Human Resources Business Partner Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Human Resources Business Partners, Senior HR Advisors and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 7 Nov 2026 Course code SD-HM-076

Before you join: Participants should have practical HR experience, such as advising managers, supporting employee relations cases, coordinating talent processes or delivering HR projects.

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

Human Resources Business Partners are expected to turn business priorities into workforce action while maintaining credible, trusted relationships with senior leaders and managers. This requires more than policy knowledge. HRBPs need to interpret commercial data, diagnose people issues, challenge assumptions, plan workforce interventions and manage change without losing sight of employee relations, fairness and organisational risk. The course addresses the practical gap between being an experienced HR practitioner and operating as a strategic business partner.

Participants examine the HRBP role, operating model and service boundaries; business acumen and people analytics; stakeholder contracting; workforce planning; talent, performance and succession; organisation design and reward; employee relations risk; and change leadership. They use established frameworks including the Ulrich HRBP model, RACI, the nine-box grid and ADKAR. By the end of the course, participants can frame a business problem, gather relevant evidence, identify workforce implications, present practical options and build an implementation plan with clear ownership and measures.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic cases from banking, public services, multinational operations and growth businesses. Group work and simulations focus on leader conversations, workforce decisions, talent reviews, restructuring proposals and change communications. Participants prepare a set of reusable working documents, including an HRBP charter, workforce plan, stakeholder map and 90-day action plan. The course is delivered over five days, either in a classroom in more than 50 cities or live online, and includes approximately 6.5 contact hours each day. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

This course suits HR professionals moving into an HRBP role, as well as established HRBPs who need a more disciplined approach to commercial partnering and strategic people delivery.

What you will be able to do

  • Interpret financial and operational data to identify workforce priorities and people risks.
  • Define an HRBP service charter using customer groups, decision rights and RACI roles.
  • Conduct stakeholder contracting conversations that establish scope, outcomes and accountability.
  • Build a strategic workforce plan using demand, supply, gap and scenario analysis.
  • Facilitate talent and succession discussions using critical-role criteria and the nine-box grid.
  • Assess organisation design, reward and employee relations issues before recommending action.
  • Plan people change using ADKAR, impact assessment and sponsor actions.
  • Produce a 90-day HRBP action plan with priorities, measures, owners and review points.

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater credibility in business conversations through stronger commercial reasoning
  • A clear structure for diagnosing workforce problems before proposing solutions
  • Practical language for challenging senior stakeholders constructively
  • Confidence leading workforce, talent and change discussions with managers
  • Reusable documents for the first 90 days in an HRBP role

For your organisation

  • Better alignment between business priorities, workforce plans and HR investment
  • Earlier identification of critical-role, capability and succession risks
  • More consistent people decisions through clearer evidence and governance
  • Improved manager accountability for performance, conduct and change actions
  • Reduced duplication between HRBPs, specialist teams and shared services

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define an HRBP mandate, service boundaries and accountabilities with business leaders and HR colleagues.

  • Ulrich HRBP model: strategic partner, employee champion, change agent, administrator
  • HRBP charter defining customer groups, decision rights, services and boundaries
  • RACI matrix clarifying accountability between HRBPs, centres of expertise, managers
  • Operating rhythms linking business reviews, people forums and escalation routes
  • Strategic versus transactional work assessed through demand and capacity analysis
  • Service catalogue boundaries preventing HRBPs from becoming generalist case handlers

Participants can connect business performance, strategic priorities and people data to actionable HR recommendations.

  • Income statements, balance sheets and cash flow interpreted for people decisions
  • Value-driver trees connecting workforce actions to revenue, cost, risk and service
  • Business-unit strategy translated into critical roles, capabilities and workforce implications
  • SWOT analysis distinguishes internal capability gaps from external commercial pressures
  • People metrics selected using leading, lagging, efficiency and effectiveness measures
  • Data-story structure frames insight, evidence, recommendation, trade-offs and requested decision

Participants can contract with stakeholders, diagnose issues and influence decisions through evidence-based consulting.

  • Stakeholder maps identify influence, interest, expectations and potential resistance
  • Contracting conversations establish outcomes, scope, roles, confidentiality and meeting cadence
  • Diagnostic questioning separates stated symptoms from root causes and assumptions
  • SCARF model informs communication choices during difficult leader conversations
  • Recommendation papers distinguish facts, interpretation, options, risks and ownership
  • Challenge-and-support techniques address unhelpful management practice without damaging trust

Participants can develop a workforce plan that addresses future demand, supply, capability gaps and delivery risks.

  • Strategic workforce planning links demand forecasts, supply analysis and gap responses
  • Headcount baselines reconcile approved positions, incumbents, vacancies, contractors and costs
  • Scenario planning tests growth, restructuring, automation and attrition assumptions
  • Build-buy-borrow-bot options compared for critical capability gaps
  • Succession slates assess readiness, risk of loss and development actions
  • Workforce plan prioritises actions, owners, milestones, costs and measures

Participants can guide leaders through evidence-based talent, performance and succession decisions.

  • Nine-box grid calibrates performance and potential using evidence-based criteria
  • Talent reviews distinguish performance management, succession decisions and development investment
  • Critical-role criteria combine value creation, scarcity, risk and future demand
  • Career architecture links job families, levels, skills and progression routes
  • Performance-cycle design aligns objectives, feedback, calibration and consequence management
  • Development plans combine assignments, coaching, learning and exposure targets

Participants can assess structural, job and reward choices against business needs, fairness and cost constraints.

