Organisational Design and Workplace Ethics Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Organisational Development Managers, HR Business Partners 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-OD-018

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in HR, organisational development, people management, compliance, internal control or business 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

Organisation structures often fail not because the chart is wrong, but because decision rights, accountabilities, incentives and everyday behaviours remain unclear. Employees may receive conflicting instructions from functional and project managers, managers may retain decisions that should sit closer to customers, and conduct concerns may be handled inconsistently. These weaknesses create delays, duplicated work, control failures, poor employee trust and avoidable ethical risk.

This course examines how organisational design, culture, workplace behaviour and ethics operate together. Participants assess structural choices including functional, divisional, matrix and process-based models; define roles, spans of control and decision rights; and diagnose weak handoffs between teams. They also examine organisational culture, behavioural norms, ethical leadership, conflicts of interest, speak-up arrangements, investigations and conduct metrics. The course uses established methods including the Galbraith Star Model, RACI, RAPID, ADKAR, Schein's culture model and ISO 37301 compliance principles.

Instruction combines short expert briefings with realistic cases from public services, banking, NGOs and multinational businesses. Participants analyse organisation charts, role charters, employee listening data, conduct scenarios and ethics reporting patterns. They leave with a practical organisational design and workplace ethics action pack, including a diagnostic framework, decision-rights matrix, role charter, conduct-risk register and 90-day implementation plan. The five-day programme runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, with approximately 6.5 contact hours daily, and is available in classrooms across 50+ cities or live online. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to HR and organisational development professionals, business managers, compliance personnel and change leaders who need to improve how work is structured, governed and carried out.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose structural misalignment using the Galbraith Star Model and organisation health evidence
  • Design role charters defining purpose, accountabilities, decision rights, measures and interfaces
  • Construct RACI and RAPID matrices for cross-functional decisions and escalation routes
  • Assess organisational culture using Schein's model, behavioural evidence and employee listening data
  • Apply ethical decision-making frameworks to workplace conduct, conflicts of interest and reporting dilemmas
  • Develop speak-up, investigation and disciplinary controls aligned with ISO 37301 principles
  • Analyse conduct risks using root-cause analysis, risk registers and leading indicators
  • Produce a 90-day organisational design and workplace ethics implementation plan

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Diagnose whether performance issues arise from structure, process, culture or conduct
  • Write clearer role charters and decision-rights matrices for complex teams
  • Handle workplace ethics concerns with defensible analytical methods
  • Recognise behavioural incentives that undermine stated organisational values
  • Present a credible organisational design and ethics improvement case to senior leaders

For your organisation

  • Clearer accountability reduces duplicated work, decision delays and unresolved handoffs
  • Better role design improves workforce deployment and manager capacity
  • Consistent conduct controls reduce conflicts of interest, retaliation and policy breaches
  • Stronger speak-up arrangements identify ethical concerns before they become major incidents
  • Structured implementation plans improve adoption of reorganisations and culture initiatives

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can assess structural choices and define design principles for a business need.

  • Organisation design choices: functional, divisional, matrix, network and process structures
  • Strategy-to-structure fit assessed using the Galbraith Star Model
  • Span of control and layers diagnosed from workforce data
  • Centralisation decisions distinguished from delegation, standardisation and local accountability
  • Operating model components mapped: governance, processes, people, technology and metrics
  • Design principles written as testable statements for structural decisions

Participants can map work across functions and assign clear decision-making authority.

  • Value streams mapped from customer demand through handoffs and controls
  • Process architecture separates core, enabling and governance process families
  • Decision rights assigned with RAPID roles and escalation thresholds
  • RACI matrices distinguish accountable owners from consulted technical authorities
  • Service-level agreements define internal customer commitments and response measures
  • Interfaces stress-tested for delays, duplication, control gaps and disputes

Participants can define roles, competencies and workforce requirements for redesigned work.

  • Work analysis separates tasks, accountabilities, skills and decision authority
  • Job design applies Hackman and Oldham's Job Characteristics Model
  • Role charters specify purpose, outputs, boundaries, measures and key interfaces
  • Competency profiles distinguish technical, behavioural and leadership requirements
  • Workload capacity estimated using demand volumes, handling times and utilisation
  • Career architecture links job families, levels, progression criteria and pay

Participants can plan adoption of structural changes while maintaining operational continuity.

  • Current-state organisation charts tested against actual reporting and decision patterns
  • Stakeholder analysis identifies sponsors, resisters, affected groups and influence networks
  • Force-field analysis diagnoses drivers and barriers to design adoption
  • ADKAR plans connect awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement actions
  • Transition-state structures preserve service continuity during role and process changes
  • Change readiness indicators tracked through pulse checks, attendance and manager feedback

Participants can identify cultural drivers of workplace behaviour and performance outcomes.

  • Organisational culture assessed through artefacts, espoused values and underlying assumptions
  • Schein's culture model distinguishes visible practices from tacit assumptions
  • Behavioural norms translated into observable actions, routines and consequences
  • Psychological safety examined through speaking-up, challenge and error-reporting patterns
  • Reward systems checked for incentives that conflict with stated values
  • Manager modelling evaluated through decisions, communications and response to dissent

Participants can apply ethical frameworks to common workplace conduct decisions.

