How Can HR Demonstrate Value as a Business Partner

There’s a common thought and saying that some things can’t be done alone. We all need help and most of the time we’re too shy to ask for it. Either that or we’re too arrogant and reluctant to ask. The thing is, when we do ask for help and we receive the right type of help, we usually thrive better than we expected if we were to complete the task alone. How? Because you’re exposed to ideas and knowledge you never would have come up with on your own. Mind you, there may be a few people out there that oppose to what I’m trying to say – which is fair enough, but you’ll get my point soon.

In the world of business, it works similarly. We know that things can’t be done alone. We can’t build a multi-million dollar corporation on our own with ourselves as the only employee. This is what business partners are for. We venture out to find our business partners to help make our dreams of creating a business empire a reality with their help. They are essentially someone who we trust wholly.

What makes a business partner so important to the start of your business venture is that they will add value in ways you never knew you could. This value is what will begin the journey to growth.

In an analogical sense, HR is our business partner. It’s something that will bring value in ways we never believed it could. Of course, we must not forget the addition of HR technology that has revolutionised the way we carry out people management.

How does HR add value?

If you’re a manager or a business owner trying to figure out what HR, delivers for your business – look no further. I’ve compiled various ways on how HR alone as a core function brings value. Before we delve deep into how, we can both agree that value is something we all look towards. Value is not easily given or found, so let us note that for HR to provide just that is purely, a goldmine.

HR drives people to perform

Its purpose is to manage the sole reason a business is continuing to function, its people. When we manage these people, we train, develop, nurture and build a strong connection with them. Each of these activities put forward towards our employees, will allow them to flourish and thrive in the work that they do. Their productivity boosts along with their performance. In a nutshell, HR drives a strong performing organisation.

HR is the foundation of a high performing company

HR is fundamentally selecting, screening and recruiting the right type of talent for an organisation. It’s the department that ensures the right people are situated in the right position doing the right tasks. In a sense, HR is matching a key to a lock – they need to fit in order to unlock the great beyond (this great beyond is the result your employees will deliver). Having built this starting point, it continues on to transform into great results and ultimately, high performance.

HR is about planning and being proactive

It’s a good thing to be proactive, so that unforeseen circumstances that don’t work in our favour can be retaliated before they get the chance to do damage. HR forecasts future expectations of resources and needs for an organisation. This forecasting of course gets communicated across the organisation to ensure they are being met. This particular aspect of HR is what really saves a company (especially if they are unaware of threats). It’s a business’s anti-virus software program, warding off threats before they get the chance to do damage.

How does HR technology give extra added value on top?

It’s a given that HR has evolved with the addition of HR technology. HR technology in the forms of HR software and programs have helped with the handling of class HR functions; payroll, staffing & recruiting etc. HR tech has enabled for these functions to be managed cheaper and to a higher degree of efficiency. This transformation alone, is extra added value to a business.

Another way HR tech adds extra value is its ability to automate routine tasks and transactions. This function has cut costs to human capital and sped up the activity itself. A bonus in this transformation is the elimination of employees who were inefficient in their tasks.

HR as a Valuable Business Partner

Even though we have HR alone, as a core function of business, providing value for a business and; the introduction of HR technology, transforming the function to efficient capabilities, also adding extra value – value really stems from the execution of strategy.

How we execute a business’s strategy is by building an organisation’s capabilities. To build an organisation’s capabilities is done through not automation, but through people. This point here, is particularly important because HR, as well all know it, is about people. These are the people who will be supported and trained to fulfil this strategy.

What we can come to grips with is that, the true root to value is the execution of strategy. Having explained how this execution is carried out, we can see that it all comes back to HR.