it’s something useful, not a routine weekly newsletter which they may not care for,” Whitfield says.

However you choose to communicate with partners, it pays to be purposeful.

5. Timing is everything with to-partner communications

Whitfield also points out the importance of timing in to-partner communications, especially if you’re expecting action or results by a certain date.

“True partners are worth the extra time and thought, but we often forget to give them enough time to actually execute a campaign or promotion,” Whitfield says. “For example, your Valentine’s sale. Tell them on New Year’s, clearly and effectively. Follow up. Don’t tell them on Feb 1 st .”

6. Mix it up when planning to-partner content

Sending the same communications over and over is not only boring but fails to activate all roles – sales, technical and support – within your partner audience.

“Partners want variety,” says Fastly’s Flannery. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach, and if you have a large partner ecosystem, they’ll be looking for different things. Whether it’s education, SPIFFs, communications, programs, campaigns, etc. – partners need to see the value in what you’re providing. And it’s important to listen to your partners to understand what their specific needs are and how you can help them be more successful.”

OpenText Security Solutions’s Steen says, “A good mix for to-partner communications should include company updates, new incentives, research/market trends and materials for ‘through’ communication to the end-customer.”

Morreale from Mimecast advocates for regular updates that touch on multiple areas, including “end of week updates, partner action items/deadlines (i.e., compliance), upcoming events/activities, new trainings/certifications, partner SPIFFs, enhancements to partner programs.”

7. Vary delivery channels for to-partner communications

“The medium is the message,” a phrase and philosophy espoused by Marshall McLuhan , resonates in the context of to-partner communications. The idea is that the form of the message –  book, white paper, email, text, webinar, audio, video, social, etc. – changes how it’s perceived. Each signifies something different, perhaps urgency, education, entertainment, etc.

Additionally, the delivery appeals to different targets. Gen-Xers, for example, are notoriously averse to phone calls and emails but seamlessly move across multiple text and chat platforms.

The lesson here is that along with a variety of content, try a variety of delivery options. “Email isn’t the only way to push content to partners,” says BuzzTheory’s Henderson. “Since the pandemic, partners have gotten more adept at social media. Engage them through your social channels with video, blogging, downloads, etc. And, now that partners are in the field again try business texting for reminders about promotions and incentives deadlines or training times.” 

8. Measuring the success of to-partner communications is an art and a science

“Communication metrics are always a bit of an art and a science, but I believe it boils down to engagement,” observes Flannery from Fastly. “If your partners aren’t engaged, then that means they aren’t seeing joint revenue opportunities or value in partnering with you. On the surface, engagement can be measured by things like open rates, click-throughs, portal sign-ups, etc., but I think it’s more important to ask partners what’s working for them and what else they might need.”

Margolis from 360insights puts it this way: “There’s a short answer to [the question of measuring to-partner communications success] and a long answer. [The] short answer is increased opens, clicks and responses. More important [than those metrics] is a bit challenging because it’s loyalty. How do you measure loyalty? Over the long term, it’s revenue increase per partner, but it’s also how they talk about doing business with you. We all know how hard it is to measure anecdotal information.”  

Henderson from BuzzTheory agrees, noting that it’s not unusual in the channel for some of the most loyal partners to engage with their channel contacts inside an organization outside of the digital communications stream.

“Of course, you want to measure opens, clicks, views, downloads, portal logins, and so on,” Henderson says. “But there are partners who, when they see an interesting email, pick up the phone and call their channel manager or remember to follow up with a prospect. Oftentimes, these are loyal, high-producing sales partners that view your team as their team. Overall, you want your numbers moving in the right direction and your program growing. But you also need to recognize that your dashboard doesn’t show a complete picture of how your growth is happening.”

9. When it comes to hard metrics, the usual suspects apply

“[At a] base level, [you have] the usual suspects,” says VanillaSoft’s Whitfield. “Open rates, replies, general engagement metrics. Beyond that, revenue per partner.”

“Typically, we focus on the traditional metrics such as… open rates, click-through rates and asset downloads,” says OpenText Security Solutions’s Steen. “We also do partner satisfaction studies for how partners rate our communications for what they need.”

Surveys are valued by Coltrane at NVIDIA as well and are in her list of success metrics, which include “typical marketing metrics (opens, clicks), survey results; activation of campaigns as a result of to-partners comms.”  

Mimecast’s Morreale mentioned many of those same metrics, including “number of downloads, unique/returning viewers to the website, clicks on hyperlinks, partner/customer registrations.”

Finally, Zift’s Tenuto points out that centralizing activity and reporting can provide a clearer picture than cobbling together data from multiple sources. “Ideally, you’ll want to integrate all data sources into your PRM to provide a holistic dashboard,” she says. “The easier it is to see your data and the less time you spend trying to patch it together with spreadsheets or other measures, the easier it is to spot trends and improve partner engagement.”

Laz Gonzalez

Laz Gonzalez is Chief Strategy Officer at Zift Solutions. A prominent industry analyst and thought leader, Gonzalez brings unparalleled channel expertise to Zift and has served as strategic adviser to leading B2B channel programs worldwide.

Related Resources

Channel Chats Podcast: Partner Onboarding Decoded

Unlocking Partner Engagement: Strategies for Successful Onboarding and Lifecycle Engagement

Navigating Partner Engagement in 2024: Strategies for Success

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Guide to business partnering

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Business Partnering: The Secret to Influence in the Workplace

What business partnering ( done well ) requires.

Trust is likely the missing secret ingredient in many previous failed attempts at strategic partnership because without trust there is no influence.

Some necessary skills

Consulting skills.

