Business partnering - myth or reality?

How successful has business partnering been and is it really fit to meet the challenges of today’s demanding workplace?

Becoming a true and trusted business partner means having to understand each-others needs and challenges but to achieve success both sides must sit at the heart of the organisation, working together to make strategic decisions. But how successful has business partnering been and is it really fit to meet the challenges of today’s demanding workplace?

While business partnering isn’t new can we learn from how other functions are tackling it? How ‘fit for the future’ are the current models and in reality, where should we focus our attention? Our November Forum marked a new venture and change in format – a collaborative event with the ICAEW at Moorgate Place, allowing for wider networking opportunities and a panel of speakers with a facilitated question and answer session. On the panel: Claudia Wall, HR Director at CRUK; Chris Filer, Global Finance Director at Soap & Glory; and our very own TAOW Managing Director, Sandra Evans.

Session chair, Andy Shambrook, opened by asking a series of questions to which individuals responded using keypads on their tables. The data was then immediately displayed on screens. Key questions included: ‘Does your organisation have a business partnering strategy in place? (Yes: 34%, No 66%) and ‘Do you feel your business partnering model is fit for the challenges of the future workplace?’ (Yes: 22%, No 78%). It would seem, then, that the challenge of developing successful business partnering is currently a high priority for many.

As the first of the panel speakers, Claudia Wall suggested that a crucial question to ask is, ‘What will enable your business to be successful and what part will you play in it?’ She highlighted that curiosity, questioning and insight are vital for the health and growth of organisations and that insight should be defined not as ‘information’, but as something that can change and influence behaviour in order to engender different and better decisions. Chris Filer observed that the days of Finance simply ‘handing over numbers’ are gone, and that it is now essential to put ourselves in the shoes of others – other job roles and functions - and prompt people to think differently. Accuracy and efficiency of processes is only half the deal. We need to build strong relationships with decision makers. Sandra gave us TAOW’s perspective: that business partnering is on a journey. Increased agility and collaboration are needed to reduce siloed working, and become more immersive and innovative. Business partners need to help the organisation to look further ahead and understand the trends, responding and adapting more quickly. In some organisations, TAOW can see the strategies are more mature (as opposed to ‘better’).

Is a lack of curiosity a cultural feature? We are unused to children being taught to be curious, whereas in other countries they are encouraged to be just that. Many team members are not asking questions, nor are they given opportunities for this – but it can be a highly motivating factor.

So, what could great business partnering look like? Suggestions from participants included:

• Having a vision for the future and being open to a change of culture • Giving opportunities for good ideas to percolate through rigid systems • Allowing an independent view such as a workshop/multi-functional meeting leading towards the opening up of potential, instead of being too focused on individual agendas • Cross-functional teams • Having conversations; knowing what makes your colleagues tick • Shadowing the person you want to business partner with in the future