This occupation is found in small, medium and large organisations which sit within any of the public, private or third sectors. Senior People Professionals are found in all industries and are a key component of virtually all types of business model where there is a workforce to support and manage.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to improve people practices in organisations in order to drive organisational performance and effectiveness. Senior People Professionals are the in-house experts in people, work and change. They champion the people agenda to create working environments and cultures that help get the best out of people, delivering great organisational outcomes.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a range of stakeholders across their organisation, creating medium to long-term value for a wide audience. In larger organisations, they may be part of a wider specialist team. They may also lead a team of HR/L&D/OD consultants/advisers. In smaller organisations, they might be solely responsible for the entire people agenda and report directly to the organisation lead. At this level, Senior People Professionals are ambassadors for their organisations and will typically have wide-ranging networks and need to interact with a wide range of internal and external senior stakeholders.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for applying their knowledge and expertise to lead the design, implementation and evaluation of people policies and practices aligned to the needs of the organisation and its employees. They will be responsible for leading people projects and/or playing a key role in larger organisation-wide programmes, managing their own work with a high level of autonomy. Senior People Practitioners have to keep up to date with relevant legislation and regulation and make timely interventions to ensure their organisation’s relations with its people are effective and compliant.
Senior People Professionals engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including developing and maintaining strong relationships with senior stakeholders to facilitate engagement on people issues. Keeping up to date with key trends and developments in the profession is critical to this occupation. Analysis of future workforce trends and providing insight around people analytics is an essential responsibility which enables Senior People Professionals to influence senior stakeholders and make recommendations for change. Senior People Professionals are increasingly responsible for seeking out, evaluating and utilising technology to deliver the people strategy. Typically, Senior People Professionals have some budget responsibility and will be expected to employ continuous improvement approaches to maximise the use of limited resources.
Senior People Professionals may specialise in either Human Resources (HR), Learning and Development (L&D) or Organisation Development (OD). This Apprenticeship Occupational Standard takes a core and options approach. All apprentices will complete the core and must select the one most appropriate option to their role from HR, L&D and OD.
As a Senior People Professional, you can pursue one of the following positions:
Senior People Professionals are the in-house experts in people, work, and change. They champion the people agenda to create working environments and cultures that help get the best out of people, delivering great organizational outcomes.
Lead The Design, Creation, Implementation And Review Of People Policies And Practices Aligned To The Needs Of The Organisation, Critically Evaluate A Range Of People Practices To Ensure Fit For Purpose And Review As Appropriate.
Knowledge must have for Duty 1:
Skills must have for Duty 1:
Behavior must have for Duty 1:
Using Critical Analysis And Evaluation Of Internal And External Factors Contribute To The Development Of The Wider Organisational People Strategy And Lead On The Implementation Of A Workstream (E.g. HR/L&D/OD) Relevant To The Role.
Knowledge must have for Duty 2:
K3: Business acumen, including organisational strategy creation, strategic planning tools (including business cases) and trends in the wider business context as well as drivers of organisational performance and methods of measuring organisational data. Knowledge of financial and commercial information and value for money principles.
K4: Methods of measuring value and impact and types of analytical tools relating to creating value for an organization as well as methods of evaluating opportunity costs including qualitative and quantitative metrics.
K8: How to integrate diversity and inclusion into wider organisational approaches.
Skills must have for Duty 2:
S4: Design and contribute to the formulation and shaping of the People strategy and ensure alignment with organisational strategy.
S5: Devise, analyse, interpret and offer insight into data and metrics and the insights they provide to the industry and organisation for the purpose of creating value.
S9: Ensure that people policies and practices are inclusive, recognising the impact on individuals and groups and supporting diversity.
Behavior must have for Duty 2:
B2: Demonstrates professional courage and influence by challenging constructively and confidently in the face of opposition and tailoring influencing techniques to gain buy-in.
B3: Makes a visible commitment to valuing people; demonstrate compassion and fairness and enable people to have a meaningful voice in decisions that impact them.
B6: Assimilates evidence and ideas from multiple sources to identify themes and connections and gain insights on whole issues and their wider implications.
