Strategic HR Transformation Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends HR Directors, Heads of Organisational Development 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-010

Before you join: Participants should have substantial experience in HR, organisational development, transformation, workforce planning or business partnering.

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

Strategic HR transformation is required when an organisation’s workforce model, HR services, culture and leadership practices no longer support its business strategy. Common triggers include mergers, operating-model redesign, digitalisation, cost pressure, skills shortages, public-sector reform and inconsistent employee experience. Senior HR professionals must convert these pressures into a credible transformation case, a practical target operating model and a sequenced implementation plan that protects service continuity.

This course examines how to diagnose the current HR function, define strategic priorities and design people systems that improve organisational performance. Participants apply McKinsey 7S, the Burke-Litwin Model, target operating model design, workforce segmentation, culture diagnostics, Kotter’s 8-Step Process and Prosci ADKAR. They learn to redesign HR service delivery, clarify decision rights, build change coalitions, manage stakeholder resistance, define transformation measures and track benefits after implementation.

Teaching combines concise instructor briefings with cases based on banking, government, multinational and service-sector transformations. Participants work through organisation-design decisions, transformation governance scenarios, workforce data and change-risk assessments in facilitated groups. They leave with a reusable HR transformation blueprint containing a diagnostic structure, target-state design, stakeholder plan, change approach, implementation roadmap and measurement framework.

The course is intended for experienced HR leaders, organisational development practitioners, HR business partners, transformation managers and senior managers leading people-related change. It is particularly relevant where HR must move beyond policy administration and demonstrate a direct contribution to operating performance, workforce capability and strategic delivery.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose HR transformation needs using McKinsey 7S, PESTLE and stakeholder evidence
  • Design a target HR operating model with services, governance and decision rights
  • Develop a workforce and capability strategy linked to business priorities
  • Assess organisational culture and identify interventions using the Burke-Litwin Model
  • Construct a change strategy using Kotter’s 8-Step Process and Prosci ADKAR
  • Create transformation governance, stakeholder engagement and communication plans
  • Build implementation roadmaps with dependencies, milestones, risks and resource requirements
  • Define benefits measures, HR metrics and review mechanisms for transformation outcomes

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce credible HR transformation proposals for executive and board-level audiences
  • Lead operating-model discussions beyond traditional HR process improvement
  • Diagnose culture, structure and capability barriers with recognised frameworks
  • Manage resistance and sponsor alignment during complex people change
  • Build a portfolio of reusable transformation tools and planning templates

For your organisation

  • Creates stronger alignment between HR services and strategic business priorities
  • Reduces duplication and unclear accountability across HR service delivery
  • Improves adoption of new structures, systems and workforce practices
  • Builds measurable links between HR transformation investment and business outcomes
  • Strengthens internal capacity to govern large-scale people change programmes

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can diagnose the strategic drivers, performance gaps and people risks requiring HR transformation.

  • Business strategy translated into workforce, organisation, capability and culture requirements
  • McKinsey 7S diagnosis identifies misalignments among strategy, structure, systems and skills
  • Value-chain analysis locates people interventions affecting cost, quality and service
  • External drivers assessed through PESTLE, labour-market data and stakeholder expectations
  • Transformation case articulates performance gaps, strategic choices and people risks
  • HR maturity baseline distinguishes transactional services, expert practice and strategic partnership

Participants can design a target HR operating model aligned with customer needs and strategic priorities.

  • Target operating model defines customer segments, value streams and decision rights
  • Service catalogue separates hire-to-retire, talent, reward and employee-relations services
  • Ulrich model evaluated against enterprise needs, service volumes and capability
  • Shared services scope balances standardisation, local responsiveness and employee experience
  • Centres of expertise define specialist accountabilities, products and consulting services
  • RACI matrices assign ownership for policy, process, data and case decisions

Participants can redesign structures, roles and workforce arrangements to support strategic delivery.

  • Organisation design principles convert strategic choices into structural design criteria
  • Span-of-control analysis tests managerial layers, workload and supervisory capacity
  • Role architecture defines accountabilities, interfaces, job families and career pathways
  • Decision-rights mapping clarifies authority between corporate, business-unit and local teams
  • Workforce segmentation differentiates critical roles, scarce skills and workforce populations
  • Scenario planning estimates workforce demand under alternative growth and productivity assumptions

Participants can build workforce and capability plans that address future strategic requirements.

  • Strategic workforce planning links business scenarios, demand forecasts and supply analysis
  • Build-buy-borrow-bot decisions address capability gaps and resourcing constraints
  • Skills taxonomy structures capability data, proficiency levels and learning priorities
  • Critical-role analysis identifies positions with disproportionate operational and strategic impact
  • Succession planning uses readiness assessments, talent pools and development actions
  • Talent review calibration improves consistency across performance, potential and mobility decisions

Participants can assess culture and leadership conditions that enable or obstruct transformation.

  • Burke-Litwin Model connects external environment, leadership, culture and performance
  • Culture diagnostics distinguish stated values, observed norms and reinforcing systems
  • Leadership behaviour standards translate transformation ambitions into visible management practices
  • Employee journey mapping identifies friction across moments that matter
  • Psychological safety assessment examines speaking-up, learning and challenge behaviours
  • Recognition, performance and reward mechanisms reinforce required cultural shifts

Participants can develop a structured change approach that builds commitment and adoption.

