Overview Page

CEB Ignition™ Guide to

Deploying an HR Business
Partner Team
CEB Corporate Leadership Council™

This five-step guide includes 15 documents that will help you: Time:1 3–7 Weeks
■■ Diagnose HR support needs based on organizational goals, Effort: 3–4 FTEs
2

■■ Identify and negotiate HRBP activities with HR functional Costs:3 $0

stakeholders, Input: Existing
■■ Determine HRBP team capability and operating model improvements organizational
given HR support needs, and HR strategy
documents
■■ Set and sustain HRBP performance expectations, and
■■ Measure the effectiveness of the HRBP deployment process on HRBP
performance and HR delivery.

Plan Step 1: Plan how to deploy an HRBP team.

1 Task, 1 Document
Build Step 2: Identify opportunities for HRBP support.
4 Tasks, 4 Documents
Step 3: Evaluate the scope of and risks to required HRBP support.
4 Tasks, 4 Documents
Step 4: Share HRBP team assignments, and enable HRBPs on the job.
3 Tasks, 5 Documents
Monitor Step 5: Monitor the effectiveness of the HRBP team deployment
process.
1 Task, 1 Document

1 Time refers to the total duration for completing the activity end to end.
2 Effort refers to the total number of FTEs required to execute the activity. Get Help
3 Cost refers to the incremental expenses required for the activity, and it excludes internal resources. from Peers

© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 1 cebglobal.com

Step 1

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Step 1 of 5: Plan How to Deploy an HRBP

Team
Lay the groundwork for the process of deploying an HRBP team, and ensure all
participants understand their objectives, responsibilities, related timelines, and potential
impact.

Business Case
for Change
Project Outcomes Problems Addressed
■■ High-quality HR service delivery ■■ Low quality and misaligned HR
aligned to business needs service delivery
■■ Improved HRBP performance, ■■ Lack of rigorous framework for
potential, and retention deploying HRBP team resources
■■ More efficient use of HR functional ■■ Limited line participation in HR
resources service delivery
■■ Stronger HRBP understanding of ■■ Lack of HRBP understanding
performance expectations of high-quality strategic HR
■■ Enhanced HRBP development via support
closing of skill gaps ■■ Confusion within HR regarding
■■ Improved line perceptions of HR’s division of responsibilities
value

Roles and
Responsibilities
Head of HR
CEB Ignition™ ■■ Sign off on the HRBP team budget and deployment process.
Project Manager
■■ Provide context regarding organizational goals.
HRBP Manager and/or VP HR
■■ Incorporate line feedback on business priorities and goals to determine HRBP
resource allocation needs.
■■ Identify risks to effective HR service delivery.
■■ Negotiate HRBP work and activities with other HR constituencies to optimize
the use of HR resources.
■■ Provide ongoing support to the HRBP team.
■■ Provide HRBP performance feedback and development coaching.
■■ Collect line feedback on HRBP performance and HRBP feedback on the
deployment process.

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 2 cebglobal.com

 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

HR Manager and/or Shared Services Owner and/or Centers of

Excellence Head
Represent team capabilities and interests in negotiations with HRBP managers.
HRBPs
■■ Execute objectives, responsibilities, and individual development plans.
■■ Provide feedback on the deployment process.
Line Managers
Provide feedback on the quality and alignment of HR support.

Before
You Start ■■ Download the CEB Ignition™ Project Manager to help stakeholders remain
organized and on track.
■■ Review organizational and HR strategy documents to identify business
goals and their corresponding talent-related goals.

Common
Pitfalls & Keys
to Success
HRBP Resources
Allocated with a Focus
Primarily on HR Priorities
Organizations assign HRBPs to
future HR-related priorities, which
don’t always align to business
priorities and aren’t always
weighted similarly.
Align HRBP Team
Priorities to Both HR and
Business Priorities
Determine HRBP projects and
activities according to business
needs and the importance of
those needs as validated by
business leader feedback.

HRBP Expectations Structure HRBP

Oriented Around
Providing Ongoing Line
Support
HRBP expectations are largely
oriented around responding to
the needs of and line clients and
providing them with effective,
individualized support.
Expectations Around
Executing Discrete HR
Activities and Projects
Orient HRBP expectations around
discrete sets of activities and
projects that will enable goal
execution, which allows HR to
more flexibly deploy HRBPs across
the organization as business needs
change.

