Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Business leaders expect HR to shape decisions on growth, cost and capability, yet many HR functions are still judged on administration and policy enforcement. When HR cannot translate business strategy into people priorities or show the value of its initiatives, it is consulted late and its budget is the first to be cut. This Core Concept course equips HR managers to diagnose the business and the HR function, apply strategic HRM models and partner with line leaders using structured consulting tools. Participants leave with a Business Unit People Plan supported by an HR scorecard.
Course Objectives
- Analyse business strategy and the HR function's current state to identify the people priorities that most affect performance
- Apply strategic HRM models, ISO 30201 and recognised HR competency frameworks to position HR as a business partner
- Conduct partnering conversations with line leaders using structured consulting, stakeholder and pivotal-role tools
- Build business cases and an HR scorecard that link HR initiatives to measurable business outcomes
- Manage partnering risks, role conflict and common failure points in the HR operating model
- Produce a Business Unit People Plan ready for leadership approval
Target Audience
- HR managers responsible for aligning HR strategy with business plans
- HR business partners supporting business unit and functional leaders
- Centre of expertise managers for talent, reward and organisation development
- HR operations managers moving into a partnering role
- Organisation development managers shaping structures and operating models
Course Outline
Day 1: Strategic HRM Foundations and HR Function Diagnosis
- Harvard Framework for Human Resource Management
- Best-Fit Versus Best-Practice Approaches and the VRIO Resource Test
- Business Strategy Analysis for HR Using PESTLE and Porter's Five Forces
- HR Function Current-State Diagnosis with the McKinsey 7-S Framework
- HR Service Delivery Review Against the Three-Pillar Operating Model
Day 2: HR Models, Standards and Competency Frameworks
- Ulrich's Four-Role Model and the HR Value Proposition
- ISO 30201:2026 Human Resources Management System Requirements
- ISO 30408:2016 Guidelines on Human Governance
- CIPD Profession Map and SHRM Competency Model Comparison
- Galbraith Star Model for Organisation Design Choices
Day 3: Business Partnering in Practice
- Strategy-to-People Priorities Translation Canvas
- Leadership Stakeholder Map and Relationship Plan
- Block's Flawless Consulting: Contracting, Discovery and Feedback Meetings
- Pivotal Role Segmentation Using Huselid's A-Positions Approach
- HR Initiative Business Case with Cost-Benefit Analysis
Day 4: Measuring Value and Managing Partnering Risk
- Becker-Huselid-Ulrich HR Scorecard Design
- Human Capital Metrics Selection Using ISO 30414:2025
- People Risk Register Aligned to ISO 31000:2018
- HR Business Partner Role Boundary Charter and Service Level Agreement
- HR Operating Model Failure Patterns Diagnostic Checklist
Day 5: Case Work and the Business Unit People Plan
- Market Expansion Case: Aligning People Priorities to a Growth Strategy
- Cost Reduction Case: Partnering Leaders Through a Restructure
- HR Scorecard Build for an Own Business Unit
- Business Unit People Plan Drafting
- Executive Panel Presentation and Plan Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Strategic HR Planning
- Business Acumen
- HR Consulting
- Stakeholder Influence
- Organisation Design
- HR Value Measurement
- People Risk Management
- Business Case Development
Why Attend This Course
- Return to work with a Business Unit People Plan and HR scorecard already tested before a peer executive panel
- Speak the language of business leaders and tie each HR proposal to a measurable business result
- Know where the partnering role ends and transactional HR begins, reducing the pull back into administration
- Compare HR operating models and partnering practices with managers from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
HR earns a place in business decisions when it can show how people priorities serve the strategy and what each initiative returns. The course moves from diagnosing the business and the HR function, through strategic HRM models, standards and competency frameworks, to the consulting conversations, business cases and scorecards that make partnering work day to day. The final day turns that material into a Business Unit People Plan that participants take back to their leadership team for approval.