  • Kotter's 8-Step Process structures urgency, coalition building and sustained change
  • Prosci ADKAR identifies individual awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement needs
  • Change impact assessment maps process, role, technology and behavioural consequences
  • Stakeholder mapping prioritises influence, commitment, concerns and engagement approaches
  • Sponsor roadmaps define visible leadership actions, messages and escalation responsibilities
  • Resistance management distinguishes legitimate concerns, capability gaps and active opposition

Participants can specify technology, data and governance requirements for transformed HR services.

  • HR technology architecture connects core HR, talent, payroll and analytics platforms
  • Process digitisation prioritises employee demand, control requirements and implementation readiness
  • Data governance assigns ownership, quality controls, retention and access permissions
  • People analytics questions distinguish descriptive, diagnostic, predictive and prescriptive analysis
  • Privacy-by-design principles address employee data, consent and monitoring risks
  • Algorithmic decision controls test bias, explainability, audit trails and human oversight

Participants can establish governance and delivery controls for a multi-workstream HR transformation.

  • Transformation governance defines sponsor, steering committee, programme and workstream accountabilities
  • Benefits dependency networks connect HR initiatives, technology releases and business outcomes
  • Integrated roadmaps sequence design, consultation, build, deployment and stabilisation activities
  • RAID logs track risks, assumptions, issues, dependencies and assigned responses
  • Stage-gate reviews test readiness before investment, implementation and scale decisions
  • Programme resourcing balances internal expertise, vendor roles and knowledge transfer

Participants can define measures that demonstrate adoption, service performance and transformation value.

  • Benefits realisation plans specify baseline, owner, measure, timing and evidence source
  • Balanced scorecards connect HR outcomes with customer, process, financial and capability measures
  • Leading indicators monitor adoption, manager confidence, data quality and training completion
  • Lagging indicators track retention, productivity, service levels and workforce cost
  • Dashboard design separates executive decisions, operational controls and workforce insights
  • Review cadences convert performance evidence into corrective actions and governance decisions

Participants can prepare a practical plan for sustaining HR transformation after initial implementation.

  • Continuous improvement routines capture service defects, employee feedback and process opportunities
  • Change reinforcement embeds new practices through leaders, systems and performance expectations
  • Capability transfer plans protect knowledge during vendor exit and team transitions
  • Transformation communications maintain transparency around progress, decisions and unresolved issues
  • Post-implementation reviews assess outcomes, lessons learned and outstanding corrective actions
  • Ninety-day application plans prioritise actions, sponsors, evidence and decision points

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

What you take back to work

  1. HR transformation diagnostic framework
  2. Target HR operating model canvas
  3. Workforce and capability planning template
  4. Change impact and stakeholder assessment
  5. Transformation governance and roadmap template
  6. Benefits realisation scorecard

Who should attend

  • HR Directors — responsible for aligning HR investment with enterprise strategy
  • Heads of Organisational Development — leading structural, cultural and capability change
  • Senior HR Business Partners — translating business priorities into people interventions
  • HR Transformation Managers — planning and delivering multi-workstream HR change programmes
  • Talent and Workforce Planning Leaders — addressing critical capability and succession requirements
  • Programme Directors — governing enterprise transformations with significant people impacts

Skills and tools covered

HR operating model designOrganisational diagnosisWorkforce strategyCulture changeChange leadershipTransformation governance

Tools and standards

McKinsey 7S Framework, Burke-Litwin Model, Kotter's 8-Step Process, Prosci ADKAR Model

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce models, followed by case analysis, facilitated group work, decision simulations and structured peer review. Cases reflect HR transformation issues such as shared-services redesign, post-merger integration, workforce restructuring, culture change and HR technology implementation. Participants apply each framework to a realistic organisational scenario and progressively assemble their own transformation blueprint. Individual application planning helps participants identify immediate actions, stakeholders and evidence needed for their workplace.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have substantial experience in HR, organisational development, transformation, workforce planning or business partnering. They should be familiar with core HR processes such as recruitment, performance management, reward, employee relations and learning. Experience contributing to a change programme, operating-model review or culture initiative is useful. Participants do not need formal qualifications in organisational psychology, project management, data science or finance. No prior knowledge of the named transformation frameworks is required, although participants should be comfortable discussing strategic business issues and working with organisational 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

The course is designed for professionals with substantial HR, organisational development, transformation or business-partnering experience. Participants should understand core HR processes, but do not need previous formal training in change management or organisation design.

Bring a current or anticipated HR transformation challenge, such as a service-delivery redesign, culture programme or workforce change. Relevant strategy documents, workforce measures or operating-model materials are useful, but not required.

It is best suited to senior HR practitioners and transformation leaders who influence enterprise-wide people decisions. It also benefits programme leaders whose change initiatives require major workforce, leadership or culture shifts.

General HR management courses focus on functional HR practice, while change management courses often concentrate on individual adoption. This course combines business strategy, HR operating-model design, workforce planning, culture, governance and change delivery.

Participants can use the diagnostic, operating-model, stakeholder and benefits templates to structure a live transformation proposal. The final application plan identifies priority actions, sponsors, evidence requirements and decision points for the first 90 days.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours, totalling approximately 32.5 contact hours. Time is divided between instructor input, case analysis, group exercises, simulations, peer discussion 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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