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from Peers

© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 3 cebglobal.com

 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
HRBP Pairings Are Largely
Formulaic and Based on
General Qualifications
A standard framework is applied
to determine HRBP-line pairings
that is guided primarily by
benchmarking data, such as
span of control, and does not
consider the unique strengths
and challenges of each potential
pairing.
Projects Not Scoped
for HRBP-Specific
Contributions
HRBPs are assigned projects that
are too tactical (and should fall
to other HR specialty groups)
or too strategic (and should
be determined by senior HR
leadership at the organizational
level).
Overemphasis on HRBP
Capabilities, Under-
Emphasis on HRBP Team
Operating Model
Weaknesses in HR service
delivery are believed to be HRBP
capability related, not necessarily
related to the structure within
which HRBPs are working.
© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 4 cebglobal.com
STEP 4 STEP 5
Balance Scale and
Individual BU Needs
When Pairing HRBPs
Each HRBP-line pairing reflects
the unique requirements and
challenges of the business unit,
as well as the current capabilities
and longer-term interests of each
HRBP, and is re-evaluated on an
ongoing basis.
Scope All Potential
Projects for HRBP Impact
Prior to Assignment
HRBP managers and other senior
HR leadership evaluate each
potential HRBP project and/or
activity to determine if it could
be effectively executed by HRBP
team members.
Address Both Individual
Capability Building and
Potential Environmental
Challenges
HRBP team improvements
focus on developing strategic
partner capabilities and have the
necessary support structures to
fully unlock the potential and
performance of the team.
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 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3
Lack of Flexibility Across
HRBP Responsibilities
Assigned HR projects and other
HRBP work are expected to be
completed entirely by the project
owner and do not allow for any
responsibility negotiation.
© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 5 cebglobal.com
STEP 4 STEP 5
HRBP Leaders and HRBPs
Work Effectively Within
HR to Negotiate and
Assign Responsibilities
HRBP managers and HRBPs
themselves are encouraged
to engage their HR peers in
determining the most appropriate
owners for stand-alone
projects and their embedded
responsibilities.
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from Peers
Step 2

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Step 2 of 5: Identify Opportunities for HRBP

Support
Recognize and prioritize the collection of activities and initiatives appropriate for HRBPs,
given organizational goals.

Your Tasks
2.1 Review and confirm HR priorities based on organizational goals.
Step 2 of the CEB Work from the organization’s existing strategy documents to confirm HR
Ignition™ Guide to functional priorities and responsibilities based on organizational goals.
Strategic Planning
for Human
Resources

2.2 Use line feedback to better understand perceptions of HR’s

performance and validate HR support needs.
HR Business
Alignment Tool Survey line leaders to understand how they perceive HR and the HRBP team’s
performance to date and where they require the greatest extent of HR strategic
support, given their specific business unit goals.

2.3 Break down HR priorities into concrete HR activities and relevant

initiatives.
HR Project
Mapping Tool For each HR priority, senior HR leadership identifies the work and relevant sub-
activities that need to be completed in order to execute that priority.

2.4 Determine the HRBP-appropriate activities and initiatives, and discuss

them with senior HR leadership.
HR Activity Owners
Assignment Guide In partnership with the leaders of other HR support groups, identify the
activities and related projects that should fall to the HRBP team, given their
requirements; discuss and validate each set of responsibilities with senior HR
leadership.

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 6 cebglobal.com

 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Review Your
Progress
Success Red Flags Team
Criteria Conversation
■■ Clear understanding ■■ Poor HR functional ■■ What are our
of business and alignment with organization’s top
HR goals at the organizational goals strategic goals, and
organizational and ■■ Limited line if/how do those goals
business unit levels participation and vary by business unit
■■ Robust line feedback feedback on current as they’re cascaded?
regarding areas HR delivery practices ■■ What does our
of strength and ■■ Disagreement on the organization want the
development sets of responsibilities HRBP role to look like
opportunities for HR of each HR and be responsible
delivery and support stakeholder group for?
■■ Agreement on key ■■ Treatment of HRBP
HR work streams, contributions as
activities, and projects ongoing reactive
given organizational support
goals
■■ Limited collaboration
■■ Clear understanding among HR functional
of the responsibilities leaders
of all HR stakeholders,
including HRBPs

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 7 cebglobal.com

Step 3

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Step 3 of 5: Evaluate the Scope of and Risks

to Required HRBP Support
Evaluate risks to effective HRBP support, and identify potential solutions to improve the
team’s operation and mitigate these execution risks.

Your Tasks
3.1 Determine objectives, success measures, and resource requirements
HRBP Team Work
for designated HRBP activities.
Plan Summary Using earlier HR and line feedback, reflect team objectives and success measures,
Template and identify what HRBP team resources are needed given those factors.

3.2 Evaluate execution risks within and outside the HRBP team.
HRBP Self- Diagnose the current team’s ability to effectively deliver strategic support, and
Diagnostic identify any organizational and/or environmental challenges that could strain
Aggregate Results that ability.
Report

3.3 Make initial deployment assignments, and determine relevant HRBP

team operating model changes.
HRBP Team
Deployment Identify additional ways the HRBP team’s operating model could be adapted
Decision Matrix to flex and strengthen HR delivery through greater flexibility, influence, and
visibility.

ADVICE FROM PEERS

“I can say that the new structure has enabled our business unit to focus on the key
items that matter with increased effectiveness due to HR’s flexibility and increased
speed. This has been extremely important as we are dealing with an environment that
is changing quickly and we need to adjust with speed.”

Project Manager, Financial Services Company

3.4 Escalate high risk areas to HR leadership.

HRBP Team Risk Identify the HRBP projects and/or activities with the highest risk and greatest
Prioritization Tool importance, and evaluate if they should be escalated to senior HR leadership if
the team struggles to execute them.

