Developing a Human Resources Business Partner Life Cycle Model

The Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) role is advocated as a way for Human Resource (HR) professionals and the HR profession to become more strategic and less transactional, necessitating the development of different competencies. Little research has examined how the HRBP Model plays out in practice, over time, from the perspective of these HR professionals and their line manager partners (LMPs). We collected data through interviews and a focus group with HR professionals and LMPs from three UK organizations at different stages of their HRBP evolution. After analyzing this data we propose a HRBP-LMP Life Cycle Model. The Model suggests the relationship between the parties is dynamic, complex and is dependent upon the organizational culture as well as the competencies of the main stakeholders in the partnership. Ultimately, depending on these factors, our research indicated that the partnership may take three different paths.