Consulting is not something you do  to  and  for  someone, it’s a service you offer to do  with  someone.

Communication Skills

Negotiation skills, why business partnering matters today.

• Develop trusted connections with authenticity by putting your experience into words.
• Handle resistance with compassion and diligence.
• Be willing to sit with ambiguity for longer than many feel comfortable with.
• Slow down to truly “sense” the situation without a need for a fast resolution of issues.

Seven lessons learned from the HR business partner model

Having observed, studied and shaped the business partner model through rigorous empirical research and extensive work within specific organisations, done seven rounds of the HR Competency study, which studies the competencies of HR professionals and the capabilities of HR departments and worked on more than 100 HR transformations, we reflect on what we have learned about the relevance of the business partner model today

Dave Ulrich

1. The business partner model is not unique to HR; all staff functions are trying to find ways to deliver more value to either top line growth and to bottom line profitability.

Information systems, finance, legal, marketing, R&D and HR are all under scrutiny and pressure to create greater value for their companies. This is especially true of transaction and administrative work that can be standardized, automated, re-engineered or outsourced.

2. The intent of the business partner model is focus more on deliverables (what the business requires to win) than doables (what HR activities occur)

We have seen four phases of deliverables, moving from administrative efficiency to functional excellence to strategic HR to HR outside in. Instead of measuring process (for example, how many leaders received 40 hours of training), business partners move to measure results (for example, the impact of the training on business performance), then move to how training builds external value with customers and investors. For example, when HR builds better leadership capital, investors have more favourable images of the firm which shows up in market value .

3. Being a business partner may be achieved in many HR job categories 

As business partners, corporate HR professionals define corporate-wide initiatives, represent the company to external stakeholders, meet the unique demands of senior (and visible) leaders, leverage cross unit synergy, and govern the HR function. Embedded HR professionals work as HR generalists within organisation units (business, function, or geographic). They collaborate with line leaders to help shape the business strategy, conduct organisational diagnoses to determine which capabilities are most critical, design and deliver HR practices to accomplish strategy. HR specialists work in centers of expertise where they provide insights on HR issues such as staffing, leadership development, rewards, communication, organisation development, benefits, and so forth and they advise business leaders and HR professionals on how to turn insights into impact. HR professionals who work in service centers add value by building or managing technology-based e-HR systems, processing benefit claims and payrolls and answering employee queries. These individuals may work inside or outside the company.

4. HR professionals as business partners have unique information, insights, and recommendations to deliver competitive advantage  

In formal and informal business discussions, each staff group brings unique insights to drive business results: finance talks about economic performance with information about revenues, costs, and financial returns; marketing discusses customers with recommendations on targeting key customers, customer response (e.g., net promoter score), and customer connection; operations makes recommendations and systems, quality, and supply chain. When HR partners in these strategy discussions, we propose that they provide insight, information, and recommendations on:

• Talent: HR professionals are centrally involved in providing the right people with the right skills in the right job at the right time. Talent insights capture future competence as well as commitment and contribution. Upgrading the employee experience has been a long term important part of being a business partner 
• Leadership: HR professionals help prepare not just key individual leaders, but the collective leadership throughout the organization. They ensure that leaders have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to meet future demands and align with customer expectations 
• Organisation capabilities: HR professionals partner with line managers to identify and create organisation capabilities such as speed/agility, innovation, risk, collaboration, information leverage, culture/shared mindset, accountability, and efficiency. These capabilities become the identity and personality of the organisation.

As business partners, HR professionals provide analytics, insights, and recommendations on talent, leadership, and capability to deliver business results and to serve all stakeholders.

5. As talent, leadership, and capability issues increase in business relevance, HR professionals may help respond by being both architects and anthropologists

As architects, HR professionals design, blueprint, and facilitate investments in talent, leadership, and capability. As architects, HR brings what is called structured information where the information is in a spread sheet which allows for traditional quantitative statistical analyses to find trends. As anthropologists , HR professionals increasingly look beyond the borders of the organization to identify what external stakeholders (customers, investors, communities, regulators) and what business trends (social, technological, economic, political, environmental, and demographic) will shape future business success. In this case, HR often sources unstructured data where they use qualitative insights to anticipate trends.

6. As with almost any change, we have seen an inevitable 20-60-20 pattern for HR professionals to fully adopt the business partner opportunities

Indeed, 20% of HR professionals get it, do it, and act as business partners while 20% will unlikely ever get there for a host of reasons (personal inability, lack of desire or organisational lack of support) and 60% are learning and moving in the right direction. While we see the HR profession moving in the right direction, some may never make it. Sometimes, critics of HR like to focus on the lingering 20% laggards and claim that HR professionals have not improved. This is as inaccurate as focusing on the 20% innovators and claiming HR has fully arrived. The business partner model is empirically supported and more of the 60% are making positive progress. A decade ago there was a clamor to 'get to the table' and to become part of the business. Today, most effective HR professionals are already at the table and they need to be clear about how their insights on talent, leadership, and capability will deliver business results.

7. Being a business partner requires HR professionals to have new knowledge and skills

There are many efforts to determine the competencies for effective HR professionals. Through the University of Michigan, the RBL Group, and partners throughout the world, we have spent 30 years studying (theory, research and practice) how competencies for effective HR professionals drive personal effectiveness, stakeholder results, and business performance 

Summary of business partner insights :

HR professionals must evolve into being the best thinkers in the company about the human and organization side of the business. The nature of business is dramatically changing. Changes are occurring in virtually every element of the social, political, and economic environments that impact business. Under such conditions, the human side of the business emerges as a key source of competitive advantage. Therefore, HR specialists in the logic, research, and processes of human and organisation optimisation become central to business success.