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 8 cebglobal.com

 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Case Study

HR Value Chain Maturity

Diagnostic

Review Your
Progress
Success Red Flags Team
Criteria Conversation
■■ Robust team work ■■ Overreliance on ■■ Given organizational
plan that captures HRBPs to execute goals, what work
business support tactical, not strategic, will be available to
and strategic partner activities and limited HRBPs, and how well
activities HRBP familiarity with are they positioned to
■■ Clear understanding strategic activities execute them?
of HRBP capabilities ■■ Conflicting ■■ Do our proposed
and capability assumptions across HRBP team
gaps and potential HR stakeholder improvements
environmental groups regarding address both HRBP
challenges to HRBPs’ performance capabilities and
contributions expectations as well environmental
■■ Flexible HRBP as project objectives challenges?
deployment process and success measures
that can adapt ■■ Overreliance
to organizational on capability
changes and shifting development as the
needs primary method for
■■ Open and ongoing improving HRBP
discussions performance and
regarding HRBP limited focus on
team performance potential HRBP
and capacity team structural and
operating model
■■ Visibility into changes
organizational
changes that
■■ HRBP operating
could have HRBP model that is not
deployment flexible or agile
implications ■■ Limited proactive
communication
regarding HRBP team
capacity and potential
execution risks

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from Peers

© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 9 cebglobal.com

Step 4

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Step 4 of 5: Share HRBP Team Assignments,

and Enable HRBPs on the Job
Share deployment assignments and set deployment expectations with HRBPs, and
provide coaching and support to continue to enable HRBPs on the job.

Your Tasks
4.1 Share assigned responsibilities with HRBPs, and set expectations for
Competency
their support.
Model Presentation Match HRBPs with their assigned project and/or activity and share the
for HRBPs assignment(s) and performance expectations with each HRBP.
HRBP Performance
Evaluation Matrix

4.2 Equip the HRBP team to negotiate responsibilities and manage work
on the job.
HRBP Project
Negotiation Use team- and individual-based conversations to coach HRBPs on how
Question Guide to manage the complexities of particular projects and negotiate support
expectations with their internal stakeholders.

4.3 Provide development coaching and opportunities on the job.

Performance HRBP managers share ongoing performance feedback and create individual
Conversations development plans for each HRBP team member based on past performance
Manager Guide and the future support needs of the partnered business unit.
HRBP Individual
Development
Plans
Case Study

Shared HR Development
Model

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 10 cebglobal.com

 STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Review Your
Progress
Success Red Flags Team
Criteria Conversation
■■ Clear HRBP ■■ Clear HRBP ■■ How well are HRBPs
understanding of their performance able to manage
own performance expectations their day-to-day
expectations ■■ On-the-job responsibilities once
■■ Widespread collaboration stifled deployed?
comfort and buy- by overly structured ■■ What development
in from HRBPs on and formal project support and feedback
the importance of expectations are we providing
negotiation and ■■ Difficulty accessing HRBPs?
collaboration across and/or influencing
HR stakeholders both HR and non-HR
■■ Emphasis on stakeholders
providing integrated ■■ Limited and/or
support (from both misaligned HRBP
HR and other support development
functions) interventions
■■ Proactive negotiation
of HR responsibilities
given potential
collaboration
challenges
■■ Productive and
aligned performance
feedback from HRBP
managers

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 11 cebglobal.com

Last Step

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Step 5 of 5: Monitor the Effectiveness of

the HRBP Team Deployment Process
Monitor how effectively the process for deploying your HRBP team meets predefined
objectives (e.g., HRBP performance, HR alignment, line perception), and continuously
adapt the process based on internal feedback and organizational goals.

Review Your
Performance
Closing the Project
CEB Ignition™ ■■ Gather feedback from HRBPs and other stakeholders, including line leaders,
Project Reviewer line managers, employees, and peers in other HR specialties.
■■ Assess the effectiveness of the HRBP team deployment process.

Review and Track Performance

■■ Track effectiveness of HRBP deployment through internal feedback.
■■ Track progress against objectives using preestablished metrics.

Keys to
Continued
Success
Use Feedback to Drive Process Improvements
Gather HRBP feedback on quality of line relationship, clarity of objectives,
alignment with capabilities, and overall strengths and areas for improvement.

Regularly Review and Adapt HRBP Responsibilities and

Development Goals to Drive Performance
■■ Consistently reevaluate and refresh HRBP activity and project priorities
based on changing business goals.
■■ Incorporate performance feedback into HRBPs’ ongoing development
planning.

Reaffirm an Organizational Commitment to Effective and Strategic

HR Delivery
Share HRBP success stories to establish a commitment to and encourage
the development of stronger HR-line relationships.

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 12 cebglobal.com

Last Step

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

Related
Resources ■■ CEB Ignition™ Diagnostic for Human Resources
■■ Organizing HR to Lead Enterprise Change
■■ HRBP Guides for Delivering Critical HR Initiatives
■■ HRBP Portal
■■ Benchmarking Center

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© 2015 CEB. All rights reserved. CLC4758215SYN 13 cebglobal.com