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👥 Human Resources  ·  Executive

Certified Director of People

Online Certification  ·  12 Week  ·  Globally Recognised  ·  (CDPE)

✅ 2026 Edition 🎓 CPD Accredited 🌍 100+ Countries 📜 Digital + Physical Certificate 100% Online
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Executive Summary

Certified Director of People

Designed for today’s high-impact professionals, the Certified Director of People (CDPE) delivers a rigorous Executive-level curriculum that equips participants with the knowledge, tools and frameworks needed to excel in human resource management, talent development and organisational effectiveness.

This 12 Week programme is structured around SHRM, CIPD and ILO Labour Standards, ensuring every graduate applies internationally validated methods to real-world challenges.

GLI’s CDPE holders are recognised by leading organisations across Africa, the Gulf, Europe and the Americas as qualified, results-driven professionals. Whether you are advancing your current career or transitioning into new responsibilities, this certification provides the competitive edge you need in 2026 and beyond.

Programme Overview

Certification at a Glance

Certification
Certified Director of People
Acronym
CDPE
Category
Human Resources
Level
Executive
Duration
12 Week
Delivery Mode
100% Online
Assessment
Online Examination
Certificate
Digital + Physical
CPD Eligibility
CPD Accredited
Alumni Benefits
GLI Network Access
Self-Paced
USD 399
Live Virtual
USD 599
Target Audience

Who Should Enrol?

  • The Board and Its Information — applied to your own work
  • Who Owns Risk — applied to your own work
  • Conflicts and Related Parties — applied to your own work
  • Policy That Changes Behaviour — applied to your own work
  • Governance Across Entity Types — applied to your own work
  • Assurance the Board Can Rely On — applied to your own work
Programme Inclusions

Everything Included in Your Enrolment

  • All study materials and study guide
  • Access to GLI online learning portal
  • Online examination and assessment
  • Digital certificate and digital badge
  • Physical certificate (shipped to you)
  • CPD credits for professional bodies
  • GLI alumni network membership
  • Facilitator and tutor support
  • Resource downloads and reference library
  • Automatic enrolment confirmation
Certification Benefits

Why This Certification Matters for Your Career

Leadership Capability
Develop the strategic and operational skills to lead complex human resource management functions
Career Advancement
Accelerate your career towards CHRO and senior people-management roles
Strategic Thinking
Build the strategic thinking, analysis and execution skills of world-class leaders
Organisational Impact
Design and implement human resource management systems that drive performance and measurable results
Personal Excellence
Develop emotional intelligence, resilience and authentic executive presence
Global Employability
Qualify for human resource management roles across multinationals, NGOs and international organisations worldwide
Competency Framework

Core Competencies You Will Develop

✦Talent Acquisition, Resourcing and Onboarding
✦Learning, Development and Talent Management
✦Performance, Reward and Employee Relations
✦HR Strategy, Analytics and Workforce Planning
✦Employment Law, Compliance and HR Governance
✦Professional Ethics and Governance
Course Curriculum

Programme Modules

Click any module to explore the detailed curriculum topics included in this certification.

