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In the constantly changing world of HR, we’re seeing more organisations move towards a centralised model, with a core shared service structure and HR Business Partners (HRBPs). Through this evolution, the term HR Business Partner has emerged as a bit of an industry buzzword, spreading faster than the meaning behind it. Because of this, the definition has become muddled, and what we’re finding is that a lot of organisations are adopting these job titles, without the structure in place to warrant a true HRBP. This misunderstanding, from both employers and candidates alike, has resulted in much confusion. This article will clarify the differences between the two, and how your skill set, or business needs, might fall into one category or the other.

The Differences Between HR Business Partners and HR Generalists

Let’s start by exploring the role of an HRBP in its purest form. As a business-facing and strategic-oriented role, we tend to find true to form HRBPs working within large corporates; organisations that have the scale to implement a COE/shared services HR model. Essentially, they are more of a consultant to the business, acting in an advisory role (working alongside business leaders and managers) to provide the most relevant people solutions.

On the other hand, HR Generalists touch all elements of HR in an end-to-end capacity. Typically found within smaller/medium-sized organisations, they cater to everyone in the organisation, working in more of a hands-on capacity. While an HR generalist can operate at a strategic level like an HRBP would, they are more operations-focused, and handle the day-to-day duties that would usually fall to COEs. For example, if a complex employee situation arose, an HR Generalist would usually complete the investigation and take ownership from start to finish, whilst an HRBP wouldn’t get involved directly, but rely on a specialised Employee Relations team to action.

We’re also seeing more of the emerging ‘hybrid’ model. Whilst still responsible for everything in the operational remit, people in these hybrid roles tend to be provided with much more support than a true HR Generalist. Although we’ll often come across hybrid positions like this labelled as HRBPs, more often than not they’re found in organisations trying to make the shift but are yet to develop the right structure to support an HRBP in its purest form.

What’s Driving the Misunderstanding?

Driving the confusion is miscommunication about the role of a true HRBP. We often have organisations come to us believing they need an HR Business Partner, when in fact what they really need is an HR Generalist, and vice versa. The same goes with candidates approaching us without being familiar with the models.

We suspect this is because the term HRBP has become a bit of an industry buzzword in recent times, so people hear it and want to take it on to make it look like they’re forward thinking; however, if you don’t have the fundamental structure in place (in the way of COEs), it is impossible to create a true HRBP role. The other issue lies with people assuming that an HRBP is the next level up from an HR Generalist. However, this is not always the case. HRBPs are not always paid more than HR Generalists, and HRBPs are not always more senior; they are simply different roles in their own right.

Summary