What does a Human Resources Business Partner do?
Human resource (HR) business partners' primary job is to ensure that business objectives are aligned with the management and employees within an organization. They typically focus more on developing HR strategy than implementing the company policies. They often work with individual business units, and their work is related to the company's current and future success. HR business partners are also responsible for providing performance management guidance, developing contract terms for new employees, transfers, and promotions, and providing advice on business units.
Human resources business partner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real human resources business partner resumes:
- Manage the ACA with regard to variable hour employees to avoid fines and penalties.
- Lead effort to build safety awareness and implement plans to improve working conditions while adhering to OSHA requirements.
- Manage and audit payroll ensuring accurate timekeeping, processing adjustments, and investigating payroll discrepancies.
- Manage HRIS system migration to ExponentHR technology platform with full employee/manager self-service eliminating multiple homegrown systems and one service provider.
- Report to the SVP of human resources.
- Revamp unemployment claims process and increase HRBP completion rate and decrease dollar loss due to incomplete and fraudulent claims.
- Train healthcare management on EEO/AA, to reinforce and ensure compliance with company policies and employment laws, reducing liability.
- Serve as primary coordinator for implementation of HIPAA regulations.
- Provide managerial oversight while encouraging critical thinking, and garnering leadership buy-in.
- Monitor HRBP organization performance against client group expectations, planning for course correction as necessary.
- Research payroll discrepancies and followed-up with appropriate departments to ensure errors are correct accurately and timely.
- Improve workplace safety by conducting impromptu warehouse inspections and enforcing OSHA regulations and company safety policies.
- Provide oversight and support to union negotiations resulting in alignment of company benefit and pension benefit programs.
- Facilitate managerial decision-making by providing timely information and guidance to managers, particularly regarding EEO laws and regulations.
- Conduct investigations relating to potential EEO, discrimination and/or employee relations issues and document findings with recommendations for resolution.
Human resources business partner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 8% of Human Resources Business Partners are proficient in Employee Engagement, HRBP, and Succession Planning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Leadership skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Human Resources Business Partners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Employee Engagement, 8%
Worked closely with Manager of Employee Health and Safety on difficult workers' compensation cases implementing ergonomic and employee engagement initiatives.
- HRBP, 6%
Monitored HRBP organization performance against client group expectations, planning for course correction as necessary.
- Succession Planning, 6%
Facilitate succession planning and organization review sessions with company leadership, identifying and implementing strategies to mitigate or eliminate talent gaps.
- Workforce Planning, 5%
Analyzed and revamped global compensation programs by incorporating revised job descriptions, salary reviews, workforce planning and diversity plan initiatives.
- Business Objectives, 4%
Innovated performance management strategies/systems to help identify future business competencies needs and aligned employees by talent segmentation to meet business objectives.
- HRIS, 4%
Designed, implemented and communicated process for employee, compensation and reporting relationship changes in anticipation of manager self-service HRIS system.