B7: Takes an adaptable, evidence based approach to decision making in the context of specific situations or environments.
B8: Applies a strategic and commercial mind-set to drive and enable change and create value for the organisation and its people.
Manage And Lead People Projects And Lead The People Element Of Broader Organisation Wide Projects And Programmes. Critically Analyse, Interpret And Evaluate Complex Information, Concepts And Problems To Develop Business Cases For Change And Evaluate And Apply Appropriate Change Management Methodologies.
Knowledge must have for Duty 3:
Skills must have for Duty 3:
Behavior must have for Duty 3:
Assess Both Current And Future Workforce Needs, Building Future Capability And Talent And Actively Contribute To The Organisation’s Strategic Workforce Planning Or Talent Management Processes.
Knowledge must have for Duty 4:
Skills must have for Duty 4:
Behavior must have for Duty 4:
Proactively Develop And Maintain Relationships With Senior Stakeholders In Order To Communicate, Engage, Influence And Challenge Effectively In Order To Achieve The People Strategy And Represent The Organisation Externally.
Knowledge must have for Duty 5:
Skills must have for Duty 5:
Behavior must have for Duty 5:
Bring Together The Right People To Ensure Resource Availability To Drive Sustained Commercial Success And Value For People. Manage A Budget And People Metrics, Review And Forecast Spend Relating To The Workforce.
Knowledge must have for Duty 6:
Skills must have for Duty 6:
Behavior must have for Duty 6:
Select And Implement Appropriate Technology To Deliver The People Strategy, Policy And Practices, Taking Into Account The Risks, Opportunities, Impact And Value Of Technology. Seek Out, Critically Evaluate And Utilise Technologies To Drive A Continuous Improvement Approach.
Knowledge must have for Duty 7:
Skills must have for Duty 7:
Behavior must have for Duty 7:
Review And Critically Evaluate Current And Future Trends To Ensure Organisation Effectiveness And Commercial Awareness. Interpret People Analytics To Provide Insight, Make Recommendations, And To Influence Senior Stakeholders Regarding Organisation Decisions.
Knowledge must have for Duty 8:
Skills must have for Duty 8:
Behavior must have for Duty 8:
Proactively Shape And Drive The Organisation’s Culture And Role Model The Organisations Core Values And Beliefs, Creating Working Practices That Reflect The Organisation’s Culture, Core Values And Beliefs.
Knowledge must have for Duty 9:
Skills must have for Duty 9:
Behavior must have for Duty 8:
Integrate Diversity And Inclusion Into People And Wider Organisation Approaches.
Knowledge must have for Duty 10:
Skills must have for Duty 10:
Behavior must have for Duty 10:
Proactively Keep Up To Date With External Trends And Developments, Both In The People Profession And Wider Context (Relevant To Your Role) And Take Responsibility For The Development Of Other People Professionals, Managers And Leaders, Including Providing Coaching And Mentoring Where Appropriate.
Knowledge must have for Duty 11:
Skills must have for Duty 11:
Behavior must have for Duty 11:
Keep Up To Date With And Interpret Relevant Legislation And Regulation, Such As Employment Law, Ethics, Equality And Diversity And Critically Evaluate Relevant Organisation People Policies And Practices To Ensure Compliance And Mitigate Risk.
Knowledge must have for Duty 12:
Skills must have for Duty 12:
Behavior must have for Duty 12:
Lead And Advise On Complex HR And Employment Issues & Practices To Mitigate Risk And Maximise Effectiveness.
Knowledge must have for Duty 13:
Skills must have for Duty 13:
Behavior must have for Duty 13:
Create And Sustain A Positive Employee Relations Climate To Ensure The Relationship Between The Organisation And Its People Is Managed Through Its Practices And Relevant Law.
Knowledge must have for Duty 14:
Skills must have for Duty 14:
Behavior must have for Duty 14:
Critically Evaluate, Develop And Implement Approaches To Maximise Employee Engagement Within The Organisation.
Knowledge must have for Duty 15:
Skills must have for Duty 15:
Behavior must have for Duty 15:
Champion, Design And Implement Approaches To Employee Well-Being Across The Organisation.
