HRBPs Add Value and Build Trust

One of Seven Success Factors for Supporting the Business

4 min readMar 5, 2022

The following is based on the fifth success factor from The 2022 HRBP Report. The quotations are from HRBPs interviewed for the report.

The following terminology sets the groundwork for explaining the fifth success factor, Add Value and Build Trust.

Human Performance Technology (HPT): Set of principles and their application that affects how BPs realize valued results. HPT involves methods, procedures, and strategies for solving problems or realizing opportunities that contribute towards business goals. HPT interventions can be leveraged to help the performance of individuals, groups, or the enterprise (or the entire organization).
Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP): In the Human Resource business unit, professionals designated as HRBPs work with specific business units or departments to collaborate with BPs (see next term). The collaboration results in clarified business problems and opportunities as well as interventions designed to improve individual and team performance within the BP’s business unit. Such improvements contribute toward achieving business goals.
Business Partners (BPs): Professionals assigned to manage the organization (such as the CEO), business units (such as the CTO, CFO, and CLO), or departments. Assigned HRBPs bring a Human Capital perspective (or people perspective) that supports BPs with strategy design, decision-making, tactical and adaptive performance execution, leveraging and strengthening their assigned workforce, and providing insightful feedback.

One of the four guiding principles of Human Performance Technology (HPT) is to Add Value, as described by the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Successful HRBPs add value by leveraging their expertise to help BPs: