Strategic HR Business Partner Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Business Partner, Senior HR Generalist 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-077

Before you join: Participants should have at least three years of HR experience, including exposure to manager advice, employee relations, talent, reward, workforce reporting or change activity.

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 Business Partners are expected to turn commercial plans, operating pressures and workforce evidence into decisions that leaders can act on. Yet many HR teams remain occupied with transactions, policy interpretation and late escalation, while managers receive poorly defined people advice. The result is misaligned hiring, unmanaged capability gaps, inconsistent manager decisions, avoidable employee relations risk and change programmes that lose momentum. A credible HRBP needs commercial judgement, diagnostic discipline, data literacy and influence with senior stakeholders.

This course prepares experienced HR practitioners to operate as strategic partners to business leaders. Participants examine the HRBP operating model, business and financial drivers, stakeholder contracting, workforce planning, organisation design, talent, reward, employee relations, change and people analytics. They learn to diagnose the real problem behind a request, translate strategy into workforce choices, structure evidence-based recommendations and establish governance for decisions that carry people, cost and delivery consequences.

Instructor-led sessions combine concise briefings with realistic cases from regulated services, public bodies, multinational operations and large employers. Participants work through stakeholder conversations, workforce scenarios, organisation design choices, change impacts and executive recommendations. They leave with a practical HRBP toolkit containing reusable templates, decision models and a 90-day application plan. The five-day course is available in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online, runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, and includes approximately 6.5 contact hours daily. Participants receive a certificate of completion.

The course suits senior HR generalists, HR Business Partners, HR managers and specialists moving into advisory roles. It is particularly relevant where HR must contribute directly to operating plans, transformation programmes, workforce risk decisions or leadership-team discussions.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose business problems using stakeholder analysis, 5 Whys and hypothesis trees
  • Translate business strategy into workforce priorities, scenarios and risk responses
  • Design HRBP service models using Ulrich roles, RACI and service catalogues
  • Construct evidence-based people cases using financial, operational and workforce data
  • Advise on organisation design, talent, reward and employee relations decisions
  • Lead change adoption using ADKAR, sponsor mapping and manager communication plans
  • Create people dashboards with decision-focused metrics, data governance and ISO 30414 measures
  • Present executive recommendations with options, evidence, risk controls and implementation measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Stronger credibility in senior leadership and operating-review discussions
  • A repeatable method for diagnosing ambiguous people problems
  • Greater confidence interpreting commercial and workforce data
  • Practical structure for presenting HR recommendations and business cases
  • A 90-day plan for improving personal HRBP impact

For your organisation

  • Better alignment between workforce actions and business priorities
  • Earlier identification of capability, attrition and workforce supply risks
  • More consistent manager decisions on talent, performance and employee relations
  • Clearer governance for people decisions during transformation and growth
  • Higher-quality HR recommendations supported by data, options and risk analysis

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can define an HRBP mandate, service model and stakeholder engagement approach.

  • Ulrich HRBP model roles: strategic partner, coach, specialist and service delivery
  • Operating-model choices: shared services, centres of expertise and embedded partners
  • RACI matrix for HR decisions, service ownership and escalation routes
  • Customer segmentation by workforce group, business unit and manager needs
  • Service catalogue linking HR offerings, channels, owners and response standards
  • Stakeholder maps identifying influence, interest, expectations and engagement priorities

Participants can interpret business drivers and convert them into people priorities.

  • Read income statements, balance sheets and cash-flow statements for workforce implications
  • Translate revenue, margin, productivity and risk drivers into people priorities
  • Value-chain analysis connecting operating activities, roles, capability and customer outcomes
  • PESTLE and Porter's Five Forces for external workforce pressures
  • Balanced Scorecard measures linking people indicators with strategic objectives
  • Business-case logic: costs, benefits, assumptions, risks and payback periods

Participants can contract, investigate and frame business-focused people interventions.

  • Contracting conversations that clarify sponsor, scope, authority, confidentiality and success criteria
  • Diagnose requests using the 5 Whys and problem statements
  • Data-gathering plans combining interviews, focus groups, observation and document review
  • Hypothesis trees separating symptoms, root causes and contributing conditions
  • Stakeholder interviews using funnel questions, probing and reflective listening
  • Consulting project charters with milestones, dependencies, governance and decision rights

Participants can assess workforce demand, supply, capability gaps and talent risks.

  • Strategic workforce planning cycle: demand, supply, gaps, actions and review
  • Headcount demand scenarios based on volumes, productivity and service levels
  • Supply analysis covering attrition, mobility, retirement, skills and contingent labour
  • Build-versus-buy-versus-borrow decisions for scarce or changing capabilities
  • Nine-box talent review using performance, potential and succession readiness
  • Workforce risk register with triggers, owners, mitigations and review dates

Participants can advise on structure, role clarity and operating-model choices.

  • Organisation design principles: work, structure, governance, processes and people
  • McKinsey 7S analysis identifying alignment gaps during organisational change
  • Span-of-control and layer analysis for management structure decisions
  • Role architecture defining accountabilities, decision rights, skills and interfaces
  • Job evaluation considerations: internal equity, market position and pay architecture
  • Organisation design options assessed against cost, service, risk and speed

Participants can connect talent and capability decisions to critical business roles.

