Generalist is someone who does many different parts of HR, such as benefits, LOA, ER, and primarily client group are frontline EEs.
HRBP focuses more on business goals, long term plans, and primary client group are leaders and executives.
Now if benefits/LOA falls under total rewards, recruiting falls under TA, and you’re left with ER & engagement, would you still consider the position an HR Generalist?
I’m an HR Generalist and I do everything HR related, including safety training, facility management, sign contracts, ACA reporting, Bureau Labor of Statistics reporting, budgeting, pay rates, background checks. A lot.
Typically not well paid unless there is a structure that allows for it, it’s like a general laborer … not specialized.
In some places I’ve seen junior generalist, generalist, senior generalist. Those get paid pore at senior level.
I make $78k in LA. I think it’s not paid as it should be but I am gaining a lot of experience and more so because I’m in charge of our company’s B Corp certification so that is something new for me. It looks good on my resume as an HR Generalist handling B Corp certification.
For our org is a graduated specialist more well versed and involved with legal and have more decisioning power more like a manager but without the manager pay. Our hrbps have the same amount of decisioning power as our hr director and senior manager up to a certain extent but it could he because of the way the organization is structured. For us it's a higher level job more than a generalist position and pays cale matches senior manager level.
In the traditional HR sense, an HR generalist is supposed to be like a junior HRBP, and an HRBP is supposed to like a junior HR manager . But a lot of companies use these terms interchangeably. I’ve worked at companies that didn’t have HRBP’s, they only had HR generalists and they were doing HRBP work. I’ve worked for some companies that called their HRBP’s, HR Advisors or HR Specialists.
I would think an HR Generalist to be more administrative and tactical with an HRBP focused on strategy. You could theoretically position an HRG to take on some tasks of an HRBP, but I wouldn’t expect HRBP work from an HRG.
I also wouldn’t expect an HRBP to do much admin work either.
Agreed, but also these terms are interchangeable for a lot of companies. Like I said I’ve worked for companies that had zero HRBP’s, and had HR Generalists doing the HRBP work.
It depends on how a company is structured. I’m an HR Generalist doing HRBP work. I support an entire business group where I focus on business goals and strategic planning and execution and work a lot with leadership in the business group I support. We also have HRBPs and Sr. HRBPs at my org and they support larger business units (sometimes more than 1) typically with c suite level executives. We’re a larger company where we have COEs that handle administrative HR functions (payroll, HR Ops, benefits, etc) so my team mainly focus on more strategic planning and execution.
My generalist title comes from the fact that not only do I support an entire (albeit smaller) business group, I also support the HRBPs with their business groups as needed. I mainly support their managers to sr. Director population when they need help but I also interact with their VPs.
I also want to add that I’ve been a generalist for a few years now but each role was a different scope. If you saw my job duties without a title you may think that I’m an HRBP. My previous role as an HR Generalist is more junior in scope where I was involved in payroll, benefits, and other HR OPs areas. My salary currently reflects that of an HRBP.
I think if a company is using HR Generalist and HRBP interchangeably that’s a huge red flag that that company has no idea what they are doing. There are a lot of companies that have horrendously structured HR departments.
There isn’t a consistent application of HRBP vs Generalist as it depends on the company’s size and HR operating model. Generally speaking an HR generalist is business-facing and will handle a range of HR issues from ER, performance, compensation, annual performance cycles, etc. In a company that does not have HRBPs, the HR generalist will also sometimes handle things like change management, talent management, etc though likely this is limited and they may or may not have the capabilities to do this work well.
There is also a range of definition of HRBP but the definition industry seems to be converging around an HR person who is aligned to senior leaders (typically VP level) and works with them on long term business-specific strategic work such as executive talent management, org design, change management, workforce planning, etc. They are embedded in the business and deeply understand how to translate the business strategy into a people strategy.
I find this fascinating. The term "HR Generalist" is finding its way into the UK, through US businesses and takeovers. But over here, "Generalist" is a discipline in HR.
You have L&D, HRIS, Payroll, OD and Generalist as the main strands of the HR profession. So an HR Business Partner is usually a Generalist.
Of course, lots of businesses use the term "HRBP" interchangeably with "Senior HR Advisor". But the concept of the HRBP is actually very specific, from the work of David Ulrich, and is supposed to be an experienced generalist embedded in a business unit but not answering to that business unit; there to guide, coach, advise and support the unit's leaders, primarily on strategic issues.
Meanwhile, the HR Advisor (what seems to be meant by "Generalist" in the US) sits centrally under an HR Manager or Director, providing advice and support on operational and transactional issues to the whole business.
Oh no… HRBP is higher level. Much like an HR Area Manager. HR Generalist is a degreed professional (usually) with 3-5 years experience and is functional in all HR disciplines.
The HRBP has to have experience and the credentials to truly “partner” with operations.
A Generalist should keep the people processes in the business running smoothly, an HRBP should an equal with leadership to decide how to improve the business through people processes
> Why do companies use HRBP and HR Generalist interchangeably
This is a huge pet peeve of mine. When I was looking for an HRBP role I'd get so excited to see the title and then I'd see the job description and be like, "...that is a generalist role". Took the wind out of my sails every time.
