HR business partnering for a new era modular programme

This programme is for HR leaders at every level whose ability to deliver results depends upon building robust and trusting partnerships with their stakeholders, and who want to:

• Get involved earlier in the business planning cycle
• Understand business context, priorities and numbers and align HR’s contribution
• Speak in the language of the stakeholders and be seen as a business leader as well as HR
• Be more proactive in working with stakeholders in identifying the problems that are relevant to the business
• Tackling the problems collaboratively with stakeholders
• Become more business-savvy and credible with business leaders
• Make tangible and demonstrable contributions to business success.
• Become trusted partners and advisors to business leaders

As a result of this program, HR leaders will be able to:

• Understand how business works in the context of customers and competitors
• Understand business drivers, goals, strategy and priorities
• Enable their teams and stakeholders to understand the links between talent outcomes and business outcomes and build alignment and synergy
• Communicate effectively in the context and language of the business / stakeholders
• Measure and demonstrate the value of HR contribution to the business outcomes
• Deliver improved talent outcomes – positive conditions for success
• Build greater personal credibility and influence as business and HR leaders

• Understanding client groups’ business, context and priorities
• The HR success model, analytics and HR metrics
• Aligning business and HR planning and decision-making
• Mapping business priorities to talent priorities – the capacity, capability and cost model
• Communicating in the language of the stakeholders
• Influencing leaders and managers to create the conditions of success of their teams
• Identify Agile projects that make a significant contribution to business KPI
• Drive efficiency improvements using analytics and agile tools and mindset – deliver quick-win projects
• Tackle cross functional issues and opportunities through collaborative team working.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to achieve operational improvements
• Anticipating and managing conflict and building common ground
• Coaching and facilitation skills; helping others to thin
• Building trust
• Building clarity despite complexity
• Being an inspiring, positive and credible leader of business as well as of culture

Virtual workshop one – Business partnering for a new era – 3 hours + min. 4 hours

What is business partnering? How have recent changes shifted the demands and opportunities for business partners? What does our research reveal about the challenges facing HR leaders?

We will explore how to make the role more successful and impactful within your own context, and ensure that your priorities and activities are driven by business needs. You will also get to know fellow participants, clarify learning objectives, explore the programme content and begin your guided preparatory assignments.

Inter-session assignments and peer coaching group

Assignments include your Enable-HR Profile and some guided learning about business acumen and how your own organisation works, including a mapping tool for context, landscape, stakeholders and business drivers, and some data gathering.

We will organise the first peer coaching group with your facilitator, and set you up to organise additional group and/or paired peer co-coaching so that you are fully supported and build relationships with your fellow participants.

Virtual workshop two – How to be a business ally – 3 hours

3 core threads:

1. Understand the business
2. Use business language
3. Align people and business priorities

How to deepen your understanding of business context, priorities & numbers in a way that enables you to align your/HR’s contribution.
How to understand and interpret business drivers, goals, strategy and priorities in order to address the problems that are relevant to the business and enable business outcomes.
How to speak in the language of your stakeholders and avoid relying on HR themes and jargon.

Inter-session assignments and peer coaching group

Assignments will build on business acumen and provide a framework to begin linking talent and culture priorities with business priorities.

Facilitated peer group coaching and further group and paired co-coaching.

Virtual workshop three – How to be a talent value builder – 3 hours

1. Understand your talent landscape
2. Explore talent options
3. Build relevant solutions

How to understand and optimise talent processes so that they respond to business needs.
How to advocate for talent and facilitate reframe stakeholders’ thinking.
How to work with stakeholders to create solutions that improve talent acquisition, engagement, retention and development ROI.

Inter-session assignments and peer coaching group

Building on your talent/business framework, identifying and evaluating options and working on the business case.

Facilitated peer group coaching and further group and paired co-coaching.

Virtual workshop four – How to be a business-driven change maker – 3 hours

1. Make well-informed decisions
2. Be proactive
3. Collaborate

How to use analytics and Agile tools and mindset and drive efficiency improvements
How to identify projects and win support from business leaders
How to tackle cross-functional issues and opportunities; address root causes and respond with practical solutions.

Inter-session assignments and peer coaching group

Assignments will build learning about Agile approaches, and provide a decision-making framework for prioritising projects.

Facilitated peer group coaching and further group and paired co-coaching.

Virtual workshop five – How to be a trusted culture leader – 3 hours

1. Coach and facilitate
2. Relate behaviour to outcomes
3. Lead culture and values

How to manage your unique responsibility as an HR leader to role model, coach and promote the organisation’s values.
Advocacy of the importance of culture and behaviour and their impact on performance and business outcomes.
How to have coaching conversations with leaders and managers and facilitate their thinking about the impact of their behaviours.

Inter-session assignments and peer coaching group

Paired coaching exercise to embed learning about coaching conversations. Assignment to incorporate learning about the business value of culture into their talent/business framework.

Facilitated peer group coaching and further group and paired co-coaching.

Virtual workshop six – How to be an influential co-creator – 3 hours

1. Inspire confidence
2. Drive positive growth
3. Navigate complexity

How to navigate a path through complexity.
How to build and communicate a powerful vision of the future using a clear and positive narrative.
How to work out what influences your business leaders and stakeholders.
How to embody confidence and build it in others.

Inter-session assignments and peer coaching group

Assignments will work on two levels:

1. Build on coaching skills in co-coaching pairs, as participants facilitate each other’s thinking about the complexities and challenges they face
2. Work towards clarity and confidence.

They will further build their action plans in readiness for the final workshop.

Facilitated peer group coaching and further group and paired co-coaching.

Virtual workshop seven – Commitment and action – 3 hours

We will bring all the threads together and support participants to build clarity and commitment to their action plans.
Consolidate their ‘Business Talent Framework’.
We will pull together, explore and embed all the learning they have achieved throughout the programme.
Participants will share and celebrate their progress and achievements, and identify how to use this to build their personal stature- their reputation and credibility within their organisations.

Execution assignments and peer coaching group

The final steps in their Business Talent Framework will be completed so that they have a clear plan for execution.

Facilitated peer group coaching and further group and paired co-coaching.