LESSON SCRIPT

The HR Generalist:
Driving Business Value

The HR Generalist: Driving Business Value | LESSON SCRIPT
02

This is the story of two HR generalists, Anna and Sejal. Both are globe. In doing so, you’ll learn what an HR generalist is, the value that
working in small organizations. Both are employed as HR general- an HR generalist provides, and how a generalist can make the organiza-
ists. And both are really, really, really busy. tion they work for more successful. You’ll also learn what HR skills have
to do with throwing a picnic.
Although they look alike, there are big differences in what they’re
working on. Anna is working on implementing a new psychometric
assessment. She spends considerable time on organizing employ- WHAT IS AN HR GENERALIST?
ee-orientation training and customer services training, and she coaches
But first, let’s take a look at what a generalist actually is. Let’s start with
employees on their wellbeing. Sejal on the other hand has been work-
the basic question. What is an HR generalist? Obviously, a generalist is
ing primarily on perfecting an automated employee onboarding pro-
not a specialist. Meaning that they’re involved with all kinds of different
cess, has a list of operational tasks that keeps increasing, and spends
HR activities, they have diverse skills, interests, and habits, and they
quite some time on ensuring that newly hired foreign employees get
can work in small and medium but also in large enterprises.
work permits. This helps her to close hard-to-fill roles because this way
the company can hire workers globally.
The HR generalist is usually the first point of contact for employees
while liaising with business leaders regarding the implementation of HR
The organizations Anna and Sejal work for are also vastly different.
operations, policies, and processes. As a result, they have a wide scope.
Anna works for a boutique hotel chain with just short of 200 employ-
Anna and Sejal are both busy, and they have a long to-do list.
ees that has been around for over 30 years, while Sejal works for a
travel technology company that was founded five years ago and is
Their day-to-day activities include, and this is a long list, sourcing,
growing rapidly.
interviewing, negotiation with candidates, building an employer brand,
communication, operations, culture-building, compensations and
Anna and Sejal are both HR generalists, both work in the travel industry,
benefits, promotions, employee experience, creating and setting out
and their companies have the same number of employees. However,
engagement surveys, being a trusted person or employee confidant,
their day-to-day work and their priorities are vastly different.
managing and implementing HR technology, onboarding, offboarding,
exit interviews, learning, performance management, negotiation with
In this lesson, we’ll expand on Anna, Sejal, and the hundreds of thou-
labor unions, facilitating meetings, solving conflicts, being the office
sands of HR generalists that are working in organizations around the
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manager and all-around problem solver. That’s what I call a broad broader scope who often reports into a business leader, often an opera-
scope. tions lead, COO, or CEO.

Because of this wide scope you will never be out of work. It is therefore In this program, we will focus on generalists working in predominantly
crucial to prioritize those activities that matter. Otherwise, you risk run- smaller organizations. However, many of the lessons that you’ll learn
ning a thousand errands without making an impact. in this program are applicable to larger organizations as well, simply
because the value the HR generalist provides is mostly the same. Good
Though Anna’s and Sejal’s organizations are quite small, HR general- HR generalists are value drivers for the organization.
ists can work in organizations ranging from tens to tens of thousands
of employees. In smaller organizations, HR generalists are often the
WHAT VALUE DOES AN HR GENERALIST PROVIDE?
people running all the core HR processes as there are no specialists. In
larger organizations, generalists work with specialists to deliver HR ser-
Even though Anna and Sejal’s work is vastly different, if we take a step
vices. In these organizations, they often occupy more entry-level posi-
back, we will see that they contribute the same thing to their organiza-
tions where they are exposed to many different HR areas and can grow
tion. In smaller organizations, great HR generalists contribute incredi-
into a business partner, consultant, project manager, or specialist role.
ble value in four ways. These are HR’s main value drivers.
Larger organizations may also employ HR generalists when they open
a new office so that the generalists can ensure that HR policies are
First, they are the embodiment of the company’s culture. Because of
aligned with local regulations, customs, ensure a good employee expe-
their involvement in so many different visible processes, they are in a
rience, and be on location for recruiting and other operational activities.
unique place to shape the company’s culture. An example here at the
Academy to Innovate HR is Lily, our People and Operations Manager.
This means that all the content in this program is relevant for general-
Remember Lily as you’ll be seeing a lot more of her. She set up a sim-
ists in both large and small organizations. The difference is that in larger
ple but effective office recycling system which she called our “Trash
organizations, generalists have a narrow scope of work but a clear
Separation SOP,” SOP standing for standard operating procedure. Our
career path, get additional support from specialists and support func-
team here at AIHR is relatively young. Most are in their early thirties.
tions, and report into an experienced HR manager. Whereas, in smaller
And they’re concerned about the environment. That extra effort that
organizations, the HR generalist is often a one-person band with a
Lily put in was appreciated and celebrated. And more than a year later,
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04
people still remember it. Imagine the cumulative impact that tens or
even hundreds of these small actions a year can make on how people
connect to your organization and your culture.
The second way in which the HR generalist contributes is by hiring the
right people. In smaller organizations, each new employee represents a
substantive part of the workforce. These smaller organizations are also
often more labor-intensive as they have fewer automated processes,
making hiring decisions crucial. If there is an HR team that is excellent
in finding and hiring the right people that fit the company culture, this
will boost the business tremendously.
Third, covering basic administrative processes. This may not sound very
sexy but it is very valuable to the business. An HR generalist helps the
company execute better and limits its liability. Examples includes:
• Protecting the company’s intellectual property and sensitive
information through a high-quality employment contract,
• Limiting risk by extending the notice period or by ensuring busi-
ness continuity by giving fixed-term contracts that cannot be
canceled easily by employees,
• Basic workforce planning by creating a hiring roadmap based on
the company’s growth ambitions,
• Diversifying the workforce through the use of flexible contracts, or
like Sejal did, by requesting work permits for foreign employees.
There are many levers that an HR generalist can turn that will make a
noticeable difference in the way the company operates.
Fourth, creating unique capabilities. Each of the three factors I men-
tioned earlier help to create a competitive advantage for the organiza-
tion. However, there are many more ways an HR generalist can con-
tribute to building organizational capabilities that are unique and that
will set the organization apart from its competition. One example I’ve
seen is a mid-sized packaging company that has highly flexible working
times where employees can bank up overtime. This gives the organiza-
tion a unique agility when during busy periods, people work long hours,
while during the down season, people enjoy their banked-up time off.
This way the organization can easily scale up or down without incurring
extra overtime costs. By designing policies like these, HR adds to the
organization’s competitive advantage.
The activities that you’ll spend time on as an HR generalist will depend
on your organization’s context. However, if you want to focus on the few
things that matter, these four value drivers form a great framework.
Because each organization is so different there is no predefined road-
map on how to do this successfully. In order to add value to the organi-
zation, it is crucial to align what HR does with the organizational strat-
egy. You’ll learn about that in much more detail in the activities and
lessons to come.
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05

