Ulrich HR Operating Model Implementation Training Course

Course overview

HR functions are often asked to become more strategic while still carrying fragmented processes, unclear ownership, duplicated work and inconsistent service to managers and employees. The Ulrich HR Operating Model provides a practical way to separate and connect strategic HR business partnering, centres of expertise, HR shared services and line-manager accountability. This course addresses the implementation challenge: translating the model from an organisation chart into service definitions, decision rights, workflows, measures and governance that work in the organisation’s actual business context.

Participants learn how to diagnose the current HR operating model, define the target-state roles of HR Business Partners, Centres of Expertise and Shared Services, and decide which activities should remain local, become centralised or be digitised. They use service catalogue design, process mapping, RACI matrices, workforce demand analysis and stakeholder mapping to specify how HR services will operate. The course also covers governance forums, service-level measures, change impacts, technology enablement and the phased transition of services without disrupting employee support.

Teaching combines expert instruction with an extended implementation case based on a multi-site organisation redesigning its HR function. Participants work in teams to map an HR service, allocate responsibilities across the Ulrich model, identify risks and build a transition sequence. Each participant leaves with an HR Operating Model Implementation Pack: a target operating model canvas, service catalogue extract, RACI matrix, governance design, KPI scorecard and 90-day implementation roadmap that can be adapted for use with their own HR leadership team.

The course is suited to HR professionals supporting an operating-model redesign, service-delivery improvement or HR transformation programme. It is equally valuable for managers who need to evaluate whether a proposed shared-services, business-partnering or centre-of-expertise structure will improve service quality, control and strategic contribution.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Diagnose an existing HR operating model using capability, service-demand and pain-point analysis
• Design a target HR structure across HR Business Partners, Centres of Expertise and Shared Services
• Build an HR service catalogue with customer groups, service owners, channels and service levels
• Create RACI matrices that assign decision rights and delivery accountability for priority HR processes
• Map end-to-end HR processes and identify hand-offs, controls, escalation routes and automation opportunities
• Define governance forums, role charters and reporting routines for the Ulrich HR Operating Model
• Construct an HR service scorecard using volume, quality, cost, experience and strategic-impact measures
• Produce a phased implementation roadmap with transition risks, dependencies, change actions and 90-day priorities

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• HR Directors and Heads of HR — who sponsor HR operating-model redesign and need a defensible target structure
• HR Business Partners — who must clarify their strategic role, client engagement model and boundaries with specialist teams
• HR Transformation Managers — who lead service-delivery, process or technology change across the HR function
• HR Shared Services Managers — who establish service catalogues, case-routing rules, performance measures and escalation paths
• Centre of Expertise Leads — who define specialist ownership for talent, reward, learning, employee relations or workforce planning
• People Operations and HR Project Managers — who coordinate the transition from current-state processes to new HR service arrangements

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have working familiarity with core HR activities such as recruitment, onboarding, performance management, learning, employee relations, reward or HR administration. Experience in an HR generalist, HRBP, specialist, shared-services or HR project role is useful because exercises require participants to assess real service hand-offs and accountabilities. Participants should be able to use Microsoft Excel for simple tables and metrics; no advanced spreadsheet modelling is required. Prior knowledge of the Ulrich model, organisational design, ServiceNow or Workday is not required. Complete beginners to HR should expect a demanding course and should first understand basic HR process terminology.

Training methodology

The programme uses instructor-led model explanation, facilitated design workshops and a running HR transformation case. Participants analyse a current-state HR function, classify work by service type and customer need, then design target roles across HRBPs, Centres of Expertise and Shared Services. Small-group exercises use service blueprints, process maps, RACI matrices and KPI scorecards rather than abstract discussion. The final day is an application lab in which participants assemble their own implementation pack, test it against stakeholder objections and agree a 90-day workplace action plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Diagnosing the HR operating model

• Ulrich model components: HR Business Partners, Centres of Expertise and Shared Services
• Limits and adaptations of the classic Ulrich HR model
• Current-state HR operating-model diagnostic
• HR service-demand and customer-segment analysis
• HR capability mapping and workload assessment
• Pain-point analysis across employee and manager journeys
• Design principles for target HR service delivery

Workshop: Participants complete a current-state diagnostic for a case organisation and produce a prioritised list of operating-model issues.

Day 2: Designing services, roles and accountabilities

• HR service catalogue architecture
• Service segmentation by transaction, advisory and strategic work
• HRBP role charter and strategic partnering boundaries
• Centre of Expertise mandate design
• Shared Services delivery channels and tiered support
• RACI matrices for HR process ownership
• Decision-rights design and escalation pathways

Workshop: Teams design a service catalogue extract and RACI matrix for recruitment, onboarding and employee-relations services.

Day 3: Process, technology and performance design

• End-to-end HR process mapping using swimlanes
• Handover controls between HRBPs, specialists and service centres
• Case management and knowledge-base design in ServiceNow HRSD
• Workday HCM workflow and approval configuration considerations
• Automation candidate assessment for HR transactions
• HR service-level agreements and operational-level agreements
• HR KPI scorecards using ISO 30414 measures

Workshop: Participants map an employee lifecycle process, identify failure points and produce a service-level and KPI scorecard.

Day 4: Governance and transition planning

• HR operating-model governance structure
• Service review forums and performance-reporting cadence
• Stakeholder mapping for HR transformation
• Change-impact assessment by role and service
• Workforce transition and role-migration planning
• Risk register design for HR service transitions
• Phased implementation sequencing and dependency mapping

Workshop: Participants build a governance map, stakeholder plan and risk register for a shared-services transition.

Day 5: Implementation lab and leadership case

• Target operating model canvas
• Business case logic for HR operating-model investment
• Cost-to-serve and capacity assumptions
• Pilot selection and minimum viable service design
• Implementation roadmap and 90-day action planning
• Leadership presentation of operating-model trade-offs
• Benefits tracking and continuous improvement cycle

Workshop: Participants assemble and present an HR Operating Model Implementation Pack containing their target design, measures, governance and 90-day roadmap.

Tools & standards covered

Workday HCM, ServiceNow HR Service Delivery, Microsoft Excel, ISO 30414

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions