HR Business
Partner
Conference

Reinventing the HR Business Partner: Solving Today’s Challenges, Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce

DURBAN
19-20 AUGUST 2026 | Two-day Conference
18 August 2026 | Pre-conference Workshop
Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Durban Umhlanga Ridge

CAPE TOWN
21-22 OCTOBER 2026 | Two-day Conference
20 OCTOBER 2026 | Pre-conference Workshop
The Capital 15 On Orange, Cape Town

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The HR Business Partner role is under unprecedented pressure. You are expected to be a strategic adviser, a change leader, a culture shaper, and a workforce planner while still carrying operational demands that leave little room for real partnership. You may feel the gap between what the business needs from you and what your current systems, structures, and capacity allow you to deliver. This conference speaks directly to that gap.

The KR HRBP Conference 2026 is designed for HRBPs who want to strengthen their strategic contribution and gain clarity on how to work differently in a world where expectations keep rising. Under the theme “Reinventing the HR Business Partner: Solving Today’s Challenges, Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce”, the programme addresses the real constraints you face: fragmented processes, limited influence with leaders, competing operational demands, rapid digital change, and a workforce that requires more sophisticated approaches to engagement, capability, and well-being.

How This Conference Strengthens Your Role

You may not always have the structure, skills, or organisational conditions needed to act as a true strategic partner. You manage change fatigue, talent disruption, governance pressures, and shifting employee expectations while still being asked to deliver strategic insight and business impact. This conference addresses these realities directly, offering practical solutions for reducing low-value work, sharpening business acumen, navigating organisational politics, influencing leadership, and applying data, technology, and behavioural science to your everyday HRBP challenges.

You will leave with frameworks, tools, and confidence to operate with greater strategic clarity and personal influence. You will be better equipped to:

  • Work with executives as a credible adviser rather than an administrator

  • Use people analytics and business metrics to shape decisions

  • Guide leaders through culture, change, and employee experience challenges

  • Strengthen cross-functional collaboration and organisational agility

  • Design and implement HR operating models that reduce workload and increase impact

  • Drive long-term behavioural and capability shifts across your organisation

You will gain a clear picture of what “good” looks like in 2026 and how to reposition yourself as an indispensable partner in performance, transformation, and workforce strategy.

What Makes This Conference Different

This conference is tailored specifically to your lived reality as an HRBP. The programme is evidence-based, grounded in organisational case studies, and shaped by the practical skills you need to thrive. It goes beyond theory to address the behaviours, systems, and conditions that enable you to make a measurable difference.

You will learn from HR executives, practising HRBPs, organisational psychologists, and analytics specialists who understand the intersection of strategy, culture, and operational delivery. The design is intentionally practical, reflective, and anchored in the unique pressures of the South African environment.

Across two days of keynotes, masterclasses, panels, and case discussions, you gain a sharper strategic identity, a stronger voice with leaders, and a realistic roadmap for influencing organisational performance in 2026 and beyond.

You will gain a clear picture of what “good” looks like in 2026 and how to reposition yourself as an indispensable partner in performance, transformation, and workforce strategy.

Who Should Attend

HR Business Partner
  • HR Directors and Heads of HR – Senior HR leaders responsible for aligning people strategy to business priorities.
  • HR Business Partners – Practising HRBPs who are expected to deliver strategic value while managing heavy operational demands.
  • HR Managers – HR Managers overseeing end-to-end HR delivery who want to strengthen their strategic contribution, improve operating models, and better integrate people processes with business needs.
  • HR Practitioners and Specialists – HR professionals involved in employee relations, learning and development, talent, or organisational development.
  • Talent Managers and Workforce Planning Professionals – Leaders responsible for attraction, retention, capability development, and succession in a tight and changing South African labour market.
  • HR Consultants and Independent Practitioners – Consultants supporting organisations across sectors.
  • Line Managers – Operational and functional leaders who work closely with HR Business Partners and want to build more effective partnerships.

Conference Speakers

CAPE TOWN

Busie Sekgonetso

Senior Human Capital Partner, Absa Group

Dineo Sekwele

Human Capital Executive, Ninety One

Dr René Nel (PhD)

Industrial Psychologist, Geo HR Leaders – EXL South Africa

Matshawe Rebe

Head: DEI, Woolworths

Dr Samuel Ajayi

Group Head, Shell Energy-Subsidiary Nig. Liquified Natural Gas-NLNG

Kholiwe Mtingane

Chief People Officer, Sola Group

Juliet Mhango

Executive Director: Human Resources, University of Cape Town

HR Director Annual Conference 2025

Elmen Lampert

Senior Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding Manager, Dischem Pharmacies

Kayla Borchards

HR Business Partner: Organisational Development, SS&C Technologies

Fatima Ravat

Divisional Head: Human Capital, Unitrans

Martin Sutherland

Global Director, Peopletree Group

Humsha Ramgobin

Founder, Resonance Advisory

Candice Hankey

Lead: People & Programmes, Free To Grow

Gaynore Clarke

Owner, Organisational Effectiveness Strategist, OrgEffect SA

Hilary Davies

Strategic Cultural Dynamics Consultant and Coach

Faatiemah Lodewyk

Director, TalentCore Consulting

DURBAN

Londiwe Mncube

CHRO, The Competition Commission

Mbuso Mlagisi

Consultant, Free to Grow

Phindile Hlabangane

Senior Consultant, PeopleTree Group

Karmini Pillay-Rangan

Director, PulseAfrica

Andisa Liba

CEO, Eyana Consulting

Thembi Maureen Kumalo

Group HR Executive, South African Sugar Association

Melody Naidoo

Director, PeopleFactor Solutions

Dr Augusta Dorning

Managing Partner, Extraordinary Hospitals of Africa

Taegan Devar

Founder of Organisational and People Development Consultancy, Fineline Consulting