WHAT SKILLS DOES AN HR GENERALIST NEED? employee relations, and the basics of employee engagement. And third
operational skills such as prioritization, adaptability, learning agility,
By now, you’re probably wondering, if I have to work on so many dif-
and end-to-end process development and execution.
ferent tasks, what are the skills that I need to develop as an HR gener-
alist? This question is very hard to answer. You have already seen how
There’s also a combination of things in your picnic basket that is spe-
different the activities were that Anna and Sejal worked on, as well as
cific to you and your preference, the beverage that you prefer, which
the context that they worked in. Asking what skills you need to develop
snacks you like, and so on. Even though these will vary, we believe that
as an HR generalist is like asking what skills does a worker needs?
successful HR generalists have mastered five key skills: critical think-
Simply put, a worker needs a lot of skills.
ing, conflict management, decision making and judgment, communica-
tion, and influencing.
The HR generalist is a one-person band. The buck stops with them.
They manage end-to-end processes and they take care of almost
Lastly, depending on where you will host your picnic, you might need
everything related to people management both from the employee and
certain skills specific to that environment. If the sun is particularly
the manager side.
strong, you may need an umbrella for shade. For HR generalists, these
are context-specific skills that will depend on your specific organization
To identify the skills that HR generalists require, let’s use the metaphor
or environment. For example, an HR generalist working in a highly regu-
of a picnic. There are essentials that you need to have to be able to go
lated environment, such as insurances, might require industry-specific
on a picnic, such as a blanket, a basket, and cutlery, that will always be
knowledge or skills to be effective.
relevant to any picnic.

This last factor is, in my opinion, underrated. To illustrate this, let me

For HR generalists, these are core and technical HR skills, including the
ask you a question about us at the Academy to Innovate HR. You may
core skills in our T-shaped HR competency framework of business acu-
know us a little by now but if you’re joining us for the first time, you
men, data literacy, digital dexterity, and people advocacy.
should know that we’re a fast-growing company that moves quickly and
relies on technology.
But also, technical skills, such as knowledge about HR practices, pol-
icies, processes, and legislation. This also includes working knowl-
If you were me, a founder of AIHR, what kind of background and skill
edge of talent acquisition, HR operations with a focus on payroll and
The HR Generalist: Driving Business Value | LESSON SCRIPT
06

set would you look for in an HR generalist to help maximize the value HR To identify what these capabilities are, you need to deeply understand
can bring to the company? Pause the lesson and give it some thought. your organization. That’s where we’re heading next, analyzing your
organization and seeing how this impacts your strategic HR priorities.
When we were looking to make our first HR hire, we were looking for It’s exciting stuff. So, I look forward to seeing you in the next lesson.
someone with a few years of experience in a fast-growing organization
rather than someone with 20 years of experience doing HR in a much
more stable organization. Similarly, hiring someone who understood
a technology company was crucial. That’s why we hired Lily, who had
worked in a fast-growing company before, had a lot of experience in
HR operations, and who really enjoyed the challenge of having to do a
thousand things when you only have time for a handful. Lily fit the team
perfectly, so we nailed that hire. And Lily has been an essential part of
the team ever since.

And with that, let’s wrap up this lesson. So far, you’ve learned what an
HR generalist is, the value that an HR generalist provides, and how a
generalist can make the organization they work for more successful. In
your day-to-day work, you face a wide variety of tasks. Because you will
not be able to do everything you’d like to do, it is crucial to know what
you should focus on in order to drive value for the organization.

You have learned that as a generalist, you drive that value by building
a culture optimized for the organization, hiring the right people who fit
in this culture, and helping the organization forward, by taking care of
administration, and in doing so, limiting liability and helping build the
unique capabilities your organization needs to be competitive.