HRBP vs Center of Excellence: who should own leadership development.
A RACI for the standard, the launch, and the week. Sponsor, manager, employee, and vendor have jobs. This is not a People-teams product page.
HRBPs own the people and the week. A Center of Excellence owns the standard, the vendor, and the measurement loop. Leadership development fails when both think the other is running launch. Write the split down before you buy another program.
If you want the product view for a lean People team, that is leadership development for People teams. This page stays inside your org chart.
Unowned launch looks like a vendor problem.
The split that actually works.
CoE (or your one L&D owner) decides what good looks like, which rooms exist, which vendor you use, and the confidentiality sentence people can repeat. The sponsor makes it a growth investment in public and covers anyone when a manager treats coaching as punishment. HRBPs decide who goes first in their function and sit with the manager who will not mention the program. Managers say the local script. The vendor runs matching and does not share session content.
Launch week uses the same owners in a shorter table: how to launch a coaching program people actually book. Do not invent a second ownership model for week one.
At ~500 people you may not have a CoE. You still need the roles. Structure at 500 is one operator wearing the CoE hat. Do not wait for a department name.
A usable RACI.
A = accountable (one per row). C = consulted. I = informed. Read across, not down.
| Work | CoE / L&D | HRBP | Sponsor | Manager | Employee | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard and rooms (workshop / cohort / 1:1) | A | C | I | I | I | I |
| Vendor selection | A | I | C | I | I | C |
| Confidentiality sentence people can repeat | A | I | I | I | I | C |
| Purpose in public | C | I | A | I | I | I |
| Who is in the first cohort | C | A | I | C | I | I |
| Manager launch script in the function | I | C | I | A | I | I |
| First-session holds (system and matching) | A | C | I | I | I | C |
| Cover when coaching is treated as punishment | I | C | A | I | I | I |
| Aggregate measurement | A | C | I | I | I | C |
| Session content and coach notes | C | I | I | I | I | A |
Session content: the vendor is accountable for not sharing it. The CoE is consulted because it enforces the published sentence. The employee is informed, not accountable. If an HRBP wants notes, stop and reread coaching confidentiality.
First-session holds: CoE owns the system (access, matching, the clock). HRBP is consulted to unblock people. That matches the launch article. Do not make two people "A" for the same hold.
When the HRBP should lead.
The function has a local constraint
Clinical hours, a sales quarter, a plant schedule. The CoE should not pretend those calendars are generic.
A manager is quietly blocking booking
That is a relationship conversation. A central email will not fix it.
The first cohort list is political
HRBPs know who would treat coaching as a punishment. Keep those names off a remediation list.
When a CoE should lead.
Vendor selection, architecture, the confidentiality sentence, and the measurement method. If every HRBP picks a different coach marketplace, you will never answer a CHRO question. CHROs need one loop. Launch mechanics still belong in the launch guide, with the same owners as the table above.
The failure pattern.
CoE launches a portal. HRBPs call it "the L&D thing." Managers never hear a sentence they can repeat. Employees assume HR is reading the sessions. Booking stalls. The vendor gets a utilization complaint that is actually a RACI complaint.
Fix the owner, then the tool. SCALE can make booking easier. It cannot assign an HRBP. Write the RACI on one page and run week one against it.
Write the RACI on one page.
Bring your current split. We will mark who owns launch, who owns the standard, and what nobody should see.
Book a strategy callFrequently asked questions
Who should own leadership development, HRBPs or a Center of Excellence?
Split the work. A CoE (or a single L&D owner) sets the standard, the rooms, the vendor, and the confidentiality sentence. The sponsor says what the program is for and covers people when a manager treats coaching as punishment. HRBPs name the cohort and unblock booking. Managers deliver the local script. The vendor holds session-content controls. If you only have one People partner, that person wears both CoE and HRBP hats and writes the split down anyway.
What is a leadership development Center of Excellence?
A small team that owns design, vendor quality, and program measurement across the company. It is not a ticket queue and it is not a slide studio. At 500 people it may be one operator. At larger companies it is a real seat.
What should HRBPs own in a coaching program?
Who is in the first cohort, briefing the manager who will say the script, and the "why is this person not booking" conversation. They should not renegotiate confidentiality or invent a second competency model per function.
Is the employee accountable for private session content?
No. The employee is informed. The vendor is accountable for not sharing session content. The CoE enforces the published sentence. Making the employee "accountable" for privacy turns a control into a personality test.
Is this the same as a People-team platform page?
No. The product page is how Boon works for lean People teams. This page is the RACI inside your company, with or without Boon.