Knowledge must have for Duty 16:
Skills must have for Duty 16:
Behavior must have for Duty 16:
Critically Analyse, Design And Implement People Reward Strategies To Attract, Motivate And Retain Employees.
Knowledge must have for Duty 17:
Skills must have for Duty 5:
Behavior must have for Duty 17:
Critically Analyse And Review Approaches To Managing Performance Across The Organisation, Design And Implement Changes Where Appropriate.
Knowledge must have for Duty 18:
Skills must have for Duty 18:
Behavior must have for Duty 18:
Critically Analyse And Evaluate The Formulation And Implementation Of The Learning And Development Strategy Ensuring It Is Underpinned By The Full Learning Cycle, Ensuring The Creation Of An Organisation Learning Culture That Shapes And Ensures Continuing Professional Development.
Knowledge must have for Duty 19:
Skills must have for Duty 19:
Behavior must have for Duty 19:
Critically Evaluate, Select And Apply A Range Of Approaches And Processes To Establish Learning And Development Needs At An Organisational, Group/Team, Occupational And Individual Level In Collaboration With Relevant Senior Stakeholders.
Knowledge must have for Duty 20:
Skills must have for Duty 20:
Behavior must have for Duty 20:
Critically Evaluate A Range Of Learning Design Theories, Channels, Methods And Approaches In Order To Select The Appropriate Solutions Which Will Meet Organisation Wide Development Needs.
Knowledge must have for Duty 21:
Skills must have for Duty 21:
Behavior must have for Duty 3:
Initiate And Drive An Appropriate Coaching And Mentoring Strategy And Culture To Enhance The Effectiveness And Capability Of The Organisations People. Critically Analyse And Develop The Coaching And Mentoring Capability And Capacity To Ensure It Drives Performance And/Or Supports The Culture Of The Organisation.
Knowledge must have for Duty 22:
Skills must have for Duty 22:
Behavior must have for Duty 22:
Select And Use Complex Or Sophisticated Facilitation Techniques In Order To Facilitate Complex Events, Development Interventions And Discussions To Support Senior Colleagues, Groups And Teams To Achieve A Desired Successful Outcome.
Knowledge must have for Duty 23:
Skills must have for Duty 23:
Behavior must have for Duty 5:
Design And Implement Appropriate Evaluation Strategies And Methods To Assess The Effectiveness Of Learning Plans And Interventions.
Knowledge must have for Duty 24:
Skills must have for Duty 24:
Behavior must have for Duty 23:
Critically Evaluate Overarching Organisation Strategy And Establish Organisation Development Needs Through Using A Range Of Consulting Processes, Styles And Diagnostic Tools And Methodologies.
Knowledge must have for Duty 25:
Skills must have for Duty :
Behavior must have for Duty 25:
Lead The Design, Creation And Review Of A Range Of Organisation Development Interventions In Order To Improve Organisational Effectiveness And Performance.
Knowledge must have for Duty 2:
Skills must have for Duty 26:
Behavior must have for Duty 26:
Actively Measure Organisation Culture And Critically Analyse, Select And Implement Different Approaches To Culture Development.
Knowledge must have for Duty 3:
Skills must have for Duty 27:
Behavior must have for Duty 27:
Apply Models Of Systemic Thinking To A Range Of People Practices.
Knowledge must have for Duty 28:
Skills must have for Duty 28:
Behavior must have for Duty 28:
Critically Evaluate And Implement Appropriate Organisation Design Structures To Align With Business Needs And Improve Performance.
Knowledge must have for Duty 29:
Skills must have for Duty 29:
Behavior must have for Duty 29:
Critically Evaluate And Apply Work Design Choices (Who Does What/How Work Is Done).
Knowledge must have for Duty 30:
Skills must have for Duty 30:
Behavior must have for Duty 30:
SIMI Swiss is actively preparing to seek accreditation from the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ), which is approved by the Swiss Accreditation Council (SAC), by 2027.
SIMI Swiss is actively preparing to seek accreditation from the Swiss Agency of Accreditation and Quality Assurance (AAQ), which is approved by the Swiss Accreditation Council (SAC), by 2027.