HR Business Partner Course
Business leaders need HR advice that connects people decisions with company results. In ten recorded lessons, Mike Pritula covers financial literacy, HR analytics, team effectiveness and internal consulting. Practise building a case for an HR initiative and planning changes with managers.
- 10 recorded lessons
- Business finance and HR analysis
- Consulting and change tools
- Homework review
- Diploma
By Mike Pritula — No. 1 HR instructor on Udemy, 21 years in HR
The job in front of you Sound familiar?
You can describe an HR initiative, but find it difficult to explain its cost and benefit in business terms.
Reports contain many HR numbers without a clear question or a decision they should support.
Managers bring engagement, collaboration and retention problems, and expect you to recommend what to do.
You need support for a change but have no structured way to diagnose the problem and involve stakeholders.
What you will have after the course
A clearer understanding of the business
Read financial statements, examine how the company creates value and connect HR questions with strategic goals.
A case for an HR initiative
Use cash flow, costs, benefits and HR metrics to assess a proposal and prepare the discussion with business leaders.
A consulting approach to people problems
Define the problem, collect evidence, recommend actions and plan implementation. Use team, engagement and manager tools to support the work.
| Current year | Last year | Two years ago | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $90M | $87M | $80M |
| COGS | $48M | $47.4M | $50M |
| Gross Profit | $42M | $39.6M | $30M |
| SG&A | $22.5M | $19.1M | $17.6M |
| EBITDA | $19.5M | $20.5M | $12.4M |
| Net Profit | $4.5M | $6.5M | $1.4M |
Start today, for free
The manager effectiveness assessment is open in PapaHR: 42 statements on a 1–5 scale, about 15 minutes, and a report with a score for every area and recommendations — no sign-up. A good start for your first conversation with a manager.
- Use employee cards and performance reviews in PapaHR when preparing a discussion about team needs with a manager.
- Collect employee feedback through surveys and 360 assessments, then discuss the findings alongside the business problem.
- Use onboarding plans and checklists to put agreed changes to the new-hire process into practice.
Tools you get in the course
Strategic HRBP self-assessment
Review business understanding, analytical work, credibility and the link between HR projects and results.
Lesson PDFBusiness leader interview guide
Questions about strategy, external factors, how the company makes money and the fit of an initiative.
Lesson PDFHR initiative cash flow model
Use projected costs and benefits to assess an HR proposal.
Lesson PDFHR metrics collection
Reference measures for analysing HR activity and discussing what the business needs to understand.
Lesson PDFTeam responsibility matrix
Use RACI to make project responsibilities and decision ownership explicit.
Lesson PDFOne-to-one meeting agenda
Structure the conversation around concerns, next steps, coaching and agreements.
Lesson PDFConsulting plan and report outline
Define the audience, methods, success criteria, responsibilities and findings.
Lesson PDFChange resistance matrix
Identify reasons for resistance and choose an approach to responding.
Lesson PDFWho this course is for
HR generalist
wants to advise managers using business context and evidence
HR business partner
needs a structured approach to finance, analysis and consulting
HR director
wants stronger business discussions and clearer cases for HR initiatives
HR consultant
needs a method for diagnosing problems and planning change with clients
Program
01
01 · Lessons 1–3
Understand the business and the finances
Define the strategic HRBP role. Examine strategy, SWOT, external factors and the value chain. Read financial statements and build calculations for HR initiatives using cash flow, costs, benefits and investment return.
- 1Understanding the business: the strategic partner, the HCI competency model, SWOT and the value chain
- 2Financial literacy, part 1: revenue, profit, cash, assets, the balance sheet and income statement
- 3Financial literacy, part 2: the case for HR initiatives, cash flow and return on investment
Result: A business context for your HR work and a way to assess an initiative financially.
02
02 · Lesson 4
Make HR analysis useful
Meaningful analytics: metrics that are not enough, analytics in action, performance measurement
Start with the question the business needs to answer. Review HR metrics and performance measurement, then use the evidence to support a decision and prepare the discussion with leadership.
Result: A clearer link between an HR measure and the decision it supports.
03
03 · Lessons 5–7
Improve teams and management practices
Explore team development, engagement, collaboration and retention. Use team responsibilities, employee feedback, one-to-one conversations and performance tools to help managers improve working conditions and expectations.
