HR Business Partner

Job Description

The HR Business Partner provides HR operational and support to people managers and employees across the agency.

HR Business Partner

Also known as...

HR Manager

The role in brief... 

The HR Business Partner provides HR operational and support to people managers and employees across the agency. They have significant experience of working in a generalist role with a particular depth of knowledge in employee relations, employment law, organisational change and people processes. They may also have responsibility for learning and development. Depending on the size of the team and the agency they may responsibility for a specific client group within the agency. They are discrete and a trusted confidential advisor.

Working with...

Internal: All departments and teams across the agency.
Group Human Resources team, local Talent Team and Resource Managers.
External: Payroll providers, Benefit brokers and providers, legal advisors and visa and immigration experts, apprenticeship providers.
HR Business Partners may report into the senior HR Business Partner, HR Operations, Head of HR, HR Director.
They may have line management responsibility for HR Administrator, Intern, being accountable for their performance and providing them with professional development opportunities.

 Responsible for...

Providing leaders and managers with honest, pragmatic and accurate HR support to enable the business to achieve its aims.
Advising and coaching managers to embed best practice in the management of people issues. This may cover recruitment, selection, development, feedback, organisational effectiveness and change including the management of redundancy programmes.
Managing the visa and global transfer process, if applicable.
Helping managers to troubleshoot complex cases, such as grievance, disciplinary and flexible working cases; balancing business need and a fair Employee Relations process.
Ensuring a consistent and measured approach in all people-related matters with compliance with current employment legislation.
May partner with the Talent Acquisition team where this exists to be involved in the attraction and selection of high-quality talent, in line with current and future business requirements.
Assessing, designing and rolling out HR people processes, procedures and policies, to ensure that employees and managers are treated fairly, consistently and in line with current legislation.
Maintaining good HR records and understanding where technology can be used to improve the efficiency of HR processes. Keeping up to date with AI and other technical tools coming onto the market and assessing their usefulness.
Delivering welcome/onboarding/induction programmes and managing probation periods.
May partner with shared services for Compensation and Benefits, HR systems and payroll, with a close relationship with the finance team.
May partner with central, global HR teams, where they exist, and implement global initiatives, on a local basis, as required.

Diversity & Inclusion:

Advising senior management on employment legislation and current best practice. Nurturing a positive and inclusive culture in the agency, and monitoring and overseeing the achievement of the agency’s DEI standards. Monitoring and checking the people processes to ensure an inclusive and fair workplace.
Collaborating with others across the agency to develop initiatives to improve the diversity and develop new ways to enhance the employee experience.

Talent Management:

Communicating, training and embedding the employee performance cycle of annual, six-monthly or more frequent employee check-ins.
Identifying key talent within the business via appraisals; and supporting this talent by developing career paths and succession plans which may involve development opportunities such as coaching.
Identifying those seeking a career move or transfer to another office, including advising on any upskilling required beforehand and managing the process.

Change Management:

Providing managers with sound, pragmatic advice surrounding proposed reorganisations, challenging, and outlining the risks involved.
Guiding managers and employees through redundancy and consultation processes with clarity and empathy whilst ensuring the process is fair and transparent.

Employee relations:

Knowing what is going on in the agency, as far as possible at the individual level, to pick up potential issues and sort them out before they become major problems. Success in HR can often be measured by what does not happen.
Providing HR support and guidance on a full range of employee relations. issues; maternity, paternity, sickness and absence, managing probations and performance issues.
Advising on employment law issues to managers, taking advice as required.
Managing transfers and advising on any associated visa and immigration implications.

Learning and Development (as required by each agency and size of talent team)

Maybe in partnership with the Talent Development team and the CPD Manager to create a structured and creative approach to the annual training and development plan to ensure personal development and commercial needs are met.
Identifying learning needs and developing workshops to enhance the agency team’s personal development and performance.
Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the sessions and revising the plans accordingly.
Designing and delivering training on core people management skills to build management capability.

Compensation and benefits

Providing accurate monthly payroll changes to the payroll team/finance department/shared services/HR Administrator for an accurate payroll.
Overseeing and annually reviewing the company benefits programme, to ensure that the offering is competitive and relevant.
Leading the communication and launch of new or enhanced benefits to the agency’s staff.
Collaborating with Finance and leadership to implement the pay review process.

Those who succeed are...

Experienced in a fast-paced generalist HR role. This includes having a thorough understanding of employment law and how it impacts the agency.
Excellent at relationship building, as they navigate effectively across all levels of the business. This requires a high level of empathy and often the ability to identify what is not being said.
Highly collaborative and prompt in responding to situations and keeping all parties updated.
Able to establish trust quickly and are action orientated and proactive, exhibiting a strong desire to complete assignments and deliver results.
Experienced in managing a range of projects and volume of work with strong project management skills; a good grasp of priorities is required. Capable of navigating ambiguity, showing persistence, adaptability and resourcefulness in the face of obstacles.
Able to understand the way that the business works and navigate the requirements of the agency and the needs of its staff.
Able to adapt well to changing conditions and new ways of thinking; are courageous in offering innovative creative ideas and thoughtful solutions.
Comfortable to challenge and support stakeholders to get the best results.

Where they come from, and where they go…

They may come from a professional services environment along with sales and marketing, where client service is the focus of the business. They need an excellent track record for building strong professional relationships and credibility with a demanding and fast-paced client group. They will usually be part CIPD qualified and continuing with their professional studies.

However, they may also come from another team within the agency, often account handling, and sometimes through the route of having been CPD manager and developing an interest in broader people management. In this case, they will need to learn the HR technical skills and apply them to their understanding of the agency.

They may progress their career to Senior HR Business Partner, Head of HR, HR Director, People Team Director.

What is the difference between a HRBP and HR Manager?

These titles can often be used interchangeably, although there is a difference in the roles;

HR Manager

HR managers are typically responsible for setting policy direction. They can have a wider remit of responsibility for the overall HR function – budgeting, recruitment, change management, rewards, L&D, ER/IR, compliance and HR systems administration. This title is also used more in smaller agencies, where there may only be one or two people in the department.