HR Process Improvement and Culture Change Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Business Partners, HR Managers 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-OD-002

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience of at least one HR process, such as recruitment, onboarding, performance management, employee relations, payroll administration or learning operations.

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 processes often accumulate duplicate approvals, unclear ownership, inconsistent service standards and workarounds that frustrate employees and managers. At the same time, process redesign can fail when people do not understand the reason for change, managers reinforce old routines, or cultural norms discourage questions and escalation. HR professionals need to improve workflow performance while managing the behavioural, political and operational realities that determine whether new ways of working last.

This course develops the practical skills to diagnose HR process problems, redesign workflows and lead culture change. Participants map current processes using SIPOC and swimlane techniques, identify root causes through evidence, define future-state workflows, assign decision rights with RACI and establish meaningful service, quality and adoption measures. They examine cultural signals, leadership behaviour, incentives and psychological safety, then use ADKAR and Kotter's Eight-Step Process to plan stakeholder engagement, communications, sponsorship and reinforcement.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with HR cases, process-mapping work, group analysis, simulated sponsor and resistance conversations, and structured application planning. Cases reflect common HR services such as recruitment, onboarding, employee relations, learning administration, payroll queries and performance management. Participants leave with a reusable HR process improvement and culture change pack containing a process map, diagnosis, future-state design, change plan, measures and a personal implementation plan.

The course is suited to HR practitioners and managers responsible for improving service delivery, implementing HR policy or technology changes, and shaping working practices across teams.

What you will be able to do

  • Map an HR process using SIPOC boundaries and swimlane process maps
  • Diagnose process delays and errors using Pareto analysis, 5 Whys and cause-and-effect diagrams
  • Redesign HR workflows with clear decision rights, control points and service levels
  • Establish process governance through RACI matrices, risk registers and performance measures
  • Assess cultural barriers using behavioural evidence, incentive signals and psychological safety indicators
  • Apply ADKAR and Kotter's Eight-Step Process to structure organisational change
  • Create stakeholder, communication and change impact plans for HR improvement initiatives
  • Build an implementation and sustainment plan with readiness criteria, adoption measures and review routines

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce credible evidence for prioritising HR process improvement work
  • Lead structured conversations about resistance, behaviour and cultural barriers
  • Define clearer ownership and escalation routes for HR services
  • Present change plans that connect employee impacts with business requirements
  • Build a reusable improvement pack for current and future HR initiatives

For your organisation

  • Shorter HR service cycle times through removal of avoidable handoffs and rework
  • More consistent employee and manager experiences across HR processes
  • Clearer process accountability, controls and decision-making responsibilities
  • Higher adoption of revised policies, systems and service procedures
  • Earlier identification of cultural barriers that could undermine change

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define an HR process scope, customer requirements and baseline performance measures.

  • HR service demand, policy requirements and pain points translated into process scope
  • SIPOC boundaries establish suppliers, inputs, outputs, customers and accountable process owners
  • Current-state swimlane maps expose handoffs, queues, rework and decision delays
  • Voice-of-customer evidence separated from assumptions and individual complaints
  • Critical-to-quality requirements defined for employees, managers and HR specialists
  • Process measures distinguish volume, time, quality, cost and experience

Participants can identify evidence-based root causes of HR process failures and delays.

  • Baseline data collection plans specify sources, owners, periods and definitions
  • Pareto charts identify high-frequency errors and delay categories
  • 5 Whys traces recurring failures from symptom to controllable cause
  • Cause-and-effect diagrams test people, policy, technology and workflow contributors
  • Failure points prioritised using likelihood, impact and detectability criteria
  • Problem statements frame measurable gaps without prescribing premature solutions

Participants can design improved HR workflows with clear ownership, controls and service standards.

  • Future-state maps remove non-value-adding steps and clarify decision rights
  • Standard work defines sequence, inputs, service levels and escalation routes
  • RACI matrices assign accountable decisions and consulted stakeholder roles
  • Control points prevent incomplete requests, policy breaches and duplicate data
  • Service-level agreements align HR response times with customer expectations
  • Pilot criteria test redesigned workflows before wider release

Participants can specify process requirements that support effective HR technology and data controls.

  • Requirements distinguish policy rules, user needs, data fields and approvals
  • HRIS workflow options assessed against controls, usability and reporting needs
  • Automation candidates selected from volume, rules, exceptions and risk
  • Data quality checks address duplicates, missing fields and conflicting records
  • Privacy-by-design decisions protect employee data throughout process changes
  • User acceptance criteria define evidence needed before go-live approval

Participants can establish governance arrangements that sustain HR process performance after redesign.

  • Process ownership models connect strategic intent, controls and service performance
  • Policy-to-process alignment identifies conflicting rules, forms and approval thresholds
  • Risk registers record control failures, consequences, owners and treatments
  • Segregation-of-duties checks reduce inappropriate access and approval conflicts
  • HR dashboards combine leading indicators, outcomes and exception trends
  • Monthly review cadences trigger corrective actions and documented decisions

Participants can assess cultural factors that support or obstruct HR process improvement.