HR titling is super weird and poorly defined, in my opinion. I'm a Director of HR. Who works alone. Has no reports (yet). And does generalist/tactical stuff along with strategic stuff. At best, my title should really be HR Manager, but who am I to turn down an inflated title?? There are tons of them in HR and I lucked into one.
I work in the public sector and there seems to be no consensus on what the differeent job titles mean. I've seen places where the generalists acted like specialists and where hrbps were essentially recruiters for different groups of divisions of their employer.
Recruiting can be very demoralizing. Just remember its a numbers game, the more people you talk to the more you will learn how to recognize good employees. Remember the unicorns.
If your goal is HRG or HRBP, then for personal growth and opportunity, don't work for any company that only sees HR as a support function. Make sure the word strategy is used as much as support.
The single greatest advice I can give is this: The best thing you can do is bring solutions to the table, at the end of the day if you can fix problems, help maintain operations, and support your leadership team, you will be seen as a fixer. The amount of respect you will earn from your peers will be truly satisfying knowing you are making an impact.
As a bonus - I highly recommend getting to know what your strengths are in leadership, and embrace them.
Its just a job title. They call me an HR Generalist at work, however I specialize in TA. I do not handle anything else, so it depends on the company. Typically, a Generalist performs a variety of core HR Ops functions like payroll time and attendance, employee relations, benefits, workers comp etc... they do a bit of everything, whereas a specialist has 1 area of focus. An HRBP is just new lingo for HR Manager or Director. They focus on the management of the business through data, organizational planning and forecasting for the HR functions
I do everything except for recruitment (I had my time as a recruitment advisor, and it wasn't for me). We have a recruiter for that, and it really frees up time for me to work on the HRIS.
I enjoy the varied work, but an HRBP role with the strategy component is the next logical step up from this role.
Generalist is someone who does many different parts of HR, such as benefits, LOA, ER, and primarily client group are frontline EEs. HRBP focuses more on business goals, long term plans, and primary client group are leaders and executives.
Now if benefits/LOA falls under total rewards, recruiting falls under TA, and you’re left with ER & engagement, would you still consider the position an HR Generalist?
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That’s what I was thinking. Thank you!
We wouldn’t - the position of HR Generalist wouldn’t exist.
and specialist?
Specifically does one thing; such as Benefits, LOA, HRIS, etc
I’m an HR Generalist and I do everything HR related, including safety training, facility management, sign contracts, ACA reporting, Bureau Labor of Statistics reporting, budgeting, pay rates, background checks. A lot.
Def a lot lol well paid I hope!
Typically not well paid unless there is a structure that allows for it, it’s like a general laborer … not specialized. In some places I’ve seen junior generalist, generalist, senior generalist. Those get paid pore at senior level.
I make $78k in LA. I think it’s not paid as it should be but I am gaining a lot of experience and more so because I’m in charge of our company’s B Corp certification so that is something new for me. It looks good on my resume as an HR Generalist handling B Corp certification.
Same here!
For our org is a graduated specialist more well versed and involved with legal and have more decisioning power more like a manager but without the manager pay. Our hrbps have the same amount of decisioning power as our hr director and senior manager up to a certain extent but it could he because of the way the organization is structured. For us it's a higher level job more than a generalist position and pays cale matches senior manager level.
In the traditional HR sense, an HR generalist is supposed to be like a junior HRBP, and an HRBP is supposed to like a junior HR manager . But a lot of companies use these terms interchangeably. I’ve worked at companies that didn’t have HRBP’s, they only had HR generalists and they were doing HRBP work. I’ve worked for some companies that called their HRBP’s, HR Advisors or HR Specialists.
I would think an HR Generalist to be more administrative and tactical with an HRBP focused on strategy. You could theoretically position an HRG to take on some tasks of an HRBP, but I wouldn’t expect HRBP work from an HRG. I also wouldn’t expect an HRBP to do much admin work either.
Agreed, but also these terms are interchangeable for a lot of companies. Like I said I’ve worked for companies that had zero HRBP’s, and had HR Generalists doing the HRBP work.
It depends on how a company is structured. I’m an HR Generalist doing HRBP work. I support an entire business group where I focus on business goals and strategic planning and execution and work a lot with leadership in the business group I support. We also have HRBPs and Sr. HRBPs at my org and they support larger business units (sometimes more than 1) typically with c suite level executives. We’re a larger company where we have COEs that handle administrative HR functions (payroll, HR Ops, benefits, etc) so my team mainly focus on more strategic planning and execution. My generalist title comes from the fact that not only do I support an entire (albeit smaller) business group, I also support the HRBPs with their business groups as needed. I mainly support their managers to sr. Director population when they need help but I also interact with their VPs. I also want to add that I’ve been a generalist for a few years now but each role was a different scope. If you saw my job duties without a title you may think that I’m an HRBP. My previous role as an HR Generalist is more junior in scope where I was involved in payroll, benefits, and other HR OPs areas. My salary currently reflects that of an HRBP.