Many HR professionals are doing exceptional HR work. From ING in Hong Kong, to ICICI and TATA in India, to ADIA in the United Arab Emirates, to MTN in South Africa, to DHL and BAE Systems in the UK, to Arcos Dorados and América Movil in Latin America, and to Walgreens, Intel, and GE in the United States and in thousands of other companies around the world, HR professionals are making enormous progress towards delivering value as business partners. 

The critical importance of the HR business partner

Advises leading organizations on how to strengthen their talent-management capabilities and build an HR function that operates as a true strategic partner and value driver for the business

January 17, 2018 Nearly a decade ago, CEOs surveyed by McKinsey stressed the importance of talent strategy to their organizations. But they also voiced misgivings about HR’s ability to manage the talent process strategically and deliver maximum value to the business.

We recently refreshed that research and found little has changed. Effective talent practices that drive true value remain vital, yet HR continues to struggle to deliver this need.

The disconnect centers on HR Business Partners (HRBPs) – those senior HR individuals who counsel managers on talent issues. Despite decades of trying to focus these HRBPs on strategic issues, many of our clients voice a common refrain that a great HRBP is quite hard to find. And while the value of a great HRBP remains unquestioned, the structure of the HRBP role requires reengineering.

In fact, we even urge changing the name to Talent Value Leader and giving them a different set of responsibilities and accountabilities. Here are several key features of this reimagined role:

• Remove operational responsibilities of Talent Value Leaders and make it a purely strategic role. Today, no matter how strategic their mandate, HRBPs get dragged into transactional and operational issues. In large measure, this occurs because most HRBPs retain some operational role, whether as an overseer of generalists or as the “customer service liaison” to the execution side of HR.
• Empower Talent Value Leaders to influence and drive talent initiatives that generate real business value. Many business leaders today do not look to HRBPs as drivers of value via pulling talent levers; they continue to see them as personnel managers. This must change. Just as a business unit CFO doesn’t have control over spending decisions but influences the entire profit and loss center, a Talent Value Leader must possess the credibility and authority to drive important talent decisions. And just as a CFO is accountable for the profit and loss, a Talent Value Leader should be measured against and held responsible for talent outcomes and the value they drive.
• Establish a pipeline of Talent Value Leaders who blend talent, business and financial experience to be able to identify which talent levers can yield the most business value. Traditionally, HRBPs have assumed HR generalist roles that considers great customer service the best measure of success. A Talent Value Leader wouldn’t play that service role but would be a business leader who says “no” occasionally, pushes a difficult perspective and influences other managers and executives.

Some companies are moving in this direction. A global beverage company, for example, fills some HR roles with people with engineering, technology or process-oriented backgrounds. Leaders at the soft-drink giant say engaging the business with data proves critical to expanding HR’s strategic role.

At the same time, leaders elsewhere are moving between HR and line roles more frequently. The CEO of a major automotive company was previously the firm’s HR vice president before joining the company’s global product development leadership.

The transition to Talent Value Leaders requires a rigorous effort to shift mindsets and capabilities among both HR leaders and the business leaders that HR supports. But, the potential benefits promise to be enormous by entrusting an organization’s most capable leaders with the mission to maximize the value of its talent assets.

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Although we are still going through the pandemic the first months of it left us with lots of learnings and showed us how humans can quickly adapt to new challenging situations. Dealing with communication & repetitional crisis is something all communicators study and learn about. We all know the importance of being prepared, but this crisis was so unpredictable that I feel that it caught most of us communicators off guard.

At trivago we adapted quickly and worked hard over the past months in testing new features and improving our product to prepare for the re-start of traveling. From an Internal Communication perspective, we needed to act quickly in order to help talents keep their focus and motivation throughout the global crisis.

Around the end of February, we created a crisis committee with the relevant internal stakeholders. While at the beginning we faced internal resistance as many were not ready to comprehend the potential impact the COVID-19 crisis could have to us as a business. However, our Internal Comms team knew that we needed to be ready for whatever situations that may arise, and to help prepare our management and talents for the worst-case scenario. We were fortunate enough to set up the committee a few weeks before the outbreak. Because of our pre-planning, we helped to seamlessly communicate the move to a fully remote set-up pretty quickly. Below are the main learnings from our experience during the first months of the pandemic.

Be prepared!

Crisis committees are an excellent tool to prepare an action plan against any crisis. The key learnings are:

• Invite key stakeholders: the committee must remain small and agile. Just have one representative of your key stakeholders.
• Decision-making process: define clear roles in the committee and a clear & fast decision-making process.
• Regular encounters: establish regular meetings to discuss and analyse situations and possible scenarios.
• Communication: select beforehand in which channels and which communication formats you will use to reach your employees. Select a spokesperson when the crisis hits. Communication must remain clear, transparent, and easy to find!
• Internal communicators role: internal communicators must drive the committee, prepare meetings, and the agenda. Make sure to keep the meetings active and focus on making actionable decisions.
• Documentation: another part of the internal communicator role is to document the outcome. Every crisis is a learning opportunity.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us the capacity people have to quickly adapt to new situations. In this situation, we needed to quickly adapt our businesses, and the way our employees communicate with one another – technology vs. in-person. From a communication perspective, we put in place a cadence of communications, and adjust the way we use our internal channels, our tone of voice and the content we share with our employees. Also, in time of change and crisis, having a different set of KPIs is important as you need to adapt and change the strategy quickly if we are not seeing our desired results.

