What is the David Ulrich human resource model?

The Ulrich HR model is a framework for organising roles and responsibilities across HR departments. It specifies who is in charge of and accountable for the essential duties that contribute to the smooth operation of any firm. David Ulrich presented this HR model in 1995 as a method of structuring HR operations.

The model is intended for significant organisations with vast and cumbersome teams. It is designed to simplify working and guarantee that every team member understands their duties and responsibilities and what they are accountable for.

The model's primary objectives are as follows:

  • Establish a high-functioning and cohesive team structure

  • Define each departmental position

  • Ensure the organisation is running well and operating competitively

  • Measure performance to do better repeatedly

The Ulrich model's four components:

  1. Business partners in human resources (HRBPS)

Human resource business partners serve as "internal consultants" to senior leaders and/or line managers. HRBPs are often embedded within specific business units. They act as HR generalists to managers and their staff, giving strategic and non-strategic HR advice and assistance based on the business unit's particular needs. HRBPs are frequently considered the interface or liaison between managers and the services, processes, and knowledge held within the HR function.

  1. Excellence centres / expertise centres (COE)

Centres of competence are small groups of professionals with specialised HR knowledge collaborating to create and promote best practices in their field. Learning and development, salary and benefits, employee relations, organisational growth, change management, and recruiting are all common examples.

  1. Shared services / shared service centres

A distinct, generally rather large business unit that conducts identical administrative operations for other business units is known as shared services. For example, rather than having payroll and leave tracking spread across numerous office locations, shared services consolidate and centralise the activity through a single processing point. Shared service centres come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Self-service portals/intranets and help desks for more complicated inquiries are frequently coupled with shared services. They might be onshore or offshore, built up and operated in-house or outsourced to a third-party supplier, and service regional or global business divisions. They might include HR-specific transactions or be mixed with others (IT, finance, procurement, etc.).

Some organisations charge a price for services returned to the business unit, while others include the cost of maintaining the shared services operation in their overall operating expenses.

  1. Employee advocate

An organisation must be mindful of its employees' interests and requirements. An employee advocate, also known as an employee champion, is the individual in charge of encouraging and rewarding employees in a business by creating a good atmosphere. Ulrich and Rasmussen (2015) This individual assists in administering employee satisfaction and issuing surveys in an organisation. This individual also assists in developing new learning opportunities for an organisation's workforce.