  • Ethical frameworks compare duty, consequences, rights, justice and virtue
  • Code of conduct provisions translated into role-specific behavioural expectations
  • Conflicts of interest identified, declared, managed and documented consistently
  • Gift, hospitality and facilitation-payment scenarios assessed against policy thresholds
  • Confidentiality, privacy and information handling linked to employee responsibilities
  • Ethical dilemmas analysed using facts, stakeholders, options, harms and justification

Participants can design core arrangements for managing workplace conduct and ethics concerns.

  • ISO 37301 compliance principles connected to organisational ethics arrangements
  • Three lines model clarifies management, oversight and assurance responsibilities
  • Speak-up channels designed for accessibility, confidentiality, non-retaliation and case triage
  • Investigation protocols protect evidence, fairness, privacy and procedural consistency
  • Disciplinary frameworks distinguish misconduct, performance shortfalls and capability gaps
  • Ethics metrics track reporting volumes, substantiation, timeliness and retaliation signals

Participants can address conduct concerns and cross-functional conflict fairly and directly.

  • Ethical leadership practices align stated values with daily management decisions
  • Manager conversations address conduct concerns using SBI feedback and inquiry
  • Interest-based negotiation resolves cross-functional disputes without avoiding accountability
  • Conflict styles assessed through Thomas-Kilmann competing, collaborating, avoiding, accommodating, compromising
  • Fair-process principles guide explanations, voice, consistency and respectful treatment
  • Remote and hybrid norms address visibility bias, inclusion and digital conduct

Participants can analyse evidence to prioritise organisational design and ethics interventions.

  • Organisation health diagnostic combines structure, process, culture and ethics evidence
  • Employee listening data segmented by function, level, location and tenure
  • Root-cause analysis applies five whys and fishbone cause categories
  • Risk registers rate conduct risks by likelihood, impact, ownership and controls
  • Design options compared against strategic fit, cost, feasibility and risk
  • Leading and lagging indicators distinguish adoption from business outcomes

Participants can produce an actionable plan for organisational design and workplace ethics improvement.

  • Organisation design roadmap sequences decisions, consultations, approvals and implementation milestones
  • Ethics action plan assigns owners, measures, resources and review dates
  • Communication architecture matches messages, channels, audiences and feedback loops
  • Governance cadence schedules design reviews, conduct reporting and corrective actions
  • 90-day implementation plan specifies dependencies, risks, checkpoints and decision gates
  • Personal application commitments link course methods to a live workplace priority

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

What you take back to work

  1. Organisation health diagnostic template
  2. Role charter template
  3. RACI and RAPID decision-rights matrix
  4. Workplace conduct-risk register
  5. Speak-up and investigation control checklist
  6. 90-day design and ethics action plan

Who should attend

  • Organisational Development Managers — redesign structures, roles and operating arrangements
  • HR Business Partners — resolve accountability, culture and behavioural issues with leaders
  • HR Directors — align workforce structures with strategy, governance and employee experience
  • Compliance Managers — strengthen conduct controls, speak-up processes and ethics reporting
  • Business Unit Leaders — clarify decision rights, handoffs and management expectations
  • Change Managers — plan people-side adoption for structural and behavioural change

Skills and tools covered

Organisation design diagnosisDecision rights designRole architectureCulture assessmentWorkplace ethics managementConduct risk analysis

Tools and standards

Galbraith Star Model, RACI matrix, RAPID decision-making framework, ISO 37301 Compliance Management Systems

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by case analysis, facilitated group work, simulations and individual application planning. Participants examine realistic organisation charts, role overlaps, approval bottlenecks, conduct incidents and employee feedback data. Group tasks apply RACI, RAPID, culture analysis and conduct-risk methods to scenarios involving banks, government agencies, NGOs and multinational teams. Facilitated discussions test design trade-offs and ethical responses. Each participant develops practical materials for a current workplace priority and receives feedback from the instructor and peers.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in HR, organisational development, people management, compliance, internal control or business operations. They should be familiar with basic organisation charts, job descriptions, management reporting lines and workplace policies. Experience contributing to a restructuring, culture initiative, conduct review or process-improvement project is useful but not essential. The course does not require prior study of organisational psychology, employment law, audit, formal project management or statistical analysis. Participants should bring a current workplace issue they can use 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

Participants should understand basic organisation charts, job descriptions and management reporting lines. Prior experience in HR, management, compliance or change work is useful, but no specialist qualification in organisational development or ethics is required.

Bring a current workplace issue involving role confusion, a restructuring, difficult handoffs, culture concerns or conduct risk. A non-confidential organisation chart, process map or policy extract can help participants apply the methods directly.

The course suits organisational development and HR practitioners, HR business partners, compliance managers, business leaders and change managers. It is particularly relevant for people responsible for improving accountability and workplace conduct.

This course focuses on the connection between structure, decision rights, roles, culture and ethical behaviour. General HR courses commonly cover broader people processes, while compliance courses may concentrate on rules, controls and legal obligations.

Participants can use the diagnostic, role charter, decision-rights matrix and conduct-risk register for a live workplace issue. The final module converts this analysis into a 90-day plan with owners, measures and review points.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides approximately 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group work, simulations, discussion and individual 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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