In the first weeks of the pandemic at trivago we:

• Moved quickly everyone into a remote set-up: although every company was forced to this, we manage to do it very quickly and supported talents through along the way. The decisions and plans made in the crisis committee helped us move and adapt fast.
• Supporting the business: the pandemic put all plans into revision, our role was to help the business communicate all these recent changes. We worked closed with managers to make sure they were conveying the right messages to their teams.
• Worked on our Culture : at trivago, our culture is based on trust, personal interaction & collaboration. This is why we invest so much effort into providing the environment & workplace which fosters these informal exchanges. Of course, this was challenged by Covid-19, so our efforts were put into keeping our culture alive through remote events and providing tools for our talents’ mental wellbeing.
• Created a central place for information: we created an FAQ page on our intranet which became the central place for information regarding company decisions and the virus progress.
• Established a more frequent communication between CEO and employees: we replaced our quarterly all-hands meeting with a weekly Q&A. It was an opportunity for our CEO to connect to employees and for them to ask him questions directly.
• Shared local information: we worked on sharing local news as it related to travel restrictions, restrictions put in place in the locations of our offices as to what is open/closed, etc. and we translated everything in English for our diverse talent workforce.
• Adapted our content: we created content for our internal news site to remote working, self-organization, nutrition, cooking, etc, instead of making it so business heavy.

Employee engagement

To engage the audience is key in any communication and it is something communicators work on daily basis. Nevertheless, I think this concept needs to be reinforced, especially during a crisis.

I believe there are three aspects that are key for creating engaging communications:

• Alignment: between communications and the business. Working together to ensure that employees know what the organisation stands for, what it aspires to achieve and how it plans to get there. This is even more relevant in the current time; share your vision, what is the path and the scenario you envision after the crisis and how are you planning to get there.
• Transparency: your words should match up with reality. Employees don’t expect you to know all, but they do expect that you tell them the truth about the things you do know. Transparent communication creates trust. If people trust you, they will be more willing to share the information and to take action.
• Empathy: understand and acknowledge employees’ emotions. Covid-19 impacted everyone’s life, some more than others, but everyone in the world needed to adapt. People react to crisis in different ways, try to understand it, and reflect it in your decisions and communications.

Preparing, adapting and engaging quickly will help you navigate the crisis, but all of these needs to always be crossed by your company culture. Company culture should be reflected in the decisions you make and should be your guide while you are adapting. Your company culture is not just having a cool and fun workplace and the benefits you offer, but rather the way you interact with each other. Focusing on your company’s purpose and values will help you make the right decisions during the crisis.

This article is based on a web session at the European Internal Comms conference July 14th.

Couldn’t make the live event? The recordings are available now. Get on-demand access here: Internal Comms Conference .

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Business partnering for government communication

Continuing Professional Development ( CPD ) points: 2

This guide explains the benefits of business partnering and sets out how it can be implemented in government departments.

Business partnering for government communication: a guide

PDF , 2MB, 26 pages

The Business Partnering guide:

• explains what business partnering is and its benefits
• describes the role and typical responsibilities of a communications business partner
• provides guidance on team structure and recruitment
• advises how a business partner model can be developed
• provides case study examples of business partnering in action
• What is business partnering?
• Organisational structure
• Recruiting business partners
• Job description and key competencies
• Introducing business partners to your organisation
• Case studies

Related topics

• External affairs
• HEO practitioner
• SEO practitioner
• Strategic communication

Published 2018 Last updated 23 April 2021

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Home › HR Career Path › What Does an HR Business Partner Do? › What is the HR Business Partner Model?

What is the HR Business Partner Model?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Looking for the HR business partner model? You’re at the right place then.

The human resources business partner model is when the HR department participates in planning in a strategic way to elevate the business growth and supports it in its present and future goals.

Rather than limiting itself by concentrating on HR duties such as payroll, employee relations, and benefits, HR departments seek to add business success to the company by overseeing training, recruiting, advancement, and placement of all employees. In addition, the HR business partner model can organize how HR functions are carried out.

To learn more via video, then watch below. Otherwise, skip ahead.

The HR business partner role carries the expertise and a comprehensive understanding of how the HR function works and how to make a line of business within the company prosperous.

Their job responsibilities include coaching business leaders about human resources issues such as developing supportive HR, business strategy planning, analyzing talent requirements, onboarding, and recruiting.

HR business partners exhibit solid business knowledge and specific experience within the employer’s business sector, using HR capabilities to support organizational business goals.

HR as a function is close to the top and the center of the organization’s structure. In this manner, HR can function to enhance organizational objectives and add value to the business. In addition, HR business partnering makes human resources a part of corporate strategy rather than a strict, reactive personnel function.

Why is the Human Resources Business Partner Model Important?

The HR business partner model structure is curated to elevate business growth on all levels over time. HR chooses and screens individuals best aligned for the roles involved in recruitment.

In the development and development process, HR locates which employees need detailed training and ensure that it is done correctly.

In knowing the company’s inner workings, the strategic nature of the HR partnership model is combined with a corporate game of employee and manager sequence to achieve the most effective business outcomes.

Our top-rated HRBP certification provides insightful information on the HR business partner model. Take a look here and make sure to enroll to upskill your knowledge with the advanced HRBP skills:

What is an HR Business Partner?

A human resources business partner is a senior HR member with a deep knowledge of the correlation of the HR department’s role with the company’s success.

Their role includes supporting, guiding and coaching other HR staff members, as well as strategies, recruiting, and onboarding.

An HR business partner differs from an HR manager. The HR manager is focused on looking over the running of the HR department, while the primary goal of an HR business partner is to ensure HR contributes to the broader success of the organization.

Why is it Important to have an HR Business Partner?

