Teleperformance Philippines Vice President for Human Resources and Communication & Marketing Rachel Cacabelos recently shared her insights on human resource business partners and to empower HR practitioners to go beyond the traditional HR role.
Human resources (HR) has long been perceived as the department dealing with employee matters from hiring and retirement to disciplinary actions. However, the role of HR has evolved through the years and their role in an organization can be more involved than ever.
In the recent 677th General Members Meeting of the People Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP), Cacabelos served as a panelist and defined the HR business partner role and discussed the value they can bring to an organization.
A new breed of HR practitioners
There is no one definition of a Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) as it is a role that continuously evolves. Most HRBPs do not even realize that they are an HRBP. But in its purest form, as described by Cacabelos, a HRBP is a human resource person “actually getting to know the business versus just getting to know the employee or personnel side of it, thus you transcend into a business partner.”
More than administrative, HRBPs are more strategic and advisory and involves more decision-making in the company alongside business leaders. HRBPs “provide value to the business, not only from an employee or personnel side, but really adding value to the business in terms of the numbers and finances,” according to Cacabelos.
Challenges faced by HRBPs
While HRBP, at its core, aims to champion people and culture in the organization, at the same time they also have to balance it with the business needs. “At the end of the day you are still part of a business that has profit and loss,” added Cacabelos.
Now more than ever, HRBPs are needed as we define the new way of working in this ever-evolving environment. Cacabelos says, “I think one of the top challenges for HR practitioners is balancing government compliance, business needs, and employee sentiment. This helps ensure that the company makes informed decisions, taking into consideration the risks, possible downsides, and recommendations you have.”
Transcending the traditional HR role
Becoming an HRBP is just one of the many options of HR practitioners and there is no track more valuable than the other. One has to choose to become a HRBP as it requires intensive training and research, and comes with many setbacks – but what’s important is to keep moving, learning, and progressing.
Cacabelos described HR practitioners as “firefighters” and oftentimes will be pulled back by their HR generalist role versus their HRBP function. “When you’re trying to take one step forward, then you take two steps back to attend to [HR matters] that no one else wants to attend to. And sometimes we digress from our ultimate goal of being that strategic consultant for our business as much as we want to,” shared Cacabelos.
To people aspiring to become an HRBP, Cacabelos advised, “Know the business. Do not be relegated by titles, or positions, or even a department. Know that you are part of a bigger picture. Make sure you integrate yourself into the business and be a decision maker. Because you know the business, you become trusted, they know that your data-driven decisions really make sense.”
Teleperformance Philippine currently has over 55,000 employees across 23 business sites nationwide.
Recently, Teleperformance Philippines received their 5th consecutive Great Place to Work® Certification and was the largest employer in the county to be certified this year. They are also one of the 25 Best Workplaces in 2022 among nearly 100 companies in the Philippines.
To learn more about Teleperformance visit their website at www.teleperformance.com.
