So a little bit of background – I’ve heard the term Human Resources Business Partner mentioned in the context of human resources and thought it would be useful for Paul to weigh in on what this means to him and his trade.

* * * *

What is a Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP)?

Formally stated, the HRBP is responsible to measurably contribute to the organization’s success, which align with and accelerate the business strategic objectives.

It has been more than 15 years since Dave Ulrich introduced the concept of the Human Resources (HR) Business Partner as a future model for impactful HR.  At its core, the HR Business Partner (HRBP) represents a function integral to and imbedded in the organization, at the business unit level in large organizations or small.  It doesn’t have to “align” because it is already “part of.”  And yet, some organizations and industries are unfamiliar with the concept.

The good news–It is about YOU, and your skill set, your contribution — more than the title or the reporting relationships. Query most HR leaders who found the way to the much lauded “table” and they share a common path — whether they had the title or not, they operated as partners — from the beginning.

The skills and experience of a successful HR Business Partner should encompass the following:  analytical ability, accountability systems, courage, power and influence, and ability to see the big picture, to name a few. The success of this role is achieved by applying thorough HR knowledge and experience, utilizing a broad range of human resources solutions, strategies and processes, and working closely and collaborating with leadership teams.  Specifically, the practitioner provides HR consulting, insights and solutions to the leadership team and managers that address business challenges; and contributes to the development and attainment of successful business results.

Does this make sense for my organization?  So what specific actions and relationships should you expect to have with an HRBP?  Generally speaking, they can be categorized as the following:  Partner, HR Expert, Workforce Planner, Coach, Change Agent, and Culture Champion.  Imagine a savvy collaborator that thinks strategically and possesses applicable HR acumen, business knowledge and strong ethical and personal credibility.

Bottom line….call the function whatever you wish, it provides a valuable resource.

A road trip in my family normally included piling 4 young kids and two parents into a Volkswagen microbus, and trekking off across county. Sometimes it was a 2000-mile round trip to a National Park or a maybe it was a 1000-mile trip to Cape Town and back to pick up a new puppy. This was before the days of AirBnB or VRBO, so my folks would somehow organize pit stops and accommodation along the way. Sometimes these stops were at family friends and sometimes they were in roadside motels. Normally it was one room with all of us piled in, and sometimes it was two rooms with my sister and parents in one, and me and brothers in the other. If we were in the bush and I was sharing with my brothers then I’d go sleep with them telling me the hyenas had broken through the parameter fence and I would be the first to be eaten.

Most stops along the way involved unpacking the car, taking family pictures with my dad’s beloved Nikon and exploring our new accommodations. It was incredibly exciting winding down a dirt road towards a small dark farmhouse or checking into a motel in the middle of the country at 9pm at night. As a kid I had no concept of time or space other than the road ahead, dinner (probably sweet corn on toast) and which bed I’d be sleeping in that night. Picking beds with older brothers involved a highly complex hierarchy that normally involved my mother’s intervention once the younger brother (me) was told his bed was the mattress on the floor or the bed closest to the door.

A highlight on these road trips was sitting up front with my dad in the passenger driver seat and wearing the seatbelt while studiously paging through the road atlas. My father had a rule – you had to be a certain height before you could sit up front so that the seat belt would cross your chest and not your neck when you were sitting upright. Height was key and a instant disqualifier for my little sister.

A couple of times the car would overheat and we’d limp into a small Karoo town garage in the middle of nowhere. Remember this was before cell phones, so if you broke down on the road then you flagged someone down for help. A roadside stop for us would mean target practice with my older brothers, by throwing stones at anything that looked like a target, irritating my little sister or just waiting around watching cars go by. I never doubted for a second it was permanent breakdown…sooner or later we piled back into the car and moved on to the next adventure. Only now do I appreciate how my parents must have stressed about getting the car fixed, the delayed schedule, keeping us fed and occupied while staying sane…remember no cell phone to contact the hosts awaiting your arrival.

As a family we still laugh about these trips. Whether it was Yosemite when we got lost in back country trying to find the Hetch Hetchy valley or finding a cockroach in a bowl of soup in a small back country motel. Most of the time it’s the unplanned things on the way that weren’t on the itinerary that keep us laughing.