- 5The HR partner as workplace architect: strategic talent management and the Engagement-Collaboration-Retention model
- 6Engagement, collaboration and retention: lessons of engagement, Daniel Pink's Drive, the ROI of engagement
- 7Improving workplaces: trust and transparency, turning values into visible behaviour
Result: Practical tools for discussing team and employee needs with managers.
04
04 · Lessons 8–10
Consult, plan change and build partnerships
Use the Consulting and Execution Skills process to define a problem, collect data and recommend action. Plan implementation, address resistance and practise influencing, negotiation and relationship management.
- 8The business partner as consultant and change agent: consulting skills
- 9The CES method and change management: from the problem to implementation and evaluation
- 10Influence and partnership: business cases, conversations with business leaders, relationship management
Result: A structured approach from a business problem to an action plan and stakeholder discussion.
Your profile after the course
What you can add to LinkedIn and your CV — and what this work pays.
Your Name
HR Business Partner · Business analysis and internal consulting
Experience
Prepared an HR initiative business case and used a consulting structure to define a people problem, collect evidence, recommend action and plan implementation.
Licenses & certifications
HR Business Partner — Mike Pritula AcademyDiploma after the course
Skills
- Business Acumen
- Financial Literacy
- HR Analytics
- Internal Consulting
- Change Management
Medians in the U.S.; pay depends on country, company and experience. * U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
Your diploma after the course
Complete the course assignments and get a personal diploma of Mike Pritula Academy.
- Add it to Licenses & certifications on LinkedIn
- Every diploma has its own unique code
- The QR code on the diploma opens its online version
- Issued on Accredible, the platform Google, Udacity and Rosetta Stone use for their certificates, so it cannot be forged
- Understand the business and the finances
- Make HR analysis useful
- Improve teams and management practices
- Consult, plan change and build partnerships
Learn from your phone
Recorded lessons fit into your day: on the way to work, at lunch or in the evening.
- Recorded video lessons — watch at any time
- A year of access, at your own pace
- Financial, HR and consulting tools in the PDF slides
- Homework reviewed, Diploma after completing the assignments
Mike Pritula
Founder of Mike Pritula Academy and PapaHR
Mike Pritula founded the academy and built PapaHR, the HR system where the templates of his courses work for real companies. The playbooks are his own HR practice, step by step.
What graduates of the academy say
Graduates of this and other Mike Pritula Academy courses, from the surveys they fill in when they get the diploma.
“HRBP isn’t about “processes for the sake of processes” — it’s about speaking to the business in the language of numbers and strategy. The practical cases helped me roll out new analysis tools while I was still studying.”
Course: HRBP · Profile on LinkedIn
“I was especially impressed by the lessons on running team meetings, change management and analytics. The tools Mike suggested are already part of my practice and are producing results.”
Course: HRBP · Profile on LinkedIn
“I’d especially like to mention the instructor’s feedback — it was constructive and helped me improve my assignments.”
Course: HRBP · Profile on LinkedIn
“Even things I’ve long known and used in practice took on new meaning thanks to how systematic and clear the material is.”
Course: HRBP · Profile on LinkedIn
Price
for one person, access for a year
- 10 recorded lessons
- Financial calculations, HR metrics and consulting tools in the lesson slides
- Homework review
- Diploma
a year for one person
- All 150+ courses of the academy, this one included
- All playbooks, now and new ones
- Homework review and certificates
- PapaHR Pro for up to 50 employees
a year for a team of up to 10 people
- Everything in the annual subscription
- For up to 10 people of your team
- PapaHR Pro for up to 200 employees
Questions
Do I need to understand finance before starting?
Financial literacy is part of the course. Lessons 2 and 3 cover revenue, profit, cash, assets, financial statements and the financial case for HR initiatives.
How is HRBP work different from running HR processes?
The course focuses on understanding business goals and helping leaders solve problems. It connects HR analysis, people practices and internal consulting with business results.
Does the course cover change management?
Yes. The consulting and change lessons cover problem definition, data collection, recommendations, implementation, resistance and influencing stakeholders. The full course has ten recorded lessons with reviewed homework.
Do I need PapaHR for the course?
No: you can study the methods and practise with the lesson materials. PapaHR is free for up to 25 employees; performance reviews and 360 assessments are in Pro.
Do I get a Diploma?
Yes, after completing the course assignments. Homework is reviewed.
What does the annual subscription give?
All 150+ courses of the academy for a year, including this one. You can study the recorded classes at your own pace. The team subscription covers up to 10 people.