Interpersonal Skills for HR Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Business Partners, Employee Relations Specialists and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-IS-034

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience working with colleagues, managers, employees or internal clients in an HR, people-management or support role.

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 professionals are often asked to handle conversations where trust, emotion, policy and business pressure meet: an employee raises a grievance, a manager resists feedback, two colleagues are in conflict, or an investigation interview becomes tense. Technical HR knowledge alone does not ensure these conversations are handled fairly or productively. The quality of listening, questioning, explanation, boundary-setting and follow-up directly affects employee confidence, manager accountability and the reliability of HR decisions.

This course develops the interpersonal skills required for credible HR practice. Participants learn to listen for facts and concerns, ask neutral questions, explain processes clearly, deliver and receive feedback, influence managers without formal authority, and manage difficult conversations with professionalism. They apply the SBI feedback model, DESC script, Thomas-Kilmann conflict modes and interest-based relational approach to realistic HR situations, including performance discussions, employee relations cases, investigation interviews and sensitive manager coaching.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with facilitated case analysis, paired communication practice, group exercises, simulations and structured reflection. Scenarios can be adapted to the participant group, such as employee relations, talent management, HR business partnering, public-sector HR or people management. Participants leave with a practical HR conversation toolkit containing conversation plans, feedback structures, conflict-resolution prompts, stakeholder analysis and a 30-day application plan. A certificate of completion is issued to participants who complete the course.

The course is suited to HR practitioners who already work with employees, managers or internal stakeholders and need greater confidence and consistency in consequential conversations. It is also valuable for people managers with substantial employee-relations responsibilities.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply active listening, perception checking and neutral questioning during HR conversations
  • Structure performance and behavioural feedback using the SBI feedback model
  • Prepare difficult conversations using purpose, facts, risks, options and desired outcomes
  • Use DESC scripts to make clear requests and set professional boundaries
  • Facilitate conflict discussions using interest-based relational methods and agreed ground rules
  • Influence managers through stakeholder analysis, message mapping and assertive communication
  • Conduct employee-relations intake conversations with appropriate neutrality and confidentiality limits
  • Produce a 30-day interpersonal skills application plan for priority workplace conversations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Greater confidence handling emotionally charged employee and manager conversations
  • Clearer language for setting boundaries without unnecessary confrontation
  • Stronger evidence-based feedback and coaching conversations with managers
  • More reliable methods for resolving conflict before formal escalation
  • A practical plan for improving priority workplace relationships

For your organisation

  • More consistent handling of employee concerns and difficult conversations
  • Earlier resolution of manager-employee conflict before formal escalation
  • Better quality case notes, handovers and communication records
  • Improved manager confidence in applying HR advice and agreed actions
  • Stronger employee trust in HR fairness, discretion and follow-through

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can establish trust, professional boundaries and visible impartiality in HR relationships.

  • Role boundaries, confidentiality and trust in HR working relationships
  • Psychological safety behaviours that encourage early employee disclosure
  • Transactional analysis ego states and complementary communication patterns
  • Power, status and perceived neutrality during sensitive HR conversations
  • Stakeholder mapping for managers, employees, representatives and external advisers
  • Professional presence: tone, timing, follow-through and visible impartiality

Participants can listen accurately, test assumptions and explain HR processes in plain language.

  • Active listening using attending, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings and summarising
  • Open, probing and funnel questions matched to conversation purpose
  • Minimal encouragers and purposeful silence without premature problem solving
  • Listening blocks: advising, mind-reading, rehearsing and selective attention
  • Perception checking to test assumptions before recording concerns
  • Plain-language explanations of policy, process, options and next steps
  • Nonverbal congruence: posture, eye contact, pace and vocal emphasis

Participants can deliver specific feedback and coach managers towards accountable action.

  • SBI feedback structure: situation, behaviour and observable impact
  • Feedforward questions that convert criticism into future behavioural choices
  • Balancing reinforcing and redirecting feedback without false praise
  • Evidence notes separating facts, interpretations, rumours and policy concerns
  • Receiving defensiveness: acknowledge emotion, restate purpose and seek specifics
  • Manager coaching conversations using GROW goals, reality, options and will

Participants can prepare and lead difficult conversations while preserving dignity and clarity.

  • DESC script for clear requests, boundaries and behavioural consequences
  • Preparing high-stakes conversations through purpose, facts, risks and options
  • Emotion labelling and validation without agreeing to disputed facts
  • De-escalation language for anger, tears, silence and hostile challenges
  • Boundary statements that preserve dignity while stopping unacceptable conduct
  • Closing conversations with agreed actions, ownership, timing and documentation

Participants can diagnose workplace conflict and facilitate constructive discussions between parties.

  • Thomas-Kilmann modes matched to issue importance and relationship stakes
  • Interest-based relational approach separates people, positions, interests and options
  • Conflict diagnosis using triggers, assumptions, needs, power and history
  • Joint problem framing that replaces blame with a workable question
  • Facilitating manager-employee discussions with ground rules and equal voice
  • Documenting agreements, review points, escalation routes and unresolved issues

Participants can influence stakeholders without relying on formal authority.