I remember a return trip from a National Park and setting up “camp” in a small town in the middle of nowhere. We were all piled into one room and it was so cold we all put multiple layers of clothes on and slept next to each other to warm up. I don’t know what my parents were thinking but I was having the time of my life…it was so exciting. We were freezing cold but everyone was laughing and trying to keep warm. My mom told me later they ended up waking us up at 4am and leaving because the car was definitely warmer. We were all still wearing 3 or 4 layers of clothing and headed to the gas station to fill up with petrol. At the pump next to us there was a farmer filling up his truck…and he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. We still talk about that cold morning and laugh about the “farmer at the gas station”.

These memories are the glue that binds my family together. It’s the small moments we still laugh about years later. Of course we all drove our siblings and probably my parents crazy (my best wrestling techniques, which involved straddling my brother’s chest while holding his arms down with my knees were perfected when I was around 10 years old).

Looking back I think my parents were probably a little nuts and naive to pile 4 kids into a microbus and drive across the country, but I’m glad they were and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

* * * *

Every month I meet with a small group to focus discovering for each of us what is our purpose and mission and why we are here in this world?

Being practical people we also talk about how that relates (if at all) to “being successful” and the normal financial commitments we all have for such things as monthly house payments, utility and car payments, taking care of our families, etc.

After many useful discussions, and books, and journaling, I haven’t made as much progress as I’d like.  However, this week I heard a talk from a man named John Ortberg who’s insights I found useful.   I wanted to share these in case they help you get any closer to clarity around your mission and purpose.

The idea that I took away from the talk was that finding our Mission or Purpose has to do with finding the intersection of 5 key things.  The 5 things are:

• Passion – what fires you up?  Is it injustice, education,  hunger, sickness/health, helping people grow, making people happy, something else…
• Gifts – what gifts do I have?  Everyone has gifts to offer.  Hospitality, administration, organization, encouragement, communication, teaching and many more.
• Scars – where have I been hurt?  How can I use this experience or pain to inspire me to help others?  The knowledge and experience of the pain will equip us to help others and will inspire our passion.
• Partners – Finding a person or people who share a similar mission or who may want to be part of your mission.
• Need – where is there a need in the world?  Where is there need around me?  Where is there pain or annoyance or frustration that needs to be solved?

If you’ve been keeping a list of thoughts and ideas on where you might like to focus your time and energy, run those ideas through this list of 5 items to see if there is an answer around the 5 that makes sense to you (and if you haven’t been keeping a list, I encourage you to start).

I hope this gets you closer to finding your path and purpose!

Here’s a mock question? Should you allow tobacco companies to advertise with your company. This means exposing their brand and messaging to your community.

Here’s the dilemma…the evidence tells us that smoking causes cancer and host of other health problems, but the tobacco industry creates jobs and it’s a free country, people can smoke if they want to, so who are we to judge? Smoking related illness cost the taxpayer millions of dollars per year in healthcare resources and burden the already strained healthcare networks. That’s not a good thing right?

What about the cash these advertisers give you? You could use that money to experiment and build life changing products.

What about the optics? How much revenue will they bring in for the company? What is if it’s only 10% of total ad revenue vs. 50%? Is there a threshold % that makes it acceptable? By allowing these brands to advertise are you indirectly enticing more kids to start smoking?

Other companies take their money, why shouldn’t you?

See what I mean…it’s starts to get really sticky when you try to answer the question within an intellectual framework. You could probably justify a yes or a no answer.

Why not try something different? Ask your gut the same question with the following context – Are you making the world a better place by [insert question]. In other words are you contributing to a better world by advertising cigarettes to your audience. Avoid the temptation to define “better” or “world”, just ask yourself the question. Your gut will give you the answer. It may not be the answer you want to hear, but my advice would be to go with it.

When I don’t go with my gut on these things, I normally fall on my face.

In a very short time period we’ve moved from close knit community of multi generational family and friends to a diaspora. It’s not in our DNA to be unplugged and separated from the tribe.

Raising kids is a great example. Most young mothers give birth in the hospital and are shipped out and home the next day. There they sit with a new born child with zero support from immediate family who are probably living in another city or even another country. In response to this there’s a growing trend for young parents to employee a night nurse during the postpartum period. A night nurse or midwife “baby sits” during the night and helps guide the new mother through the first couple of weeks. It also allows the parents to get some sleep and be engaged when they are with the child. In the past there would be sisters, aunts, mothers, grandmothers and friends to teach and cover for the mother. If you think about it it’s actually not such a crazy luxury but a necessity and going back to our village roots. It’s sad that the majority of young mothers can’t afford this extra help and have to go it alone.

