Weekly online
Join interactive online teaching, with guided reading, practical activities and assessment work around the live sessions. Your written course plan confirms the timetable, learning hours and masterclass arrangements for this module.
Professional learning · Executive Leadership
Strategic Human Resource Management.
Connect the people plan to the organisation you are trying to build.
An ambitious strategy depends on people with the capability, motivation and opportunity to deliver it. Strategic Human Resources explores how workforce choices support organisational priorities and how people policies shape the experience of work. You will move from a business requirement to a reasoned workforce plan, then examine the management practices needed to put that plan into effect. KBC’s proposed learning activities connect workforce supply, development, performance and employee relationships through one organisational case. The aim is to make a persuasive people strategy that explains both its expected contribution and the practical conditions required for it to work.
Weekly route3 months
Live online2 hours a week
Module startsOctober · February · June
Learning structure1 module
The professional challenge
Make the next decision with more confidence.
Your organisation plans to grow, yet recruitment is slow, specialist skills are scarce and experienced staff are leaving. Increasing headcount may not solve the underlying issue. You must translate the business plan into workforce requirements and recommend a coordinated response that managers can implement, review and explain to employees.
Who will benefit
For HR professionals, people managers and leaders who need to contribute to workforce strategy or evaluate an existing people plan. It suits operational managers whose delivery depends on recruitment, development and retention. You should be willing to examine organisational evidence and consider both business needs and the experience of employees.
What you take back to work
Practical capability, built through learning.
- Evaluate how people management contributes to organisational priorities and performance.
- Develop a workforce plan based on business needs and available capability.
- Assess the coherence and implications of proposed people policies.
- Recommend implementation measures that connect HR activity with organisational outcomes.
Inside the course
A connected learning journey.
KBC’s published route is a three-month module within the 18-month diploma programme. These learning blocks connect the unit outcomes with reading, discussion and practical application. A full OTHM unit includes 100 guided learning hours and 200 total qualification hours; your learning plan explains the allocation across teaching, directed activities, study and assessment.
01Explain the strategic contribution of people
Examine strategic fit and the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) perspective. Consider relationships between HR, finance, operations and leadership, and identify where their priorities can conflict. Learners use an organisational case to distinguish an HR activity from the business or employee outcome it is intended to support, then test the assumptions connecting the two.
Apply it at work: Create a map linking organisational priorities with people requirements.
02Build a workforce plan from business needs
Translate a strategic direction into the capabilities and capacity the organisation may need. Examine the existing workforce, likely changes and gaps in knowledge. Learners compare recruitment, development, redeployment and changes to work design, considering timescales and dependencies. The exercise produces a reasoned plan with assumptions that can be revisited as the business evolves.
Apply it at work: Develop a workforce gap analysis and a prioritised people plan.
03Align policies and the employee experience
Explore how recruitment, development, reward and performance practices interact. A policy can support one objective while creating problems elsewhere, especially when employees receive inconsistent signals. Learners examine a set of proposed changes, consider fairness and relevant legal or ethical questions, and identify where specialist advice or employee consultation would be necessary before implementation.
Apply it at work: Review one policy set for coherence, employee impact and implementation needs.
04Make the people strategy deliverable
Assess whether the organisation’s structure, culture and management capability can support the proposed HR approach. Consider the responsibilities of line managers alongside those of specialists. Learners design practical arrangements for communication, capability development and implementation, then address how the plan would operate in a different organisational context rather than assuming one universal solution.
Apply it at work: Prepare an implementation plan with clear roles and management support.
05Evaluate contribution and improve the plan
Choose evidence that helps assess whether the people plan is working. Consider capability, retention, experience and performance together, while recognising that many factors influence business results. Learners distinguish useful indicators from measures collected out of habit and design a review that invites employee and manager perspectives. The final recommendation explains how findings should inform action.
Apply it at work: Build a people-strategy review with measures, questions and action owners.
Learn around your working life
Time to understand. Space to apply.
Online or in a city near you
Face-to-face delivery can be arranged in London, Maidstone, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool. Your course offer confirms the venue and teaching dates.
A London masterclass to start your module
Meet your tutors and fellow professionals at an optional full-day London event. KBC covers the event, agreed transportation, refreshments and an open buffet dinner. Confirm arrangements with the team before booking travel.
Support between sessions
Return to class recordings and learning resources, bring questions to your tutor and use free one-to-one tutoring and coaching support. Your course plan sets out the guided reading and practice needed alongside live teaching.
Your route to recognition
Know what the assessment involves.
The official OTHM unit is Strategic Human Resource Management. Its assessment is coursework, with approximately 4,500 words indicated in the current specification. KBC’s proposed preparation work builds an organisational people strategy through workforce analysis, policy evaluation and implementation planning. The final submission must address the issued assignment brief and all relevant criteria. Centre assessment is subject to OTHM external verification. Practical activities are intended to strengthen your analysis and application before submission, with appropriate care over organisational and employee information.
Your written offer records the award or course completion requirements, any examination fees included, and the relevant eligibility checks.
The professional knowledge behind the course
Explore the books and standards.
The learning themes above bring together the relevant guide, syllabus and workplace practice. KBC’s teaching sequence connects these ideas through discussion and application.
- OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership — qualification specification ↗OTHM · Current linked file: July 2025; document retains May 2020 footers
Official qualification structure and Strategic Human Resource Management learning outcomes, assessment criteria and coursework guidance. Full specification read.
- Armstrong’s Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management — Michael Armstrong ↗Kogan Page · 8th edition; 3 December 2024
Recommended reading: strategic alignment, HR strategy, employee experience, workforce resourcing and performance.
Your investment
Get a course offer that fits your route.
Request the standalone fee for your chosen format, including the teaching, reading materials, assessment and membership arrangements relevant to this course.
Standalone professional development is self-funded or employer-funded. The agreed course offer explains any available support and the costs included.
Your questions, answered.
What is the official unit title?
The OTHM unit is Strategic Human Resource Management. Strategic Human Resources is the shorter KBC page label.
Must I work in HR?
Relevant management experience can provide a useful perspective. You will need to analyse people issues beyond your immediate team.
Will the course provide legal advice?
It develops awareness of policy implications and the need for appropriate advice. Activities should use current authoritative guidance for any specific legal question.
What would this help you achieve?
Talk to KBC about your experience, your goals and the right learning route for you.