1
Foundations and Strategic Context of Certified Director of People
  • Certified Director of People: industry context, trends and professional standards
  • The HR function: roles, operating models and value creation
  • Aligning HR strategy with organisational strategy
  • The employee lifecycle and HR value chain
  • HR competencies and professional standards (SHRM, CIPD)
  • The business partner and centre-of-excellence model
  • HR's role in culture, values and employer brand
  • Ethics, confidentiality and professional conduct in HR
  • Employment relationship and the psychological contract
  • Global and comparative HR contexts
  • Building a personal HR development plan
2
The Board and Its Information
  • Board effectiveness and the quality of board information
  • The three lines model and who owns risk
  • Policy that changes behaviour
  • Information lifecycle and records management
  • Data quality and stewardship
  • Consent, rights and data subject requests
  • Digital ethics and responsible AI
  • Cybersecurity governance
  • Cross-border data and transfers
  • Data breach and incident governance
  • Building trust through data governance
  • Capstone scoping: a real governance or policy issue
  • Analysis and diagnostic assessment
  • Designing a governance, compliance or policy solution
  • Risk, legal and feasibility analysis
3
Who Owns Risk
  • The three lines model and who owns risk
  • Risk appetite and tolerance in practice
  • Assurance mapping and avoiding duplicate assurance
  • Enterprise risk management (ERM)
  • Internal controls and assurance
  • Managing regulator relationships
  • Compliance reporting and disclosure
  • Building a compliance culture
  • Policy cycle and evidence-based policy
  • Problem definition and analysis
  • Research methods for policy
  • Stakeholder and impact analysis
  • Regulatory impact assessment
  • Policy development and drafting
  • Implementation and delivery
4
Conflicts and Related Parties
  • Conflicts of interest and related-party transactions
  • Board effectiveness and the quality of board information
  • Investigating misconduct
  • Transparency and disclosure
  • Ethical decision-making
  • Integrity due diligence
  • Building an ethical culture
  • Consumer rights and protection law
  • Fair treatment and market conduct
  • Competition and antitrust
  • Complaints and redress mechanisms
  • Data protection and privacy
  • Vulnerable consumers and inclusion
  • Advertising and disclosure standards
  • Dispute resolution and ombudsman
5
Policy That Changes Behaviour
  • Policy that changes behaviour
  • Controls that work versus controls that exist
  • Whistleblowing and speak-up channels
  • Balancing business and consumer interests
  • GRC platforms and technology
  • Data analytics for assurance
  • Regulatory technology (RegTech)
  • Reporting and disclosure tools
  • Audit and control automation
  • Compliance monitoring systems
  • Data governance and quality
  • Cybersecurity and information governance
  • Emerging governance technologies
  • AI, ethics and algorithmic accountability
  • Risk-based internal audit
6
Governance Across Entity Types
  • Governance in state, donor-funded and family-owned entities
  • Board effectiveness and the quality of board information
  • Conflicts of interest and related-party transactions
  • Company secretarial practice
  • Governance in different ownership models
  • Regulatory mapping and obligations
  • Monitoring and policy evaluation
  • Public consultation and engagement
  • Business ethics and ethical frameworks
  • Codes of conduct and values
  • Anti-bribery and anti-corruption
  • Fraud prevention and detection
  • Whistleblowing and speak-up
  • Assurance mapping and three lines model
  • Audit planning and execution
7
Assurance the Board Can Rely On
  • Assurance mapping and avoiding duplicate assurance
  • Controls that work versus controls that exist
  • The three lines model and who owns risk
  • Fair treatment of stakeholders
  • Professional standards and self-regulation
  • Governance and compliance KPIs
  • Risk and control effectiveness metrics
  • Benchmarking against standards
  • Maturity and capability assessment
  • Continuous improvement of controls
  • Assurance and audit outcomes
  • Stakeholder trust and reputation metrics
  • Driving measurable governance improvement
  • Data governance frameworks and roles
  • Data privacy law and compliance (GDPR)
8
Workforce Governance
  • Operational planning and execution discipline
  • Resource allocation and capital discipline
  • NGO financial management and budget-versus-actual discipline
  • The customer experience (CX) discipline
  • The business analysis discipline and role
  • The sales pipeline and forecasting discipline
  • CRM, sales operations and data discipline
  • Financial modelling and forecasting discipline
  • Discipline, conduct and fair-process management
  • Whistleblowing and speak-up culture
  • Employee relations, discipline and fair process
9
International and Sanctions
  • Sanctions screening and PEP management
  • Cross-cultural and global inclusion
  • Global sourcing and international trade
  • International and cross-border tax
  • Analytical techniques and bias
  • Key global frameworks: FAO, GlobalG.A.P., SDGs and national strategies
  • Grades, standards and export certification (GlobalG.A.P.)
  • Global sourcing and trade
  • Financial reporting frameworks (IFRS/GAAP)
  • Transfer pricing and international tax
  • Measuring governance improvement
10
Market Conduct
  • Customer service and experience principles