Skype and Facetime don’t bridge the gap. We need physical interaction and to be around people that know us. We are under the illusion that we are now more connected than we have ever been, while it’s actually quite the opposite.

Invest in your friendships and family bonds – build a village.

1. Clean air and water

2. Public places and restaurants are accessible by wheelchair

3. California Highway Patrol – Bad drivers kill people. Traffic enforcement and speed control for humans is necessary

4. NPR – Independent press and Morning Edition every weekday

5. Public safety laws are respected and enforced

6. Cigarette smoking in public is pretty much outlawed and shamed

7. Public transport

8. Organic produce is becoming accessible and affordable

9. Food hygiene and safety standards are enforced in restaurants

10. Public Parks like Alta Plaza, Lafayette, Duboce and  The Presidio

11. The Affordable Healthcare Act

12. WiFi – Fast, accessible and affordable

13. A regulated taxi industry

Happy 2013!

I view the majority of my photos via Twitter (I use Twitter way more than I use FB) and it’s a schlepp to click through into Instagram site and I’d rather not. The new Twitter photo app is painful but I’ll learn and the UI will get better. In the interim I’m using the Flickr App and might stick with it.

Hubris may end up being Instagram’s fatal flaw. My hunch is they’ve overestimated user loyalty and underestimated the power of the Twitter platform. I for one will stick with Twitter and continue to share photos that can be quickly accessed within the feed. I’m already filtering out instagr.am pic links, in favor of Twitter pics and Flickr

I get it that FB and Twitter are competing for people’s time and that Instagram is trying to become the next Twitter, but this move has inconvenienced me and pushed me away. Instagram may have miscalculated here … it’s very slick photo sharing app that hit the market at the perfect time, but it might find out that convenience trumps fancy filters.

UPDATE: Today Instagram released a new terms of service that has alienated its loyal users. Instagram can now sell your photos to third parties for advertising without telling you. Here’s the link 

I’m heading back to Cape Town in December. Travelling and living abroad has always made this city more beautiful to me. Every time I return I appreciate it more and more. Watching the sun go down on on the Atlantic Seaboard with the Twelve Apostles behind me is unforgettable and will never fail to move me. Sitting in Kirstenbosch gardens at the foot of Devil’s Peak on a Sunday evening listening to a jazz band is something everyone should experience.

I live in San Francisco and standing in the Marin Headlands and looking back onto the white city of San Francisco as the sun sets is breathtaking and humbling. It always reminds me of Table Mountain with the cloud pouring over the top and disappearing into Oranjazicht . Same light, same cloud sweeping in – a different ocean but just as powerful.

There are beautiful places all over the world but there’s no other place in the world with the same concentration of beauty as Cape Town and the surrounding areas of Stellenbosch, Noordhoek and Constantia. Mediterranean climate, winelands  beaches, mountains, cityscapes and beautiful people all within a 50 km radius.

Can’t wait to see you again Cape Town

Photo Credit - Camps Bay

From the very first game things didn’t go according to plan. The old fox was all about small chop shots to my backhand and drop shots that died on impact. He hardly moved around the court and every time I increased the power he responded with a sliced lob that took the power out of the rally.

Frustrated and four games down in the first set I needed a change in strategy. I made the decision to beat him at his own game. My game changed from hard serve and top spin forehands to unfamiliar sliced back hands and top spin lobs. The whole game slowed down and I ended up getting thrashed love and love.

My mistake was changing my game to match my opponent’s strengths. In hindsight I should have raised my own game and gone back to core principles that worked for me. The old fox was playing to his survival strengths of low tempo, precision shots and unforced errors…not the best style for a 15 year old opponent.

Next time you are confronted with an opponent or competitor in your space, try raising your game first. Resist the urge to morph into and replicate what is beating you. Work harder and focus on your strengths.

Try this when you spend time with family or travel this holiday season. Ask what you can offer to family and friends or even the place you are visiting. That simple gesture will change the context of the interaction. It removes expectation and replaces it with an intention to serve. Try it, you’ll be surprised by the feeling.