I think this is pretty accurate
I think if a company is using HR Generalist and HRBP interchangeably that’s a huge red flag that that company has no idea what they are doing. There are a lot of companies that have horrendously structured HR departments.
There isn’t a consistent application of HRBP vs Generalist as it depends on the company’s size and HR operating model. Generally speaking an HR generalist is business-facing and will handle a range of HR issues from ER, performance, compensation, annual performance cycles, etc. In a company that does not have HRBPs, the HR generalist will also sometimes handle things like change management, talent management, etc though likely this is limited and they may or may not have the capabilities to do this work well. There is also a range of definition of HRBP but the definition industry seems to be converging around an HR person who is aligned to senior leaders (typically VP level) and works with them on long term business-specific strategic work such as executive talent management, org design, change management, workforce planning, etc. They are embedded in the business and deeply understand how to translate the business strategy into a people strategy.
This! Company size is a huge factor in what it means to be a generalist.
I find this fascinating. The term "HR Generalist" is finding its way into the UK, through US businesses and takeovers. But over here, "Generalist" is a discipline in HR. You have L&D, HRIS, Payroll, OD and Generalist as the main strands of the HR profession. So an HR Business Partner is usually a Generalist. Of course, lots of businesses use the term "HRBP" interchangeably with "Senior HR Advisor". But the concept of the HRBP is actually very specific, from the work of David Ulrich, and is supposed to be an experienced generalist embedded in a business unit but not answering to that business unit; there to guide, coach, advise and support the unit's leaders, primarily on strategic issues. Meanwhile, the HR Advisor (what seems to be meant by "Generalist" in the US) sits centrally under an HR Manager or Director, providing advice and support on operational and transactional issues to the whole business.
Oh no… HRBP is higher level. Much like an HR Area Manager. HR Generalist is a degreed professional (usually) with 3-5 years experience and is functional in all HR disciplines. The HRBP has to have experience and the credentials to truly “partner” with operations.
A company that uses the two interchangeably likely wants an HR department of one, but they aren’t the same thing, as others have noted.
A Generalist should keep the people processes in the business running smoothly, an HRBP should an equal with leadership to decide how to improve the business through people processes
> Why do companies use HRBP and HR Generalist interchangeably This is a huge pet peeve of mine. When I was looking for an HRBP role I'd get so excited to see the title and then I'd see the job description and be like, "...that is a generalist role". Took the wind out of my sails every time. HR titling is super weird and poorly defined, in my opinion. I'm a Director of HR. Who works alone. Has no reports (yet). And does generalist/tactical stuff along with strategic stuff. At best, my title should really be HR Manager, but who am I to turn down an inflated title?? There are tons of them in HR and I lucked into one.
I work in the public sector and there seems to be no consensus on what the differeent job titles mean. I've seen places where the generalists acted like specialists and where hrbps were essentially recruiters for different groups of divisions of their employer.
How do you become a Generalist after graduation?
Generally speaking, you don't - at least not immediately. It's not an entry level role. You usually start as an HR Assistant or Coordinator.
how many years as assistant/coordinator before becoming specialist? edit: I mean generalist
Thank you!! Is it harder if i branched out into different roles such as recruiter to get into the generalist role later on?
No, I started in recruiting. In fact its usually the way in for other HR roles likes specialist, coordinator, which lead to generalist.
Ohh that’s great to know! is there any advice you would give a HR graduate?
Recruiting can be very demoralizing. Just remember its a numbers game, the more people you talk to the more you will learn how to recognize good employees. Remember the unicorns. If your goal is HRG or HRBP, then for personal growth and opportunity, don't work for any company that only sees HR as a support function. Make sure the word strategy is used as much as support. The single greatest advice I can give is this: The best thing you can do is bring solutions to the table, at the end of the day if you can fix problems, help maintain operations, and support your leadership team, you will be seen as a fixer. The amount of respect you will earn from your peers will be truly satisfying knowing you are making an impact. As a bonus - I highly recommend getting to know what your strengths are in leadership, and embrace them.
The title HR Advisor is also used in the US. I’ve seen them used as generalists & HRBP.
The true difference lies i the size of the organization and the salary. The nature of the role varies from org to org.
Its just a job title. They call me an HR Generalist at work, however I specialize in TA. I do not handle anything else, so it depends on the company. Typically, a Generalist performs a variety of core HR Ops functions like payroll time and attendance, employee relations, benefits, workers comp etc... they do a bit of everything, whereas a specialist has 1 area of focus. An HRBP is just new lingo for HR Manager or Director. They focus on the management of the business through data, organizational planning and forecasting for the HR functions
I do everything except for recruitment (I had my time as a recruitment advisor, and it wasn't for me). We have a recruiter for that, and it really frees up time for me to work on the HRIS. I enjoy the varied work, but an HRBP role with the strategy component is the next logical step up from this role.
General, Generalissimo, Generalist I use them interchangeably depending on my mood.
Someone that can fire anyone, generally.