An HR business partner ensures that the HR is treated as an essential business division to develop the business and drive more profit. Processes like intelligent recruitment decisions, smooth internal communications, and effective onboarding all contribute to the broader success of the company. An HR business partner helps lend these things the prominence and attention they deserve.

For HR business partners to work in practice, HR must shake off its lack of self-esteem. However, when done in a strategic way, HR adds immense value to the organization . 

HR business partnership, defined by a more expansive definition, is the future role of HR. It walks away from the limited functions of training, recruitment, etc., and makes these functions work for the business.

Reasons for Considering Human Resources Business Partner Model

Here are a few reasons to consider the HR business partner model structure for your organization:

Companies’ primary reason for considering and implementing the HR business model is due to change and evolution.

Change is necessary to expand the business or make it more productive, efficient, competitive, and problem-solving. Therefore, change in the business paradigm is a continuous necessity.

The HR leaders recognize that the business model handles the required changes and improvements by investing in human capital and people.

The supporters of the model understand that the success and job satisfaction of the employees is one of the primary keys to business success. Where a well-run HR partner model is most suited to focus on the needs of both the company and the individuals.

2. Considerations

Businesses considering the human resource business partner model must understand the nature of different model aspects and train outsourced individuals or hire HR specialists.

Expecting a sole HR office to handle HR generalist duties on top of interviewing, training, recruiting, strategic planning, and reviews results in frustration and eventual program failure for all involved. Instead, the HR business partner model requires a conscious HR strategy to change and hire a force of technical HR talent to see it through.

An HR business partner plays a crucial role in acquiring top new talent and verifies business objectives. As a result, they place current employees in the proper position with the correct managers and team partners and have access to vital training opportunities that permit long-term advancement. In addition, by promoting employee satisfaction and individual success, an HR partner aids in publicizing business success.

What areas in which the human resource business partner model adds the most weight? The answer might differ from business to business, the best HR partners work with the upper management team to specify the organization’s short and extensive goals. Then, they develop techniques for achieving these goals and discuss the organizational structure to pinpoint problem areas.

Advantages of a Human Resources Business Partner Model

In a traditional model, the HR manager is accountable for hiring and recruiting employees, administering benefits and payroll, and handling employee relations.

Digital HR technology now takes care of many of those traditional tasks, often freeing up space for HR to take on new responsibilities. Many companies are now looking at the HR role as a business partner, which plays a vital role in driving growth and profitability.

The business partner model reduces and takes away pressure from management to sharpen employee job skills for efficiency and productivity. Also, they identify, develop, and groom the best employees for success.

HR personnel is also responsible for assessing and reviewing employee data. This allows HR personnel to figure out strengths, which they may develop further to place employees more smartly, and disadvantages, which they may correct with further job skill training or corrective action.

Limitations of a Human Resources Business Partner Model

Suppose the HR department already works in a dynamic way and faces employee relations problems. In that scenario, you will not have enough time and people to assign to partnering with the company for other functions.

The business partner model requires the involvement of HR in almost each and every aspect of the enterprise, including financial status, production statistics, and sales numbers.

Management buy-in may is also a difficulty, as the traditional role of HR is inflated to that of an overseer of the whole business in the business-partner model.

There are multiple shortcomings of a human resource business partner model. The most fundamental ones are mentioned here:

1. Capability Shortfalls

The implementation of the HRBP role often displays pressing shortfalls in vital areas, such as how good the HRBP’s understanding of the necessary drivers of organizational success is and how progressive the HRBP is.

2. Reactive, not Proactive

The HRBP exists to benefit the client, i.e., the internal customer, but, that means pausing for the client to approach them rather than taking a functional approach. This means not concentrating on real value due to unaligned requests.

There is a risk that the client’s demands are based on activity not in line with the strategic goals. Therefore the HRBP does work that is not even aligned with the strategic objectives.

3. Unnecessary Assumptions

There may arise a few assumptions about what parts need attention rather than the ones that need actual requirements.

For example, an HRBP may take the task in seclusion, so when it fails, that HRBP will look at the reasoning behind the loss of that individual project. Yet only about thirty percent of initiatives are ever executed. Therefore, the HRBP needs to look at the business signs rather than take an isolated view.

4. Unsuitable Solutions

There is a trend to give internal customers the best practices. However, this is not always what the customer requires or wants. So instead, HRBPs are responsible to serve the best current outcome.

HR business partnering is gaining popularity amongst organizations to organize their HR function. This is because it’s proving to add meaningful professional value. Human resource is the instigator of both change and balance through business partnering, balancing different stakeholders to the overall organizational ambitions. On the base, this means HR professionals hire the right talent and encourage it here without losing the picture of the more extensive goals and performance in the long term.

The mission of the HR business partner model is to add actual value to the company by adding HR into all areas of business operations and strategic planning. As experts on the human element of the business, HR is best qualified to figure out how every employee fits into the organization’s goals and put each employee in a position to deliver positive results.

Human resources business partners identify employee morale, support new perks, and benefits that provide a competitive edge and build a strong company culture from the latest employee to the oldest one.

Companies must focus on results instead of the process to measure an HR partner’s value. For example, instead of changing the performance review process, Human resource experts need to assess and measure the impact of those changes. There are several trackable HR metrics that companies can use to gauge results.

For the HR business partner model to become a success, an HR professional must develop proficiency with all angles of the business. This will need digitalization or outsourcing primary administrative duties to free specialists up to focus on more significant outcomes.

If you are new to human resources and are looking to break into an HR Business Partner role, we recommend taking our HR Business Partner Certification Course , where you will learn how to build your skillset in the human resources business partner realm, build your HRBP network, craft a great HRBP resume, and create a successful HRBP job search strategy.