"employee engagement," "hrbp," and "succession planning" are among the most common skills that human resources business partners use at work. You can find even more human resources business partner responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a human resources business partner to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "human resources managers regularly interact with people, such as to collaborate on teams, and must develop working relationships with their colleagues." Human resources business partners often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills, strong written and verbal communication skills. "
Leadership skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling human resources business partner duties is leadership skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "human resources managers must coordinate work activities and ensure that staff complete the duties and responsibilities of their department." According to a human resources business partner resume, here's how human resources business partners can utilize leadership skills in their job responsibilities: "prepare reports and analyze data from hris resulting in clarity of current and future state decision making for senior leadership. "
Organizational skills. human resources business partners are also known for organizational skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to human resources business partner responsibilities, because "human resources managers must be able to prioritize tasks and manage several projects at once." A human resources business partner resume example shows how organizational skills is used in the workplace: "conduct colleague surveys to gauge extent and nature of organizational obstacles; develop recommendations for change following analysis of results. "
The three companies that hire the most human resources business partners are:
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Compare different human resources business partners
Human resources business partner vs. Employee relations manager
An employee relations manager's responsibilities revolve around maintaining a strong professional relationship between employees and a company's management. They are also in charge of resolving conflicts and issues within the workplace, providing technical support on all employee programs, developing orientation and workshop activities among trainees and new members of the workforce, and addressing their concerns promptly and professionally. Furthermore, there are instances when an employee relations manager must conduct investigations, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between human resources business partners and employee relations manager. For instance, human resources business partner responsibilities require skills such as "hrbp," "workforce planning," "business objectives," and "organizational effectiveness." Whereas a employee relations manager is skilled in "management system," "ethics," "federal laws," and "eeo-1." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Employee relations managers earn the highest salaries when working in the retail industry, with an average yearly salary of $87,349. On the other hand, human resources business partners are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $99,409.The education levels that employee relations managers earn slightly differ from human resources business partners. In particular, employee relations managers are 4.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a human resources business partner. Additionally, they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Human resources business partner vs. Director of human resources
A human resources director is responsible for managing the overall operations of the human resources department, ensuring smooth operations while meeting the company's goals of successful profitability and services. Human resources directors' duties include providing staff consultation, addressing staffing concerns, managing compensation and benefits plans, reviewing plans for training and development programs, and reporting future actions to the management. A human resources director must have excellent leadership, communication, and decision-making skills to help lead the business to its growth and development.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real human resources business partner resumes. While human resources business partner responsibilities can utilize skills like "hrbp," "organizational effectiveness," "organizational design," and "work ethic," directors of human resources use skills like "payroll processing," "customer service," "workers compensation," and "personnel policies."
Directors of human resources may earn a higher salary than human resources business partners, but directors of human resources earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $105,626. On the other hand, human resources business partners receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $99,409.In general, directors of human resources achieve similar levels of education than human resources business partners. They're 2.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Human Resources Business Partners in the next 3-5 years?
Karen Sharp-Price
Instructor/Career Consultant, Daemen College
Just over the past year, video conferencing and video chat has become mainstream for most companies. Learning how to maneuver and use the many different forms of video conferencing has become an everyday occurrence now for companies. Companies that said they could never go fully remote have done so and found not only that it can be done but done well with all this technology. But in the near future, you will see many new features added to all of these mediums to enhance the experience for employees and companies to communicate with co-workers, near and far. This technology has been around for a long time but is not used to its fullest extent. Due to the pandemic, it is heavily used, and I don't see us reverting back to our old ways but only improving upon how to better utilize technology in our businesses going forward.
Human resources business partner vs. Resource manager
A resource manager's role is to provide the staffing needs of different projects, programs, and departments while coordinating with managers and supervisors. They are responsible for monitoring an employee's performance and payroll data, recommending available staff to join projects and programs, maintaining documentation and records of all transactions, and hire new staff as needed. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from human resources business partner resumes include skills like "employee engagement," "hrbp," "succession planning," and "workforce planning," whereas a resource manager is more likely to list skills in "customer service," "resource management," "human resources," and "customer satisfaction. "
Resource managers earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $84,500. Comparatively, human resources business partners have the highest earning potential in the finance industry, with an average salary of $99,409.Most resource managers achieve a lower degree level compared to human resources business partners. For example, they're 7.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Human resources business partner vs. Senior human resources specialist
A senior human resources specialist is responsible for monitoring the human resources operations of an organization, managing employment processes and policies, and handling staffing needs and concerns. Senior human resources specialists design training and programs to maintain staff's efficiency and maximize the employees' productivity to support business functional operations. They also coordinate with management leaders to identify their hiring needs, evaluating their specifications for recruitment. A senior human resources specialist reviews the company's policies and guidelines regularly, adjusting procedures according to state regulations and business requirements.
Types of human resources business partner
Updated January 8, 2025
