Future of HR and Learning Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Head of Learning and Development, Learning and Development Manager and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-186

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in HR, talent management, organisational development or Learning and Development, including familiarity with basic learning processes such as needs analysis, programme design or performance discussions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

HR and learning leaders must prepare workforces for changing skill demands, AI-assisted work, hybrid delivery, internal mobility and rising expectations for personalised development. Many learning functions still measure course attendance rather than capability application, while HR teams struggle to connect workforce planning, job architecture, career pathways and learning investment. The result is duplicated content, unclear priorities and limited evidence of business value.

This course examines how HR and Learning & Development can respond through skills-based workforce practices, performance consulting, learning experience design, digital platforms, responsible AI, manager-led development and evidence-based measurement. Participants learn to identify capability gaps, shape a learning portfolio, design accessible learning journeys, assess technology choices and build governance for data, content and vendors. They also examine how talent marketplaces, coaching, communities of practice and internal career moves can support continuous development.

Five instructor-led days combine concise briefings with sector-based cases, facilitated analysis, simulations and structured planning. Cases reflect issues faced by banks, public bodies, multinationals and mission-driven organisations, including reskilling for automation, improving manager capability, introducing AI learning tools and measuring behavioural transfer. Participants leave with a future-ready HR and learning transformation roadmap, supported by a skills-gap analysis, learning strategy canvas, measurement plan and 90-day implementation plan. Delivery is available in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits HR and L&D professionals who already understand core people processes and now need practical methods for redesigning learning, talent and workforce practices around emerging business needs.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose workforce and learning implications using PESTLE, scenarios and future-back thinking
  • Build a skills-gap analysis using business priorities, workforce supply and proficiency evidence
  • Design a learning strategy using performance consulting, ecosystem mapping and portfolio prioritisation
  • Create accessible learning journeys using design thinking, ADDIE and performance-support methods
  • Assess learning technology and generative AI use cases using governance and vendor criteria
  • Enable managers to support development through GROW conversations, coaching and peer learning
  • Measure learning impact through Kirkpatrick evidence, logic models, dashboards and ROI assumptions
  • Produce a 90-day HR and learning transformation plan with risks, measures and governance

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Confidence to challenge course-led requests with performance consulting questions
  • A practical method for discussing AI learning risks with HR and technology stakeholders
  • Stronger capability to position learning as a workforce planning intervention
  • Reusable evidence methods for reporting learning impact to senior leaders
  • A structured plan for leading an HR and learning change initiative

For your organisation

  • Clearer prioritisation of learning investment against strategic capability gaps
  • Better links between skills data, career mobility and workforce planning
  • More consistent governance for AI, employee data and learning technology decisions
  • Improved manager ownership of development and on-the-job application
  • Stronger evidence for learning spend, behavioural transfer and business contribution

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can interpret external change signals and set future-focused HR and learning priorities.

  • PESTLE signals translated into workforce and learning implications
  • Demographic, technological and regulatory shifts affecting workforce supply decisions
  • Scenario planning uses critical uncertainties and signposts for HR choices
  • Employee value proposition tested against changing expectations and work patterns
  • Skills-based operating models compared with job architecture and competency approaches
  • Future-back thinking frames three-year HR and learning priorities

Participants can define and assess skills-based approaches to workforce planning, development and mobility.

  • Skills taxonomy design using common language, proficiency levels and evidence
  • Job task analysis separates enduring capabilities from rapidly changing skills
  • Skills ontologies, libraries and inference tools clarify purpose, limits and governance
  • Skills gap analysis combines business strategy, supply and proficiency data
  • Talent marketplace rules connect projects, gigs, mentoring and internal moves
  • Build-or-buy decisions link workforce planning to learning investment
  • Calibration sessions improve consistency of manager-assessed skill profiles

Participants can create a learning strategy that addresses priority performance and capability needs.

  • Learning needs analysis traces performance gaps to root causes
  • Performance consulting distinguishes knowledge, skill, motivation and process barriers
  • 70-20-10 allocation tested against work design and support conditions
  • Learning ecosystem maps formal, social, experiential and performance-support channels
  • Portfolio prioritisation uses impact, urgency, reach, cost and feasibility
  • Governance clarifies sponsor, product owner, subject expert and facilitator accountabilities
  • Quarterly learning roadmaps align capability releases with business milestones

Participants can design accessible, work-connected learning experiences for varied delivery settings.

  • Design thinking interviews identify learner moments, friction points and motivations
  • Journey maps sequence discovery, enrolment, learning, practice and reinforcement
  • ADDIE used selectively for analysis, design, development and evaluation
  • Accessible design applies WCAG principles, captions, formats and assistive technology
  • Hybrid cohort design balances live sessions, asynchronous work and peer exchange
  • Performance support uses checklists, job aids and searchable knowledge bases
  • Content curation criteria assess accuracy, currency, source and reuse rights

Participants can evaluate learning technology and apply generative AI with appropriate controls.

  • Learning platform architecture distinguishes LMS, LXP, LRS and content systems
  • xAPI statements capture learning activity beyond course completion records
  • Generative AI use cases cover drafting, coaching, translation and content adaptation
  • Prompt patterns specify role, task, context, constraints and verification
  • Human review controls address hallucinations, bias, confidentiality and intellectual property
  • Vendor evaluation scores interoperability, accessibility, security, analytics and implementation support
  • Technology adoption plans combine communications, champions, training and feedback loops

Participants can strengthen manager-led development, career conversations and peer learning systems.