We offer a wide variety of programs and courses built on adaptive curriculum and led by leading industry experts.

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Become a Certified HR Manager. The HR Management Certification helps to demonstrate knowledge and skills in best practices for managing employees, handling disciplinary action, and other important aspects of the job.

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How to build and structure your internal communications team

As business strategy evolves, your internal communications team needs to adapt to support new tools and practices. Learn how to bridge silos and build in-house capacity.

The field of internal communications is changing fast. It has already evolved beyond static intranets, top-down messages, and email-centric strategies.

As new trends emerge in workplace communication, your internal communication team needs to restructure accordingly. Otherwise, you risk alienating workers from the information they must have to do their jobs and help your business grow.

A well-planned internal communications team can go a long way in unifying your company’s workers — both desk-based and frontline - and achieving business goals.

So let’s see how you can build and scale your internal communications team in a way that maximizes your organization’s potential.

Responsibilities of an internal communications team

Your internal communication department ensures that every piece of content is created and distributed in a way that gives your company the best chance to succeed. But this may be an oversimplified description. So let’s get into specifics. The responsibilities of an internal communication team include:

Managing internal communication channels

Email is important for any workplace, but it has also been largely abused and overused. As per research by Radicati , a worker sends and gets over 120 emails per day. This overwhelming number also explains why 20% of emails are never read.

In fact, many workers — especially those on the frontline — don’t even have an email address. They’re more likely to have mobile phones. So communication sent via an employee app gets much better engagement.

This shows that if you want to implement effective communication in a modern workplace, you need more than just email.

For example, modern communication channels available these days include instant messaging, social feeds, SMS, video conferencing, internal content platform, and more. And you need to pick the ones best suited for your company.

But which channels are available, what should be used for what type of communication, and how to implement them? These are the kind of questions addressed by an internal communications team.

For example, if you want to get workers’ opinions on a single, specific, and casual issue, sharing a quick, fun poll on an employee app’s social media feed is better than sending an email.

Supporting external campaigns with an internal spin

There are often times when internal inputs can help external marketing campaigns. For example, if the marketing department wants to communicate how carefully the products are made, they can interview employees and take potential customers behind the scenes through images and videos.

Take Zappos, the retailer that’s killing it on social media . Its Instagram account, @ZapposCulture , focuses on this behind-the-scenes approach in every update.

In such scenarios, an internal communications team can help accelerate the process. Even better, they may already have this data from one of their previous campaigns. This cross-department collaboration helps both teams be more efficient.

Implementing new technologies

With new modes of digital communication, organizations are rapidly adjusting their communication tech stacks with new collaboration, communication, and social networking tools.

It’s your internal communication team’s responsibility to ensure that no worker gets left behind. For example, your frontline workers need to be kept in the loop as much as office-based employees. So your internal communication department will be tasked with choosing and implementing the right employee app . 

Not just that. Before and after installing a new solution, the internal communication team will champion it across the organization, get buy-in from all stakeholders, and ensure best practices to make the most of it.

Track and improve staff engagement

An internal communication team’s job is not done once they schedule everything to be sent and published. The next step is to gauge the reach and engagement of their content.

So as part of your internal comms plan , your team will also have pre-defined KPIs and ways to track performance. The team should seek answers to questions like:

• Are our messages successfully reaching employees?
• Are they reaching them on time?
• How many workers are taking the actions mentioned in the messages?

By tracking staff engagement , the team keeps improving its messaging and continues refining the overall communication strategy.

Roles needed for a superstar internal communications team

Here are the key roles you may want to include in your internal communications team. But note that every company is different. Even if you don’t have the resources or the budget to fill all of these roles, it’s still possible to build an effective team with fewer people ready to wear multiple hats.

Internal communications head

Every great team needs a great leader . Within your internal communications team structure, this person will be in charge of planning, implementing, and measuring the performance of your communication strategy.

Internal communications business partner

If your business is divided into different units, each unit will have a representative/partner who collaborates with the central internal communication team.

This would also include someone who acts as a bridge between senior leadership and the internal communications team. For effective communication, you want top management to be involved and visible in ongoing communications, and this role would ensure the same.

Internal communications channels coordinator

Next, fill your team with members who will administer and coordinate communication on different channels and communities. How many? That depends on the channel structure and internal communications strategy.

Internal communications multimedia executive

Studies have shown that people only remember 20% of what they read and 10% of what they hear. Yet, they remember 80% of what they see.

Image Source: Medium

So you must consider having someone who can turn your plain-text messages into engaging infographics or videos.

How to build and scale your IC function

The following best practices will help you make the most of the resources you have as part of your internal communications team.

Understand organizational goals

You can’t build or restructure your internal communication team without understanding the business requirements first. So think this through. Business strategy informs the communication strategy.

For example, if a part of your sales strategy is expanding to new locations, your communication practices, tools, and team structure should take this into account. 

Plan roles and responsibilities

Now that you’re clear on your business’s goals, consider the different types of roles you’ll need. Refer to the roles we shared above to select what’s best for your internal communication team.

And if you're using an employee app, you need at least one person committed to ensuring that the stakeholders post regularly.

Invest in your internal communication team

Just filling up members in your team is not enough. It’s important to invest in their professional development. The sooner they get up to speed, the better for your company.

Even if you have a limited budget, there are plenty of free resources out there for IC (internal communication) professionals to get better at their jobs.

Document everything

If you have been working as a team of one, it’s likely that you don’t document much. All you do is in your head. We don’t blame you. You’re overloaded with tasks, and it’s tempting to just move from one thing to another and get more done.