  • Stakeholder analysis identifies decision makers, influencers, blockers and allies
  • Message mapping links HR recommendations to audience priorities and evidence
  • Assertive communication distinguishes requests, preferences, boundaries and threats
  • Framing difficult messages around business impact, fairness and feasible actions
  • Influencing without authority through credibility, reciprocity and coalition building
  • Meeting interventions: agenda control, concise contributions and decision checks

Participants can conduct initial employee conversations with care, neutrality and appropriate escalation.

  • Intake conversations establish purpose, privacy limits, facts and immediate risks
  • Trauma-informed communication avoids pressure, judgement, assumptions and unnecessary detail
  • Neutral questioning gathers chronology, witnesses, evidence and desired resolution
  • Safeguarding and escalation thresholds for harassment, bullying and wellbeing concerns
  • Explaining investigation processes without promising outcomes or breaching confidentiality
  • Case notes distinguish direct statements, observations, evidence and follow-up actions

Participants can conduct fair, respectful and well-documented HR interviews.

  • Procedural fairness principles: notice, response, impartiality, evidence and reasons
  • Interview rapport that remains neutral, respectful and appropriately bounded
  • Question sequencing from open accounts to specific clarifying detail
  • Handling inconsistencies without accusation, leading questions or confirmation bias
  • Managing representative attendance, breaks, adjournments and participant wellbeing
  • Written records using factual language, attribution and contemporaneous notes

Participants can adapt communication while avoiding stereotyping, bias and exclusion.

  • Cultural intelligence CQ framework: drive, knowledge, strategy and action
  • Direct and indirect communication preferences without stereotyping individuals
  • High-context and low-context messages tested for shared meaning
  • Bias interrupters for attribution, affinity, confirmation and similarity effects
  • Inclusive language choices for identity, accessibility, religion and family status
  • Remote communication norms across email, chat, video and asynchronous work

Participants can create a focused plan for applying course methods to priority HR relationships.

  • Relationship audit identifies priority stakeholders, trust gaps and contact rhythms
  • Personal communication style assessment identifies strengths, triggers and blind spots
  • Conversation planning canvas aligns objective, audience, evidence, wording and follow-up
  • Thirty-day application plan assigns behaviours, situations, measures and review dates
  • Peer accountability arrangements support rehearsal, reflection and course correction
  • Manager briefing translates course methods into workplace development commitments

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

What you take back to work

  1. HR conversation preparation canvas
  2. SBI feedback planner
  3. DESC boundary-setting script
  4. Conflict diagnosis checklist
  5. Employee concern intake template
  6. Thirty-day interpersonal skills application plan

Who should attend

  • HR Business Partners — build credibility with managers during sensitive people decisions
  • Employee Relations Specialists — handle complaints, conflict and case discussions with greater consistency
  • HR Advisors — communicate policy, process and options clearly to employees and managers
  • HR Managers — lead difficult conversations while maintaining fairness and professional boundaries
  • Talent and Learning Professionals — improve stakeholder engagement and developmental feedback conversations
  • People Managers — manage employee issues where HR judgement and interpersonal skill are essential

Skills and tools covered

Active listeningDifficult conversationsFeedback deliveryConflict resolutionManager influenceEmployee relations communication

Tools and standards

SBI Feedback Model, DESC Script, Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, Interest-Based Relational Approach

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce communication models, followed by case work, group exercises, paired practice and facilitated simulations. Participants analyse realistic HR situations such as employee complaints, performance feedback, manager resistance and investigation interviews. Structured observation guides help participants identify wording, listening behaviours, assumptions and escalation risks. Each module includes time to connect methods to current workplace responsibilities, and the course closes with individual application planning and peer feedback.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience working with colleagues, managers, employees or internal clients in an HR, people-management or support role. They should be familiar with routine workplace communication and have encountered situations involving feedback, disagreement, performance concerns or sensitive employee matters. No formal HR qualification, psychometric certification, mediation training or prior study of conflict models is required. The course does not require participants to disclose personal workplace cases, although they may bring anonymised examples for application planning.

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 experience communicating with colleagues, employees, managers or internal clients. No HR qualification, mediation credential or prior training in communication models is required.

Bring a notebook or device for notes and, if useful, anonymised examples of conversations you find difficult. You will receive course materials and planning templates during the programme.

The course is designed primarily for HR business partners, HR advisors, employee relations specialists and HR managers. It also suits people managers who regularly handle performance, conduct, conflict or employee wellbeing concerns.

This course focuses on HR-specific conversations where confidentiality, fairness, policy explanation, case records and escalation decisions matter. Cases and methods address employee relations, manager coaching, complaints and investigation interviewing.

Participants can use the conversation preparation canvas, SBI feedback planner, DESC script and employee concern intake template in current conversations. The final application plan identifies specific stakeholders, situations and behaviours to address within 30 days.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with about 6.5 contact hours daily. Across the five days, participants complete ten modules covering communication foundations, feedback, conflict, employee concerns, interviews, inclusion and 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

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