A Business Professional, with a People Concentration (Part 1)

Ryan Fortman is a Director, Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) with the Go-to-Market business at New Relic. Ryan has over 20 years of experience in HR and is passionate about working smarter by using data and innovative thinking. 

Ryan and I talk about what it takes to be an HRBP and his tips for being great in the role. View the full video interview here.

Ryan: I really enjoy what I do, I especially enjoy where I work, and I have no desire to do anything that is “Traditional” and I’m looking forward to this discussion. 

Jocelyn: Awesome, first I know you’re particularly passionate about the HRBP title, tell me, what makes an HR Business Partner role different from an HR Generalist or Specialist?

Ryan: When I think of an HRBP it’s a business professional, with a people concentration. It’s not the other way around, whereas when we think about an HR Generalist they’re skilled across the traditional and transactional outputs within operations of an HR Department. 

With an HRBP you should really understand the business in such a way that you can advise those who you support. That’s the differentiator. We are battle tested in the field when it comes to HR but we are not directing the HR infantries if you will. Being a generalist is a great foundation for being an HRBP but you really have to step into the business role. Business first, with some rigor versus someone that really has the rigor and may be in support of working with the business partner as a conduit or center of excellence. 

Jocelyn: What are some of the important skills that HRBPs must have?

Ryan: It comes down to fundamentals. The number one thing we have to understand is how the company makes money. At the end of the day, every business is trying to make money and as an HR professional, as a business partner, I should be able to look at that and understand the ripple effect across the business and how I am positioned to help the business strategically. 

You also have to know and understand what your company’s short term and long term goals are. You have to understand the ecosystem, and how it helps it to thrive when certain things are present in the ecosystem or how it can cause it to die when things are missing from the ecosystem. 

Jocelyn: When you think about HR strategy, what are some of the pieces of building that out that you find most critical?

Ryan: Number one, when I am building that strategy, how does my company make money, and how are we going to make money this year. Before I sit down and do my strategy, what are some of the strategic planning pieces of data that we need to understand the landscape before we can even get to a partner strategy. 

I also take it upon myself to do what I call an intake, to understand what those goals are. Some of the things that intake looks at are:

• What ecosystems and stakeholders are my partners working in concert with for other departments and functions

• Which processes and systems are they dependent upon for their success  

• Key dates and milestones

Then I try to put it all together. If I am fortunate where I support different areas of the business, I can then look holistically across the business and see where the interdependencies are. As a BP you are supporting hundreds of people and you are only one person so you have to work very smart. If you look and see where that connective tissue is, you can take a step back and approach it in a systematic format and see where there are common denominators to combine your strategy. Then the work you are doing is not just benefiting one business, but it’s impacting all the businesses that you support and at the same time it is pressing towards the companies finish goal of making money for that year. 

I also believe you have to set data metrics, because you need binary information to let you know if you are achieving your goals. 

You should definitely know yes, no, or a metric. 

Then I set up my dashboards, so I can check my wellness, pivot where I need to pivot, be able to have right conversations, and look across ecosystems to make sure that we are still on course to reach our final destination.

Jocelyn: What type of goal setting do you use and what process do you go through when setting the goals for your company?
Ryan: One of the things I like to do with my team is to work off of a document where we have one source of truth. We try first to put all of our pieces to the puzzle in there so we can review it and start to work together and massage one single process. 

The other thing that is really imperative is looking at the goal setting for the entire organization. What I’ve found is certain HR topics are not going to get the critical mass that they deserve, simply because they are HR topics. However, if you are cognizant of what the company goals are and you can have your goals harmonize with that, and help them make money, you can get the critical mass that you deserve. I think of it like when you see a child that doesn’t like vegetables but they like sweet things, so there is a fruit smoothie and you put all kinds of vegetables in a fruit smoothie and they’re none the wiser. 

That is what I am always trying to do, so I can tie it back to the corporate success of these goals and that way when I do need them to focus on an HR goal, I have their buy in, I have the credibility and the trust built up.

Jocelyn: That’s awesome, in my last role we used OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and that just aligns with exactly what you’re saying because there are the overarching goals that the company has, and we would know what we wanted to work on, and it was all about, “how does that fit into the company goals” and that’s how you get the buy in from the rest of the company.

Ryan: Absolutely, at New Relic that’s what we do. We have OKRs as an organization, and what that allows you to do, instead of working in silos you are working as an organization. It gives me a chance to work across my peer group in the areas I don’t support, it gets us pulling together as a unit. 

Jocelyn: What advice would you give to someone in HR working in the current climate that also wants to develop skills for the future? 

Ryan: My advice for HR professionals is this:

1. Network 

Networking is one of the biggest things. To network with people across not just the HR discipline, but in other areas. The HR profession is becoming more data focused, so networking to learn from one another and to really challenge one another. The things that Covid really has taught us is that you are a video conference away from having an in depth, rich discussion and people are accessible. I have been able to have conversations with people that otherwise would not be possible before. But because they can no longer get out into the speaking circuits, I have been able to have an audience with people like that. 

2. Learn the fiscal language

I am talking about understanding how your company makes money, and also understanding the intricacies of who in the supply chain helps the flow, understanding what they do, and making sure to connect those dots. Even if you are in a transactional HR role it’s still very important and helps you in your role, whether you are doing benefits, comp, HRIS, Business Partnership, or Learning & Development. 

3. Embrace Data Analytics 

Learning how to do an analysis and learning how to tell a story with that analysis is important. Because numbers don’t lie and if you know how to harness that information as an HR professional, people will follow the numbers and if you tell a story, those are actionable regardless of the discipline, people will respect that. 

Jocelyn: I really loved this conversation with my friend Ryan and am excited we got to dig into what it’s like to be an HRBP. I will continue this conversation with Ryan next week in Part 2 where we dive into company culture, talking about those difficult topics at work (politics, religion, racial justice), and how Ryan uses his position as an HRBP to mentor others.