This may work for a solo IC professional, but not for an internal communications team. Documenting is essential for a team to clarify roles, outline processes, and share knowledge.

Fortunately, it’s not that hard. All you need is a decent information-sharing hub that can be accessed on the web. So take the time to record and reflect on what you’re doing.

Lead the team effectively

If you’re the head of internal communication in your company, you should be ready to step into that space . This includes guiding your team, developing relationships, and building trust.

And a big part of that is ensuring that the communication within your own team is flawless, and setting an example for everyone else. Establish protocols and a regular cadence for how you’ll communicate and collaborate with your internal communications team.

Focus on efficiency

Productivity and timelines are especially significant for internal communications. When there are situations that need to be addressed or communicated quickly, your team should be ready to step up and hit the Send button.

So it’s on you to build a proper yet short chain of command that isn’t hindered by bottlenecks. At the same time, there should be a review and approval process in place to ensure no message goes out on someone’s impulse.

Communications team structure FAQs

How do you build an internal communication team.

If you wish to build an internal communications team you need to do the following: 1. Identify what structure you need - Do you need assistants? Co-ordinators? Who will these report to? 2. Recrui t - Put together a job description, and start advertising the agreed positions. Get your interview questions ready. 3. Hire - Evaluate your applicants and select the one you think will fill the role the best. You then need to evaluate your team's output and identify where you need support, this will be an ongoing process.

How should a communications team be structured?

The ideal communications team includes, a Head of Internal Communications, an Internal Communication Business Partner, an Executive, an Assistant, a Co-ordinator and possibly an Internal Communications Multimedia Executive. Depending on the size of your organization you may also need an Internal Communications Director.

What does an internal communications team do?

An internal communications team looks after all communication within an organisation. This can include producing and delivering messages and campaigns on behalf of leadership teams, such as key business updates, business performance, CEO updates etc.

Conclusion: building and scaling your internal communications team

Internal communications vary a lot from one company to another. The structure of your internal communications team will depend on the size of your business and unique organizational goals.

Regardless, the purpose of a high-functioning internal communications department remains the same. And the above tips will help you build a team that has the skills and expertise to contribute fully to that purpose. 

So start making the adjustments you need to build or scale your internal communications team the right way. And while you’re at it, consider using Blink as the internal communication solution for your team, along with the whole workforce. Get a free demo today.

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Introducing the New HR Business Partner Model and Team Members

Posted on behalf of Hayley Harris, Vice President for Human Resources and Planning

As I have communicated at previous SLT meetings and the All Staff Meeting, the Office of Human Resources is implementing an HR Business Partner model focused on building stronger campus relationships and providing consistent and enhanced customer service. The HR Business Partner (HRBP) will serve as the primary point of contact for all of your HR needs.  They will focus on developing partnerships and delivering value-added service, guidance and consultation to their assigned constituents regarding human resources best practices, policy interpretation, problem resolution, and compliance with regulations and state and federal law. 

Each division has been assigned a designated HR Business Partner (HRBP) to support the needs of the employees within that division.  I have communicated with each of the members of SLT to introduce their HRBPs 

• Michelle Hammond (Director of HR Operations) – President, Legal Affairs, Human Resources, and Provost (sans schools) – this includes Academic Advancement, Civic Engagement, Faculty Excellence, Corporate and Foundation Relations, International Programs and Extended Studies, Library, and Registrar
• Julie Tinkham (HR Business Partner) – Schools (Business, Communications, HSHP, H&S, Music)- NOTE: Julie is currently filling a key vacancy in the Benefits Office- until that vacancy can be filled, Michelle Hammond and Kirra Franzese will be the contacts for the Schools
• Jenn Brown (HR Business Partner) - Finance and Administration
• Stephanie Gabriele (HR Business Partner) – Student Affairs
• Katie Sack (HR Business Partner) – Marketing and Enrollment Strategy, Philanthropy and Engagement, and IT 

The Office of Human Resources is committed to enhancing the way we work to best serve our campus community and is excited to announce this new organizational change. We look forward to our continued work together and strengthening the partnerships between Human Resources and the employees within your division and across the college.   

Sincerely, Hayley Harris Vice President for Human Resources and Planning

More From Forbes

The secret to helping b2b clients scale account-based marketing.

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Orla Murphy is co-founder of Seeblue, an ABM agency. She has over 20 years of B2B Marketing expertise across the tech sector.

In the world of B2B marketing, the relationship between agencies and clients has evolved. Today's businesses are looking for partners that can drive tangible outcomes, not just execute tactics. Finding the right agency can make or break a business's ABM program. Having sat in both the client and agency camps, I have many thoughts on what makes a great agency partner and how you can help solve the complex challenge of scaling ABM.

The Key To True Partnership

True partnership comes from a shared ownership of the outcomes. It's about jointly navigating the curveballs that come your way, providing constructive critique and having each other's backs—just like those iconic duos Cagney and Lacey, or Han Solo and Chewbacca.

For an agency, this means becoming an extension of your client's team. It means anticipating stakeholder needs, bringing solutions instead of problems, and deeply understanding the internal and external dynamics impacting the client's business. Much like great marketing comes from putting yourself in your customer's shoes, you can apply the same mindset with your clients.

Scaling ABM Without Losing The Personal Touch

Through talking to marketing leaders and putting myself in their shoes, I've learned that many are looking for ways to extend successful one-to-one ABM programs. Driven by the effectiveness of this approach and the increasingly buyer-centric nature of B2B, there is pressure to reach more accounts and generate more revenue as the demise of the traditional B2B playbook accelerates. This "one-to-few" or "one-to-one lite" approach is gaining traction, but how do you scale without sacrificing the personalization that makes strategic ABM successful in the first place?

