As businesses adjust to the monumental shifts brought on by technology, the role of the HR Business Partner is becoming more strategic. What does that mean for today’s HRBPs? How can we grow into these new opportunities?

As more and more data about our people becomes available to HRBPs, we face a complex and delicate question: How can we leverage that data to help solve talent-related problems in the business? And how can we develop our skills to not only find the data, but to draw critical insights from it?

When we have important information to share, we have to know how to do it. “Just the facts” won’t cut it: we have to use our influence and tell good stories to address real problems.

HRBPs unique position at the intersection of strategy, organization, and talent makes us especially likely to be called on to give advice, coaching, and mentorship to an array of colleagues both up and down the org chart. How do we build the trust needed to successfully fill that role? What other tools do we need to develop?

As HRBPs, we often find ourselves straddling the needs of our business unit and the needs of the overall organization. Sometimes, that balancing act is quite tricky. But it also offers us a unique perspective to have an independent voice, offering strategic support and feedback to shape our teams in a way no one else can.