  • Talent strategy linking critical roles, capability pools and business priorities
  • Critical-role analysis using value creation, scarcity and risk criteria
  • Performance management calibration: ratings, evidence standards and bias controls
  • Succession slates distinguishing emergency cover, ready-now and development candidates
  • Career pathways built from skills, experiences, mobility and progression criteria
  • Learning needs analysis using performance data, task analysis and manager input

Participants can provide balanced advice on reward and employee relations decisions.

  • Reward principles balancing market competitiveness, internal equity, affordability and performance
  • Pay-position analysis using salary ranges, compa-ratios and distribution patterns
  • Reward change cases addressing retention, pay compression and critical skills
  • Employee relations triage: issue facts, policy, precedent, risk and escalation
  • Grievance and disciplinary process mapping with consistent manager decision points
  • Psychological contract signals affecting trust, commitment and discretionary effort

Participants can plan people-side change actions that support adoption and performance.

  • Change impact assessments by stakeholder group, process, role, skill and location
  • ADKAR model applied to awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement
  • Change sponsor maps defining visible actions, messages and accountability
  • Manager communication plans with audience, message, channel, timing and owner
  • Resistance diagnosis distinguishing practical barriers, loss concerns and credibility gaps
  • Transition measures tracking adoption, proficiency, sentiment and business results

Participants can frame people analytics questions and present decision-relevant evidence.

  • People analytics questions framed around decisions, hypotheses, metrics and actions
  • Workforce dashboard design using leading, lagging, outcome and diagnostic measures
  • Turnover analysis separating regretted exits, cohorts, hotspots and stated reasons
  • Absence metrics: frequency, duration, Bradford Factor and operational impact
  • HR data governance covering definitions, access, quality, retention and privacy
  • ISO 30414 human capital reporting metrics and disclosure considerations

Participants can influence senior stakeholders and convert course learning into an HRBP action plan.

  • Influence plans matched to stakeholder power, interests, concerns and decision styles
  • Executive narratives structured through context, insight, options, recommendation and request
  • Data storytelling combining a decision headline, evidence, implication and action
  • HR governance forums with charters, thresholds, agendas and decision records
  • Manage ethical dilemmas using stakeholder impact, fairness, consistency and documentation
  • 90-day HRBP application plan with priorities, stakeholders, measures and review cadence

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

What you take back to work

  1. HRBP stakeholder contracting template
  2. Strategic workforce planning scenario model
  3. Organisation design option assessment matrix
  4. People analytics dashboard specification
  5. Executive HR recommendation structure
  6. 90-day HRBP application plan

Who should attend

  • HR Business Partner — strengthen strategic advisory capability and business credibility
  • Senior HR Generalist — move from operational support into business-facing partnership
  • HR Manager — connect people priorities with operating plans and leadership decisions
  • Talent or Learning Leader — align capability, succession and development with critical roles
  • Organisation Development Practitioner — advise on structure, roles and change adoption
  • People Analytics Specialist — turn workforce data into decision-ready management insight

Skills and tools covered

Strategic HR partneringWorkforce planningOrganisation designPeople analyticsChange leadershipExecutive influence

Tools and standards

Ulrich HRBP Model, Balanced Scorecard, McKinsey 7S Framework, ISO 30414

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to establish frameworks, followed by facilitated case work, group analysis and structured simulations. Participants assess business performance information, contract with internal clients, diagnose workforce issues, compare organisation design options and prepare executive recommendations. Scenarios reflect common HRBP assignments, including growth plans, restructuring, critical-skill shortages, retention concerns and change programmes. Facilitators provide feedback on reasoning, stakeholder handling, data use and practical application planning.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least three years of HR experience, including exposure to manager advice, employee relations, talent, reward, workforce reporting or change activity. They should understand core HR processes and be comfortable discussing business issues with managers. Experience working with senior leaders is useful but not essential. No prior qualification in finance, analytics, organisation design or project management is required. The course does not assume expertise in spreadsheets, statistical software or formal consulting methods, although participants should be prepared to interpret basic workforce and business data.

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 people processes such as performance, talent, employee relations or workforce reporting. The course is designed for experienced practitioners; prior finance, analytics or consulting qualifications are not required.

Bring a current business or people challenge you would like to analyse, without sharing confidential personal information. A laptop is useful for live online delivery and helpful in classroom sessions, but it is not essential.

It is best suited to HR Business Partners, senior HR generalists, HR managers and specialist leaders moving into advisory roles. Participants should be expected to work with managers, business leaders or transformation teams.

General HR management courses commonly focus on HR functions, policies and process administration. This course concentrates on the HRBP role: diagnosing business issues, shaping workforce choices, influencing leaders and using evidence to support decisions.

The methods can be used for live assignments such as headcount planning, restructuring, retention risks, capability gaps, manager concerns and change programmes. You will leave with templates and a 90-day plan that can be adapted to your role.

The programme contains ten modules taught in sequence, covering the HRBP operating model through to executive influence and action planning. Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 with approximately 6.5 contact hours, alongside breaks and facilitated application work.

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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