Bianca Rohan Anthon

HR Director, Illovo Sugar

Dominic Gaobepe

Director: Diversity & Inclusion Specialist, Cohesion Collective

Emily Semenya

Head of Talent Acquisition, Early Careers, EVP & Brand, Old Mutual

Justin Bodill

Learning and Development Programme Manager, Mr Price Group

HR Director Annual Conference 2025

Elmen Lampert

Senior Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding Manager, Dischem Pharmacies

Dominique Pelser

Learning Manager, Ikhokha

Participating Organisations

Reinventing the HR Business Partner: Solving Today’s Challenges, Shaping Tomorrow’s Workforce

Summary of topics across the two day agenda

Day 1: Navigating Complexity in the HRBP Role

  • Opening Keynote: Breaking the Trade-Off: Balancing Strategic Partnership and Operational Demands

  • Employee Engagement for a High-Performance Workplace

  • Interavtive Facilitated Session: Driving Business Value – How HRBPs Influence Performance, Culture, and Growth

  • From Engagement to Influence: Building Organisational Trust Across Power Lines and Multiple Shareholder Expectations

  • Open Discussion: The HRBP Reality Check – What Keeps HRBPs Up at Night?

  • Leading Change in Resistant Environments

  • Transforming Employee Wellbeing Programmes: HRBP as Wellness Advocate

  • Reskilling and Upskilling as Strategic Collaboration

Day 2: Building Future-Ready HRBP Capability

  • Keynote: AI-Enabled HRBP – Thriving in a Digitally Accelerated Workplace

  • Hybrid and Remote Session: Employee Experience Reinvented: Engaging a Distracted Workforce

  • The HRBP as Coach, Influencer, and Internal Consultant

  • How HRBP Teams Can Transform Operating Model

  • Strategic Workforce Planning in an Age of Disruption

  • Beyond Diversity: Creating True Inclusion and Belonging Through HRBP Leadership

  • The Collaboration Catalyst: How HRBPs Drive Cross-Functional Partnership and Agility

Pre-conference Workshop

Using People Analytics to Influence Business Decisions

Workshop Purpose
To equip HR Business Partners with the capability to interpret, apply, and translate people data into strategic business insights that influence leadership decisions, improve workforce outcomes, and strengthen HR’s strategic value.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Identify high-impact HR metrics that align with business strategy
  • Convert HR data into business intelligence
  • Build executive-level people dashboards
  • Apply analytics to real organisational challenges
  • Present data in a way that influences leadership decisions

Martin Sutherland
Founding Partner, Peopletree Group

 

Martin Sutherland has spent his career tackling one question: why do so many companies fail to get real value from their biggest investment—their people? He believes the issue isn’t individual HR tools, but fragmented systems that don’t work together, leading to poor talent decisions and missed opportunities. As the architect of Peopletree Group’s Talent Management as a Service (TMaaS) model, Martin helps organisations build Sustainable People Ecosystems that turn HR into a strategic driver of growth. His work focuses on integrating processes, data, technology, and teams into a coherent system that multiplies value rather than diluting it. With a background in Psychology, Philosophy, and Training Management, he is known for translating complex people data into practical, business-focused insights. Martin is a regular conference speaker and published thought leader on talent strategy and organisational design.

Register early and save 15%

CAPE TOWN

The Capital 15 On Orange
Cape Town

Where Bold Architecture Meets the Soul of the City. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, The Capital 15 on Orange hotel and spa is more than just a luxury hotel, it’s a Cape Town landmark in the making, perfectly positioned in the historic Company’s Garden precinct. From the moment you step into the atrium, you know you’ve arrived somewhere different. This isn’t just a place to stay, it’s a space to be seen. With dramatic design, sleek interiors, and views that frame the city’s most iconic peaks, The Capital 15 On Orange is Cape Town, elevated.

DURBAN

Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Durban Umhlanga Ridge

Endless summer meets 60s surf-inspired at Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Durban Umhlanga Ridge, a stylish Umhlanga beach hotel with a nostalgic twist. Just minutes from the Indian Ocean shoreline, our coastal hotel in Durban is the perfect escape for sun-seekers, foodies, and business travellers alike. Cool off in the sparkling pool, relax on the sun-soaked deck, or indulge in mouthwatering dishes and craft cocktails at our restaurant. Our bright, modern rooms offer comfort, complete with complimentary Wi-Fi and access to the gym.

Partner with us

Sponsorship & Exhibition Opportunities

For over a decade, KR has curated this premier event, attracting HR Business Partner leaders who are influential decision-makers. Elevate your brand and establish robust business relationships, lead generation and a thriving pipeline through our sponsorship opportunities.

Benefits:

  • Engage directly with current and potential business partners.
  • Forge significant connections, generate leads, and close sales.
  • Showcase your most recent product and service innovations.
  • Feature your executives through speaking opportunities that solidify your market position.
  • Access an elite networking platform with top HR decision-makers.
  • Demonstrate your products’ and solutions’ practical applications within our inventive conference agenda.
  • Select from a variety of sponsorship packages to fit any budget.

Don’t miss out on presenting your brand at this event, by partnering with us for the HR Business Partner Annual Conference 2026.

NOTE: There are limited sponsorship and exhibition opportunities available.

Contact Virginia Motsepe – [email protected] to find out more.

ENQUIRE ABOUT MORE OPTIONS AVAILABLE

Download the Conference Brochure

CAPE TOWN Brochure
DURBAN Brochure