en

Jobs

Let our industry specialists listen to your aspirations and present your story to the most esteemed organizations in the Middle East, as we collaborate to write the next chapter of your successful career.

See all jobs

Exclusive Recruitment Partners

Explore the opportunities from a range of organisations that exclusively partner with Robert Walters for their hiring needs.

Learn more
Jobs

Let our industry specialists listen to your aspirations and present your story to the most esteemed organizations in the Middle East, as we collaborate to write the next chapter of your successful career.

See all jobs

Exclusive Recruitment Partners

Explore the opportunities from a range of organisations that exclusively partner with Robert Walters for their hiring needs.

Learn more
Candidates

Together, we’ll map out career-defining, life-changing pathways to achieve your career ambitions. Browse our range of services, advice, and resources.

Learn more
Services

The Middle East’s leading employers trust us to deliver fast, efficient hiring solutions that are tailored to their exact requirements. Browse our range of bespoke services and resources.

Read more
Insights

Whether you’re seeking to hire talent or seeking a new career move for yourself, we have the latest facts, trends and inspiration you need.

See all resources
About Robert Walters Middle East

We always put the interests of our clients and candidates first and aim to find the best fit for the employer and job seeker.

Learn more

Work for us

Our people are the difference. Hear stories from our people to learn more about a career at Robert Walters Middle East.

Learn more

Five essential skills for future proof HR leaders

For years, HR has advocated for, but not been granted, a seat at the table. In many organisations the department is seen more as a back-office role that concentrates mainly on employee policies, contracts, and benefits. Covid-19 forced companies to extend more influence to HR for the sake of keeping their business afloat.   

HR’s role as a business partner  

Going forward, HR must hold on to their newfound leadership position and become a respected business partner. For that to happen, HR should involve itself more in developing HR strategies that will help their organisation to achieve its competitive goals. As an HR business partner, you must ensure to be included in conversations about the future, mission, goals, and overall strategy of the company. That way you can help the company to secure a strong position in the marketplace. 

According to HR guru Dave Ulrich, the HR department has four roles:  

1. Strategic partner 

As a strategic partner, it is your responsibility to align HR activities and initiatives with the overall business strategy. This is HR’s chance to prove that they can make a real impact on ROI, by boosting levels of innovation, helping the company to become more agile, and putting best in class training programs in place to keep your employees on top of their game.  

2. Change agent 

You need to support business change and transitions through the human capital available in the organisation. This will sometimes mean that you need to make employees available to work on change projects, and arrange the upskilling that will make this transition a success. Other times you will need to support downsizing or upscaling the workforce in the most cost and time efficient way.  

3. Employee champion 

You need to know what employees need, both on a material and inspirational level, and step up to assure management gives each employee what they deserve. In times of change, it is more important than ever that you protect your employees’ interests. After all, when the good times return, people will still remember how they were treated during the crisis. When we return to a tighter labour market, they will either reward your loyalty, or move on to first good opportunity that becomes available. 

4. Administrative expert 

As an administrative expert, your department makes sure to provide the best possible service, with regards to areas such as payroll processes, contracts and hiring, at the lowest cost to the organization. 

Now, what competencies do you need to have to be effective in all four of these roles? We could create a long list of skills that can help give HR a seat at the table, but we will limit ourselves to the most important ones. The five essential skills for an HR business partner are strategic insight, relationship building, empathy, persuasiveness and problem solving.  

Strategic insight 

To connect HR solutions to business goals, you need to be able to see the bigger picture and to be aware of what solutions will help the business to succeed in the marketplace. You need to be able to contribute to high level discussions and strategic decision-making.  

Relationship building 

As the HR business partner is the middleman between employees and the organisation, you need to be able to build relationships with people at all levels of the company. The better the relationships you build within your organisation, the easier it will be to collaborate with other parts of the business to provide seamless service. 

Empathy 

In a role where the wellbeing of employees is your responsibility, you need to be able to empathise with them. For people to come to you when issues arise, such as mental health problems, difficult situations at home or conflicts in the workplace, being able to show genuine compassion makes all the difference in the world. It creates a sense of security, and breaks down the barrier that employees may feel in bringing up whatever has a negative impact on their wellbeing, and therefore likely their performance.  

Persuasiveness 

There are always going to be changes within your organisation. And when that happens, HR needs to be able to get people on board with those changes. On the other hand, HR business partner may need to put their foot down when management wants to implement changes that are undesirable from an HR point of view. 

Problem solving 

Whether there are conflicts within the organisation, or new legislation brings a wave of change, there are always plenty of problems on an HR business partner’s plate. And even if you’re not personally solving these problems, you should have the tenacity to find out who can. In times of rapid change, it can be quite a challenge to balance the interests of both the organisation and its employees. 

Share this article

Related content

Submit a Vacancy
Salary Survey
Hiring Advice
Get in touch

Find out more by contacting one of our specialist recruitment consultants

Related content

View All

Negotiating Equity: A Best Practice Guide for Founders and Their Future Team

Distributing equity makes it possible for founders, investors, employees, and other contributors to own a piece of the company they are building. Equity plays an especially important role in the startup community, with billions of dollars being converted into company equity every year. With equity,

Read More

Together, employers and employees can create future flexibility

In the space of a few months, flexible working has been extended and expanded for millions of workers across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced employers to radically change the way their people work, with the temporary closure and/or reconfiguration of workplaces. Having experienced these

Read More

Recruitment in Iran

This whitepaper explores the impact of relaxed trade sanctions on Iran and what effects it will have on recruitment. Iran has a large economy and due to its large oil and gas reserves, has been described as an ‘energy superpower’ by analysts. In addition to its role in the petrochemicals and energy

Read More

I'm Robert Walters Are you?

Come join our global team of creative thinkers, problem solvers and game changers. We offer accelerated career progression, a dynamic culture and expert training.