  • Organisation design begins with strategy, work, accountabilities, structure and governance
  • Span-and-layer analysis identifies costly hierarchy, decision delays and manager overload
  • Job evaluation principles support consistent grading and equal-pay risk controls
  • Pay-positioning decisions balance market data, internal equity and budget constraints
  • Role profiles define purpose, outcomes, decision authority, skills and measures
  • Restructuring proposals document rationale, role impacts, costs, risks and consultation needs

Participants can identify employee relations risks and support managers through fair, consistent case management.

  • Employee relations triage distinguishes conduct, capability, grievance, absence and conflict cases
  • Investigation plans set allegations, evidence sources, interviews, records and confidentiality
  • Procedural fairness principles guide consistent, documented and timely management actions
  • Equality, discrimination and harassment risks recognised before workforce decisions proceed
  • Case-data trends reveal recurring management failures, policy gaps and training needs
  • Escalation thresholds identify matters requiring legal counsel or specialist support

Participants can plan the people side of change using structured diagnosis, sponsorship and communication methods.

  • ADKAR model diagnoses awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement gaps
  • Change impact assessments map stakeholder effects, process changes and people risks
  • Change sponsor plans assign visible leadership actions, messages and decision points
  • Communication plans match audience concerns, channels, timing and feedback loops
  • Manager toolkits prepare conversations about uncertainty, role changes and expectations
  • Culture diagnosis compares stated values, observed behaviours, systems and consequences

Participants can select, interpret and communicate people measures that support management decisions and intervention reviews.

  • People dashboard design links strategic questions, metrics, targets, owners and review dates
  • Turnover analysis separates regretted exits, controllable drivers and segment patterns
  • Absence data interpreted through frequency, duration, reason codes and operational impact
  • Pay-gap analysis tests representation, progression, starting pay and bonus differences
  • Ethical data principles address purpose, minimisation, access, retention and bias
  • Benefits-realisation plans track adoption, outcomes, savings and unintended effects

Participants can prioritise an HRBP agenda and convert it into a managed 90-day workplace plan.

  • 90-day HRBP plan sequences priorities, stakeholder meetings, deliverables and review points
  • Prioritisation matrix weighs business value, urgency, risk, effort and dependencies
  • Initiative charters define outcomes, scope, milestones, resources, governance and measures
  • Decision logs record recommendations, approvals, assumptions, actions and accountable owners
  • Personal influence plans identify credibility gaps, sponsors, allies and development actions
  • Application plan commits priorities, stakeholder actions, milestones, evidence and review dates

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

What you take back to work

  1. HRBP service charter template
  2. Business-to-people value-driver analysis
  3. Stakeholder contracting and influence map
  4. Strategic workforce planning template
  5. Talent and succession review checklist
  6. 90-day HRBP action plan

Who should attend

  • Human Resources Business Partners — need stronger commercial and strategic partnering methods
  • Senior HR Advisors — preparing to move from advisory work into HRBP roles
  • HR Managers — responsible for aligning people plans with business-unit priorities
  • People and Culture Partners — seeking clearer consulting, workforce planning and influence skills
  • Talent Management Managers — partnering with leaders on succession and critical roles
  • Organisational Development Practitioners — supporting organisation change, capability and culture programmes

Skills and tools covered

Strategic HR partneringWorkforce planningBusiness acumenStakeholder consultingPeople analyticsChange leadership

Tools and standards

Ulrich HRBP Model, RACI Matrix, Nine-Box Grid, ADKAR Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short briefings to introduce models, followed by case work, group exercises, simulations and structured application planning. Participants interpret business data, contract with a simulated senior leader, assess workforce scenarios, calibrate talent decisions and prepare responses to employee relations and change issues. Cases reflect common HRBP assignments in regulated, public-sector and multinational settings. Instructor feedback focuses on the quality of diagnosis, recommendations, stakeholder communication and implementation measures.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical HR experience, such as advising managers, supporting employee relations cases, coordinating talent processes or delivering HR projects. They should understand core HR activities including recruitment, performance management, learning, reward and employment policies. Familiarity with their organisation's structure, workforce data and business priorities will help them apply the material quickly. Prior strategic HR experience is not required. The course does not require finance qualifications, advanced statistical skills, legal qualifications or prior use of formal consulting frameworks.

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

You should have practical HR experience and familiarity with core HR processes. You do not need previous HRBP experience, a finance qualification or advanced analytics skills.

Bring a current people challenge, business priority or workforce issue you want to examine. If permitted, bring non-confidential examples of your organisation's structure, workforce measures or planning documents.

It is designed for new and established HRBPs, senior HR advisors, HR managers and people partners. It is also useful for talent and organisational development professionals who work directly with business leaders.

General HR management courses cover the full range of HR operations and policy responsibilities. This course focuses on business partnering: commercial insight, stakeholder consulting, workforce choices, influence and strategic implementation.

You will leave with working templates for an HRBP charter, stakeholder map, workforce plan and 90-day agenda. These documents can be adapted to a live business-unit assignment immediately after the course.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group work, simulations, feedback and application planning across ten modules.

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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