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Japanese fans are puzzled that yasuke is in assassin s creed shadows, forbes releases 2024 30 under 30 asia list.

The answer lies in ditching the one-size-fits-all blueprint. Yes, build on proven ABM foundations, but look for ways to augment your clients' capabilities and co-create a truly bespoke program tailored to their unique goals and desired outcomes.

This collaborative approach brings together not only marketing but also sales, operations, product, digital and technical teams. I think of it as a "friendly but fierce" dynamic where you challenge each other in pursuit of the most meaningful impact and results.

Navigating Challenges With Agility

With a tailored strategy in place, the key is agility. In today's fast-paced, buyer-centric market, the ability to adapt and respond quickly to buyer actions is crucial if you're going to maintain that feeling of personalization by the buyer.

This requires an omnichannel activation approach with built-in flexibility. Research by McKinsey & Company shows that 72% of B2B companies using seven or more activation channels grew their market share faster.

So, being accessible and dynamically contextual across multiple marketing and sales channels is necessary, but it sounds exhausting. How should you approach it?

In practice, it's all in the preparation. Start by articulating the challenges by functional area and seniority, and define the sales plays that could help solve them. Map and atomize your existing content to each function, stakeholder, play and buying stage. Design new content to fill any gaps.

That way, a personalized response might reference a prospect's recently expressed pain point or organizational development, share a relevant story of a similar situation (anonymized unless publicly available) and point them to a relevant section of an existing resource.

Personalization At Scale: The Strategic Advantage

Scaling one-to-few ABM success hinges on the Pareto principle—identifying the 80% of commonalities across accounts to build a foundational messaging and content strategy. Then overlay personalization for the remaining 20%.

Review, refine and optimize regularly to ensure each interaction feels tailored and relevant. Use AI-powered tools to co-pilot the response, but don't lose the human touch of active listening and questioning.

The Path To Scaling ABM

The key to successful one-to-few ABM is blending strategic insight, creative innovation and operational agility. By focusing on personalization at scale, cohesive narratives and genuine partnerships, you can help clients navigate the complexities of modern B2B marketing.

Looking ahead, the ongoing shift to a buyer-centric model emphasizes the need for brands to be distinctive, relevant and accessible. Building communities and fostering meaningful interactions are crucial for establishing trust and credibility with potential customers.

Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?

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McDermott Will Hires Transactions Practice Partner Tim Spangler

By Bloomberg Law Automation

Tim Spangler has joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in its transactions practice group in the firm’s Silicon Valley and Orange County, California offices, the firm said Friday .

Spangler counsels clients on the formation and structuring of private investment vehicles, and the impact of digital assets on financial services companies, according to McDermott.

He has advised Franklin Templeton on its launch of the first blockchain-based mutual fund in the US, and Figure Technologies, Inc. on its formation of Provenance blockchain, the firm said.

He Joins from Dechert.

This story was produced by Bloomberg Law Automation.

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Microsoft's in-house AI model, reportedly called MAI-1, is a chance for CEO Satya Nadella to prove he doesn't need OpenAI

• Microsoft is building its own AI model dubbed MAI-1, The Information reported. 
• The language model will be separate from OpenAI's GPT-4 and will be overseen by Mustafa Suleyman. 
• It's a sign Microsoft is ready to depend less on the ChatGPT maker as the AI wars heat up.

Microsoft is reportedly working on its own AI model separately from OpenAI — a chance for CEO Satya Nadella to prove his company doesn't need the ChatGPT maker to get ahead in the AI wars.

Microsoft is working on building an in-house large language model model it calls MAI-1, The Information reported earlier this week. It's the first stand-alone AI model the software giant is building since it poured $10 billion into OpenAI for rights to power its generative AI tools like Copilot with GPT-4, which underlies ChatGPT.

The creation of MAI-1 could help address some concerns that Microsoft has become too focused on its ongoing OpenAI partnership as the race to build the best generative AI tools heats up.

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In reference to OpenAI , CEO Nadella once said that Microsoft was "below them, above them, around them, "which one investor noted was a "baller" thing to say.

The in-house project is overseen by Mustafa Suleyman , the cofounder of Google's DeepMind, who joined Microsoft in March to lead its AI division after leaving his startup Inflection AI as CEO.

To train MAI-1, Microsoft is said to be compiling a dataset that includes text from ChatGPT and outside sources like public information on the web, one source told The Information. Some data used to train Inflection's models may also be used to help train Microsoft's new in-house one, two Microsoft employees told the outlet.

MA-1 is expected to be larger than the open-source models made by rivals like Meta and Mistral, which will require ample amounts of compute power and training data. That's on top of the smaller, less advanced models Microsoft is developing for smartphone apps, reflecting the tech titan's multi-pronged approach to developing advanced AI.

After the news of the project was announced, Kevin Scott, the CTO of Microsoft, noted that Microsoft's relationship with OpenAI remains symbiotic and a key driver in helping both companies build the best AI.

"We will continue to be on this path — building increasingly powerful supercomputer for OpenAI to train the models that will set pace for the whole field — well into the future," Scott wrote in a LinkedIn post following The Information's report. "There's no end in sight to the increasing impact that our work together will have."

Still, it's not clear what the in-house model will look like just yet, and Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider when asked to confirm the details.

More information about MAI-1 may be revealed during Microsoft's Build conference for developers that will take place in Seattle from May 21 to 23.

Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, has a global deal to allow OpenAI to train its models on its media brands' reporting.

Watch: Sam Altman moves to Microsoft after OpenAI fires him as CEO

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