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Overview

Business Partners allow organisations to assign dedicated stakeholders—such as HR Business Partners (HRBPs), Finance BPs, or Legal BPs—to specific groups of employees.
Unlike reporting managers or department heads, Business Partners are assigned based on organisational needs. This ensures the right stakeholder is involved in employee-related processes across the employee lifecycle, regardless of reporting structure, business unit, or location.
Business Partners can be used in:
  • Employee profiles
  • Approval workflows
  • Notification workflows

Who can access this feature?

  • HR/Admins
    • Create and manage Business Partner roles
    • Assign Business Partners to employee groups
    • Configure permissions
  • Managers & Employees
    • View assigned Business Partners on employee profiles

Setting up Business Partners

Step 1: Navigate to Business Partners

  1. Go to Settings > Roles & Permissions
  2. Open the Business Partners tab

This is where you can create and manage Business Partner roles.

 

Step 2: Create a Business Partner role

When the feature is enabled, Keka provides a default role HRBP Default
You can either use this role or create new ones such as:
  • Finance BP
  • Legal BP
  • Payroll BP
  • Recruitment BP

To create a role:

  1. Click Create Role
  2. Choose:
    • Create from Scratch, or
    • Clone Existing Role
  3. Enter:
    • Role Name
    • Description
  4. Configure permissions
  5. Click Save
The role will be available in the Business Partners tab and employee profiles

Assigning Business Partners

Business Partners are assigned using employee scopes.

To add a Business Partner:

  1. Open the required Business Partner role
  2. Click +Add New
  3. Define the employee scope
  4. Select the user for that scope
  5. Click Save
Each scope can have one assigned Business Partner.

How scope-based assignment works

Employees are automatically mapped to a Business Partner if they match a defined scope.
Example configuration:

Viewing Business Partners on employee profiles

To view assigned Business Partners:
Go to
Employee Profile > Job Information > Organisation Details
  • Each Business Partner role appears as a separate field
  • Visible to both employees and admins

Possible states

  • Single assignment
    • HRBP: Bobin
  • Multiple assignments
    • HRBP: Deepa, Priyanka
  • No assignment
    • HRBP: —

Using Business Partners in workflows

Approval workflows

You can use Business Partners in approval chains.

To configure:

  1. Open the workflow
  2. Add an approval stage
  3. Select Business Partners
  4. Choose the required role (e.g., HRBP)
Approvals will automatically route to the Business Partner assigned to the employee.
Example:
  • Employee assigned to Bobin → routed to Bobin
  • Employee assigned to Deepa → routed to Deepa
No additional configuration is required.
 

Email notifications

Business Partners can also be selected in email trigger configurations.
This allows you to:
  • Automatically notify the relevant Business Partner
  • Trigger alerts during lifecycle events or approvals

Managing permissions

You can update permissions for any Business Partner role.
  1. Open the role
  2. Click Manage Permissions
  3. Update permissions as required
  4. Click Save
Permissions control what Business Partners can access and manage in the system.

 

Deleting a Business Partner role

A role can be deleted only if:
  • No users are assigned to it
  • At least one other Business Partner role exists

What happens after deletion

  • The role is removed from:
    • Business Partners
    • Employee profiles
    • Approval workflows
    • Email triggers

Important notes

  • Business Partner assignments are independent of reporting managers
  • Assignment is based on employee scope conditions
  • Each scope supports only one Business Partner
  • Employees may have multiple Business Partners if they match multiple scopes

Example scenario

An organisation assigns HRBPs based on business units.
  • An employee belongs to Private Wealth (Mumbai)
  • Matches multiple scopes
  • Gets assigned:
    • Deepa (Department-based scope)
    • Priyanka (Location-based scope)
When the employee raises a request:
  • Approval is automatically routed to the relevant Business Partner

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an employee have multiple Business Partners?

Yes. If an employee matches multiple scopes, multiple Business Partners can be assigned.

 

Can Business Partners be used in approval workflows?

Yes. Any Business Partner role can be added to approval chains.

 

Can Business Partners receive notifications?

Yes. They can be selected in email triggers and workflow notifications.

 

Can I create roles other than HRBP?

Yes. You can create roles like Finance BP, Legal BP, Payroll BP, or any custom role.

 

Are Business Partners linked to reporting managers?

No. They are independent of reporting structure and are assigned using scopes.

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