  • Observable behaviours distinguish culture from stated values and engagement scores
  • Culture diagnostics compare espoused norms, routines, symbols and incentives
  • Subcultures mapped by function, hierarchy, location and professional identity
  • Psychological safety assessed through speaking-up, error reporting and challenge
  • Reward signals examined for unintended reinforcement of old practices
  • Leader role-modelling translated into visible, repeatable management routines

Participants can structure a change strategy for HR process and culture initiatives.

  • ADKAR assessments identify awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement gaps
  • Kotter's Eight-Step Process sequences urgency, coalition, vision and action
  • Stakeholder maps classify influence, impact, commitment and likely resistance
  • Change impact assessments connect process changes to affected roles
  • Sponsor responsibilities specify decisions, communications, resources and visible support
  • Resistance conversations address losses, concerns and practical barriers

Participants can develop communications and involvement approaches that support adoption of HR changes.

  • Change narratives link business reasons, employee impacts and expected behaviours
  • Audience segmentation differentiates messages for executives, managers, employees and representatives
  • Communication plans define message owners, channels, timing and feedback routes
  • Manager briefings prepare consistent answers to predictable employee questions
  • Two-way listening mechanisms capture sentiment, questions and adoption obstacles
  • Trade union and employee representative consultation planned where required

Participants can plan a controlled transition from redesigned process to embedded working practice.

  • Transition plans sequence pilots, training, communications, support and rollout decisions
  • Readiness criteria confirm process, people, data and technology preparedness
  • Training needs analysis specifies audiences, tasks, proficiency and support
  • Cutover checklists assign actions, dependencies, contingency triggers and owners
  • Hypercare arrangements route incidents, questions and escalation decisions
  • Adoption measures track usage, compliance, confidence and manager follow-through

Participants can measure benefits, sustain new behaviours and prepare a practical improvement action plan.

  • Benefits maps connect redesign actions to measurable service and culture outcomes
  • Balanced scorecards track efficiency, quality, employee experience and risk
  • After-action reviews capture evidence, lessons, decisions and improvement actions
  • Continuous improvement backlogs prioritise opportunities using value, effort and risk
  • Governance reviews test whether new behaviours persist under operational pressure
  • Individual application plans define first actions, sponsors, milestones and measures

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

What you take back to work

  1. HR process scoping and SIPOC template
  2. Current-state and future-state swimlane mapping pack
  3. Root cause analysis and prioritisation worksheet
  4. RACI and HR process governance model
  5. Culture diagnosis and change impact assessment
  6. HR change implementation and adoption plan

Who should attend

  • HR Business Partners — improve people processes while securing manager adoption
  • HR Managers — lead service, policy and operating model improvements
  • Organisational Development Specialists — connect culture interventions with operational change
  • HR Operations Managers — reduce delays, rework and inconsistent service delivery
  • HR Project Managers — plan and govern HR transformation initiatives
  • People Analytics and HRIS Professionals — translate process evidence into workable change requirements

Skills and tools covered

HR process mappingRoot cause analysisWorkflow redesignCulture diagnosisChange planningAdoption measurement

Tools and standards

SIPOC, RACI matrix, ADKAR model, Kotter's Eight-Step Process

How the course runs

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by HR-focused cases, process-mapping tasks, group analysis and facilitated discussion. Participants examine process evidence, identify causes of delay and error, and develop future-state workflow and governance designs. Simulated sponsor, manager and employee conversations build confidence in handling resistance and communicating change. Application planning connects each method to a live or anticipated HR initiative. Trainers adapt examples, discussion depth and group tasks to the cohort's sector and responsibilities.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of at least one HR process, such as recruitment, onboarding, performance management, employee relations, payroll administration or learning operations. They should be comfortable discussing process steps, stakeholders, policies and basic performance measures. Familiarity with an HR information system is useful but not essential. No prior formal training in Lean, Six Sigma, organisational psychology, project management or change management is required. The course does not require statistical software, technical configuration skills or responsibility for a major 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 need practical familiarity with at least one HR process and the stakeholders it serves. Formal qualifications in change management, Lean, project management or organisational development are not required.

Bring details of an HR process, service issue or planned change that you would like to improve. Non-confidential process measures, policy extracts or stakeholder information can make application planning more useful.

It is designed for HR business partners, HR managers, HR operations staff, organisational development specialists, HR project managers and HRIS professionals. It is particularly useful for people expected to improve HR services while gaining support from managers and employees.

General change courses often focus mainly on communication, sponsorship and stakeholder engagement. This course combines those subjects with HR process mapping, diagnosis, workflow redesign, governance, data controls and service performance measures.

You can use the templates to scope a process, map current work, identify root causes and propose a future-state design. The change planning methods help you prepare sponsors, managers and employees for revised procedures, systems or policies.

The programme contains ten modules taught in sequence, each covering about three contact hours. The remaining contact time is used for instructor briefings, case discussions, group work, simulated conversations and application planning across the five 08:30-16:30 training days.

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

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