Managerial Tier · 4 PCF processes across 2 process groups
Computed from PCF 7.0's confirmed RACI data using the Responsible/Accountable touch rule.
A genuinely mixed portfolio — 68% Knowledge, 25% Transaction, plus one Decision and one Document activity — unlike any of the other three roles profiled so far. This is the framework's own data, not sourced from Bersin.
4 L3 processes across 2 process groups: 7.1.2 (workforce planning & HR program design), 7.1.4 (competency management models), 7.3.3 (career development), and 7.3.4 (training and development delivery). Each Mixed-pattern process is shown with its own aggregate rollup row (pattern-mix bar), followed by its individual Level 4 activities.
| PCF | Activity | Pattern | M1 UNDESIGNED | M2 EMERGING | M3 ★ DESIGN INTENT | M4 OPTIMIZED | M5 LEADING | Δ M1→M3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1.2 | Develop and implement workforce planning, policies, and strategies | 78% | 69% | 56% | 43% | 33% | -22% | |
| 7.1.2.1 | Perform strategic workforce planning | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.2 | Develop total compensation and rewards strategy | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.3 | Develop succession plan | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.4 | Develop high performers/leadership programs | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.5 | Develop diversity, equity, and inclusion plan | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.6 | Implement diversity, equity, and inclusion plan | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.1.2.7 | Design talent acquisition program | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.8 | Design talent development program | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.9 | Develop other HR programs | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.10 | Develop HR policies | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.11 | Administer HR policies | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.1.2.12 | Plan employee benefits | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.13 | Develop workforce strategy models | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.1.2.14 | Implement workforce strategy models | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.1.2.15 | Manage job families | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.1.2.16 | Develop and maintain job descriptions | Document | 72% | 58% | 40% | 28% | 18% | -32% |
| 7.1.4 | Develop competency management models | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.3 | Manage employee career development | 80% | 73% | 61% | 50% | 40% | -19% | |
| 7.3.3.1 | Define employee development guidelines | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.3.2 | Develop employee career plans and career paths | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.3.3 | Manage employee skill and competency development | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.3.3.4 | Establish succession plans | Decision | 92% | 88% | 80% | 72% | 65% | -12% |
| 7.3.4 | Develop and train employees | 78% | 69% | 56% | 43% | 33% | -22% | |
| 7.3.4.1 | Align organizational development needs to employees | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.4.2 | Define employees competencies and skills | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.4.3 | Align learning programs with competencies and skills | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.4.4 | Establish training needs by analysis of required and available skills | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
| 7.3.4.5 | Develop, conduct, and manage employee training programs | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.3.4.6 | Manage examinations and certifications | Transaction | 60% | 48% | 35% | 22% | 12% | -25% |
| 7.3.4.7 | Monitor and evaluate learning programs | Knowledge | 85% | 78% | 65% | 52% | 42% | -20% |
The single Decision-pattern activity — 7.3.3.4, Establish succession plans — carries the highest M1 baseline (92%) of anything in this role's scope and the shallowest Δ (-12 pts), meaning it's the most resistant to automation of everything Director of L&D owns. The Transaction-pattern cluster (DEI plan implementation, policy administration, workforce-model implementation, job-family management, training delivery, certifications) is where the real near-term automation exposure sits, not the Knowledge-heavy strategy work.
HRBP Manager's profile was broad and multi-pattern; HRIS Analyst's was Transaction-dominant reinvention; CHRO's was orchestration from the top. Director of L&D is different again: a genuinely mixed portfolio where strategy-setting (Knowledge) and program delivery (Transaction) sit side by side in the same role, anchored by one high-stakes judgment call — succession planning — that stays human almost entirely.
Josh Bersin's February 2026 corporate-learning research is unusually well-matched to this shape. His four-level Learning Maturity Model — Static Training, Scaled Learning, Integrated Development, and Dynamic Enablement — describes almost exactly the same split this role's data shows: the Knowledge-heavy strategy and design work maps to where L&D leadership sets direction, while the Transaction-heavy delivery work maps to what his research shows is ripest for AI-native replacement.
Bersin's research names a specific, measurable problem: 74% of companies report they aren't keeping up with their organization's demand for new skills, against a $400 billion corporate training market. His diagnosis is that the underlying operating model — not the content — is what's failed.
Framework connection: The competency list splits along the same line the Role Impact Profile shows — Knowledge-pattern activities (strategy, design, succession) call for the judgment-heavy skills above; the Transaction-pattern cluster is where Bersin's Dynamic Enablement model does the most direct replacing.
Structural template adapted from AIHR's HR Business Partner Guide; content and stage boundaries drawn directly from Bersin's own four-level Learning Maturity Model — Levels 1–2 map to Getting Started, Level 3 to Established, Level 4 (Dynamic Enablement) to Future-Focused.
| Getting Started | Established | Future-Focused | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Role focus | Audit current course/content inventory against Bersin's Level 1–2 pattern — compliance-driven, top-down, vendor-sourced libraries | Build career-path-tailored development programs while managing rising complexity — overlapping skills models, job levels, and role definitions | Replace SCORM-based LMS/LXP infrastructure with a dynamic, AI-native content system that generates and connects material on demand |
| Key activities | Identify which Transaction-pattern activities (policy administration, DEI implementation, training delivery, certifications) are already candidates for automation | Federated governance design — delegating line-of-business training to local owners once core infrastructure exists | Embed learning directly into other systems' workflows rather than a separate destination; measure enablement (applied skill) instead of completion |
| Skills to build | Baseline fluency in what ‘AI-native’ content generation actually replaces, versus faster course authoring | A named operating model for what corporate L&D owns globally (leadership, compliance, culture) versus what's delegated locally | Comfort making the business case with Bersin's own cited returns: Level 4 companies 10x more likely to be innovation leaders, 6x more likely to exceed financial targets |
| Common pitfalls | Mistaking faster course production for transformation — Bersin's research is direct that this is the old paradigm, not the new one | Letting Level 3 complexity balloon L&D's own headcount and cost — Bersin names this exact failure mode as the trigger toward Level 4 | Treating this as an L&D-only initiative — real deployments are already saving 40–50% of internal L&D spend, which only happens when the operating model changes, not just the tooling |
Source: Josh Bersin, “New Research: How AI Transforms $400 Billion Of Corporate Learning,” joshbersin.com, February 11, 2026. Fetched and read in full for this profile, not paraphrased from a snippet.