This blog is for people who believe in the HR function and the possibilities for creating effective organizations. People who work in HR and think things in the HR world are terrific the way they are may find other HR blogs that they like better.
Let us start by deconstructing the loathsome and insulting term Strategic Business Partner, an invention of some self-esteem-challenged HR person a decade ago who couldn't figure out how to be effective with the title he (or she) was already using.
Some time ago, the American Society of Accountants toyed with changing the designation "Accountant." Thank goodness, cooler heads prevailed. Titles change nothing; it's our worldview, our mental and philosphical framework for the work we do as carried out via our actions, that makes us effective or disposable. What would the Society have come up - maybe "Accountinator?" That would be better than the idiotic designation Strategic Business Partner, applied to HR people.
We'll start with Strategic. Think about it: if you are truly strategic, you don't put the word in your title. It's grasp-y and pathetic, in the original sense of deserving of pity. Not respect, but pity. Business is another one of those words that shouldn't appear in your title, unless you're a Business Manager for a retail store or a health club or some other arena where not everyone has a Business job.
And Partner -- that's the worst part of the Strategic Business Partner title -- it's wretched. Partners are people who voluntarily find one another to do business together -- Morrie and Solly with a Lower East Side deli come to mind. A person who scoots around the organization saying "Partner with me, please!" is a joke.
Sorry to be harsh. But Strategic Business Partner has go to go.
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