This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

142 tools for HR business acumen in one course: 93 business and finance models explained with examples, 48 ready-to-use procedures, checklists, formulas, matrices and templates, and 1 service shown on screen.

Open a lecture, take the tool, use it in your next conversation with the business.

Why HR is left out of business decisions

The meeting is about margin, cash and market share. HR waits for the people item at the end. When HR asks for a budget, the answer is "show the return". Business acumen is not a talent. It is knowing how the company makes its result, how to read its statements, what worries the CFO and how to put an HR proposal into the same terms.

What changes after this course

You read the environment your company works in: market, competition, regulation, technology and social trends. You read an income statement and a balance sheet and know which lines HR moves. You calculate what an HR initiative costs and returns. You understand how the finance function thinks about planning, risk, cash and capital. And you connect HR goals to the business strategy in words the leadership uses.

What is inside: 142 tools, counted lecture by lecture

You do not have to take this number on trust. Open any lecture and read its description: every tool inside is listed there by name.

• 93 models and methods explained with examples: Ulrich HR, Porter generic strategies, net present value, balanced scorecard
• 48 ready-to-use tools inside the presentations:
• 11 step-by-step procedures: workforce planning, strategic option evaluation, objectives and key results, operational cash flow forecasting
• 9 checklists: organizational structure evaluation, KPI quality, budget preparation, post-merger integration
• 9 formulas and metric sets: hiring needs calculation, HR initiative cost-benefit analysis, financial KPI calculations, price elasticity of demand
• 8 matrices and scoring tables: SWOT analysis, opportunity analysis matrix, risk probability-impact matrix, stakeholder power-interest matrix
• 7 templates and sample documents: income statement, balance sheet, strategy map, Business Model Canvas
• 4 question lists: PRIMO-F analysis, risk assessment, financial health review
• 1 service shown on screen: Yahoo Finance

This is a course of understanding first: two thirds of the tools are models you learn to read and apply, and one third are forms you copy.

Where the tools are

• Business environment and strategy for HR (4 sections, 65 tools). Environment analysis, competition, economics and trade, technology, ethics and social trends, strategic HR and financial literacy.
• Financial literacy and business acumen for HR leaders (34 tools, 12 lectures). Business models, mission and goals, processes, planning and budgeting, KPIs, lean, scaling.
• CFO finance strategy for HR (47 tools, 20 lectures). The finance function, planning and risk, controls, cash flow, mergers, budgeting, pricing, capital budgeting, financing, public companies, investor relations, employee stock plans.

Who is teaching

I am Mike, the #1 HR instructor on Udemy, with 1,800,000+ course enrollments from 170,000 students, and the author of about 200 books on Amazon. I built the people system at Preply as it became a unicorn and worked at Wargaming, iDeals and Alfa-Bank across 20 years in HR. I hold PHRi, SHRM-CP and HCI sHRBP certifications and represent HRCI in Eastern Europe.

I am a banker by education, and it made my work in a bank many times easier: everything about the business was clear to me. In television I was in HR, but I read books on drama to understand what that business stands on. And at Wargaming I saw how one chart changes a company. After years of fast growth people kept asking for resources, and growth had stopped. The CFO drew a chart without numbers: here are the costs, they grow; here is what we bring in, it has slowed. In two years the lines cross. Everyone in the room understood what it meant for hiring, benefits and bonuses.

How to use the course

Watch the first four sections in order: they give the picture of the business around HR. Then take the finance sections at your own pace: section and lecture titles show how many tools are inside, and each lecture description lists them by name.

What is included

• 41 lectures across 7 sections, 30 hours
• 42 downloadable resources: the lecture presentations
• 142 tools across the lessons, ready to use in your own work
• A 10-question practice test, a quiz and a role play
• Lifetime access to all materials
• Active instructor support in the Q&A section
• A Udemy Certificate of Completion

Where to start

Open the first lecture and run a STEEPLE analysis for your own company: seven factors, one line each. Enrol now and start your first lesson today.