  • Manager enablement defines observable coaching, feedback and development behaviours
  • Situational leadership choices match direction and support to capability levels
  • Career conversations use GROW questions, skills evidence and opportunity mapping
  • Communities of practice establish domain, participation norms and knowledge stewardship
  • Peer learning formats include action learning, mentoring circles and cohort clinics
  • Psychological safety supports questioning, experimentation and learning from errors
  • Recognition mechanisms reinforce knowledge sharing and applied learning

Participants can build a credible measurement approach for learning activity, transfer and results.

  • Kirkpatrick evaluation distinguishes reaction, learning, behaviour and results evidence
  • Logic models connect learning inputs, activities, outputs and intended outcomes
  • Measurement plans define baseline, comparison group, timing and data owners
  • Learning analytics dashboards track participation, progression, application and equity
  • ROI calculations separate programme costs, benefits, attribution and confidence assumptions
  • Data storytelling pairs decision questions with visual evidence and recommendations
  • Privacy impact assessments govern employee data collection, retention and access

Participants can incorporate inclusion, wellbeing and ethical safeguards into learning and talent decisions.

  • DEI learning audits test representation, accessibility, language and participation barriers
  • Universal Design for Learning offers multiple means of engagement and expression
  • Bias interruption techniques improve talent decisions, feedback and learning access
  • Wellbeing learning addresses workload, boundaries, recovery and manager support
  • Ethical AI principles cover fairness, transparency, accountability and contestability
  • Data minimisation limits collection to defined learning and workforce purposes
  • Safeguarding protocols address sensitive disclosures, harassment and psychological harm

Participants can organise HR and learning work for faster prioritisation, delivery and adoption.

  • Agile learning teams use backlogs, sprints, reviews and retrospectives
  • Product operating models define learner problems, hypotheses and minimum viable solutions
  • Service design clarifies intake, triage, fulfilment and escalation for learning requests
  • Vendor management sets service levels, content rights and performance reviews
  • Budget scenarios compare centralised, federated and outsourced delivery costs
  • Change impact assessments identify stakeholder effects, risks and mitigations
  • Stakeholder maps tailor messages for executives, managers, learners and partners

Participants can assemble a practical transformation plan for their HR and learning priorities.

  • Transformation charter states case for change, scope, outcomes and governance
  • Future-state operating model assigns processes, roles, platforms and decision rights
  • 90-day plan sequences quick wins, pilots, measures and review points
  • Risk register records assumptions, dependencies, controls, owners and escalation triggers
  • Benefit map links capability measures to workforce and business outcomes
  • Executive narrative presents evidence, investment choices and implementation trade-offs
  • Personal application plan identifies transfer actions, sponsors and first milestones

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Skills-gap analysis template
  2. Learning strategy canvas
  3. Learning ecosystem map
  4. AI and learning technology evaluation checklist
  5. Learning impact measurement plan
  6. 90-day HR and learning transformation plan

Who should attend

  • Head of Learning and Development — responsible for repositioning learning investment around business capability
  • Learning and Development Manager — designing portfolios, platforms and operating models for evolving workforce needs
  • HR Business Partner — translating business change into workforce, skills and development priorities
  • Talent Management Manager — connecting skills data, career pathways and internal mobility
  • Organisational Development Specialist — leading capability, culture and change initiatives
  • HR Technology or People Analytics Lead — improving learning systems, data governance and decision evidence

Skills and tools covered

Skills-based workforce planningLearning strategy designLearning experience designResponsible AI governanceLearning impact measurementHR transformation planning

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, 70-20-10 model, ADDIE model, Kirkpatrick Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish methods, followed by case work, group exercises, simulations and application planning. Participants analyse realistic HR and learning decisions, such as selecting an AI-enabled learning tool, responding to a skills shortage, improving manager development or measuring a reskilling programme. Facilitated discussions compare approaches from regulated, public-sector and commercial settings. Individual planning periods convert course methods into documents participants can adapt for their own organisation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in HR, talent management, organisational development or Learning and Development, including familiarity with basic learning processes such as needs analysis, programme design or performance discussions. They should be comfortable discussing workforce issues with managers and interpreting simple operational data. Prior exposure to HR systems, learning platforms or people analytics is useful but not essential. No programming, data science, AI engineering, instructional design qualification or formal finance background is required. The course does not assume responsibility for an enterprise-wide transformation programme.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have working experience in HR, talent, organisational development or Learning and Development. The course assumes familiarity with core people processes but does not require technical AI, data science or instructional design expertise.

Bring a current HR, workforce or learning challenge that would benefit from a structured plan. Useful materials include existing learning metrics, skills frameworks, workforce plans or a description of a planned technology change.

The course is designed for HR and learning professionals responsible for capability building, talent practices, workforce planning or people technology. It is particularly useful for professionals moving from programme delivery into strategic learning and workforce roles.

Instructional design courses focus primarily on creating learning interventions, while HR analytics courses focus on data methods and reporting. This course connects workforce skills, learning strategy, experience design, technology, AI, manager capability and impact measurement.

Participants leave with templates and an action plan that can be used to assess a skills issue, redesign a learning portfolio or prepare an HR and learning change proposal. The methods also support more productive conversations with executives, managers, technology teams and vendors.

The five days provide about 32.5 contact hours, combining ten connected modules of approximately three hours each with transition time and daily reflection. Time is split between instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

Related courses in Learning & Development