  • Customer expectations and satisfaction
  • Ethics and fair customer treatment
  • Customer experience transformation
  • Professional ethics in customer service
  • Customer service and CX strategy
  • Designing voice-of-customer programmes
  • Sustaining strategic customer focus
  • Customer and journey analysis
  • Customer experience strategy
  • Customer journey mapping
  • Social media customer care
  • Unified customer view
  • Customer loyalty and advocacy
  • Customer lifetime value
11
Safety and Environment
  • Environmental monitoring and reporting
  • Continuous environmental improvement
  • Reporting quality and governance
  • Designing a safety programme or control
  • Job safety analysis (JSA) and task risk
  • Management accounts and dashboards
  • Contractor and visitor safety
  • Predictive safety analytics
  • Automation and safety technology
  • Integration with quality and environment
  • Toolbox talks and safety communication
  • Budget vs actual and variance
  • Health records, data and confidentiality
  • Telehealth and digital care delivery
  • Public health programmes: prevention and outreach
12
Records and Documentation
  • Record-keeping and data protection
  • Data, records and confidentiality tech
  • Lessons learned and knowledge management
  • Professional documentation and presentation
  • Customer success and retention
  • Relationship management and retention
  • Retention, loyalty and lifetime value
  • Process and control documentation
  • Tender planning and documentation
  • Customer retention, loyalty and lifetime value
  • Knowledge management and capability building
  • Customer retention in the vehicle ownership cycle
  • Vehicle documentation, compliance and consumer protection
  • Incident reporting and record-keeping
  • Transfer pricing documentation
13
Ethics and Anti-Corruption
  • Professional roles and ethics
  • Culture, ethics and behaviour change
  • Professional ethics and integrity
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Ethical supply chains
  • Ethical decision-making under pressure
  • Negotiation and conflict resolution
  • Ethics and responsible leadership
  • Professional standards and ethics (CIPS)
  • Ethics and professional conduct in security
  • Ethics in tax practice
  • Conflicts of interest and transparency
  • Professional roles, ethics and standards for agricultural practitioners
  • Conflict resolution over land, water and resources
  • Cost and profitability analysis
14
Public and Donor Context
  • Policy and public engagement
  • Public versus private procurement
  • Real estate marketing channels and property portals
  • Real estate regulation, licensing and professional conduct
  • Real estate development and project appraisal
  • Proposal development and donor reporting
  • Procurement and asset management under donor rules
  • Preparing financial statements
  • Interpreting financial statements
  • Psychoeducation and public communication
  • Media and public communication
  • Forecasting and planning
  • Facilitation, training and public presentation skills
  • Financial statement and cash-flow analysis
  • Presentation and public speaking
15
Standards and Certification
  • Data quality, analysis and reporting
  • Sustainability certification and standards
  • Traceability, recall and quality assurance systems
  • Quality management systems and audits
  • Quality monitoring and coaching
  • Coaching and quality monitoring
  • Service quality and turnaround metrics
  • Quality assurance of audit
  • Quality assurance and standards
  • Safety management systems (ISO 45001)
  • Safety management systems overview (ISO 45001)
  • Integrated risk and quality control
  • Data quality and governance
  • The business case for productivity, quality and sustainability
  • Environmental management systems (ISO 14001)
16
Governance Practice
  • Control testing and evidence
  • Regulatory mapping and horizon scanning
  • Designing and testing a compliance programme
  • Board and executive reporting
  • Regulator and investor relations
  • Leading governance projects and change
  • Team leadership in governance
  • Governance transformation and reform
  • Building governance maturity
  • Regulatory and digital transformation
  • Regulatory and legal duty
  • Statutory compliance and filings
  • Regulatory reporting and disclosure
  • Managing tax risk and audits
  • Ethics and transparency in tax
17
Legal and Regulatory
  • Performance and dispute management
  • Contract exit and renewal
  • Payroll, statutory deductions and employment cost
  • Shareholder and stakeholder rights
  • Employment law framework and contracts of employment
  • Health and safety legal duties
  • Legal and regulatory responsibility
  • Environmental legal compliance
  • Legal, cost and feasibility analysis
  • Legal and other requirements
  • Decision rights and governance
  • Managing refunds, disputes and goodwill
  • Handling difficult customers and disputes
  • Contract law and formation
  • Contract types and risk allocation
18
Financial Oversight
  • Accountability and transparency
  • ROI, CAC and lifetime value
  • Key account management strategy
  • Account planning and whitespace analysis
  • Managing large and complex accounts
  • Customer lifetime value and profitability
  • Carbon markets and climate finance
  • Data visualisation for finance
  • Negotiation with buyers, suppliers and financiers
  • Access to finance, grants and investment
  • Financial and technical feasibility analysis
  • Value-based and dynamic pricing
  • Commercial negotiation and value capture
  • Budget, ROI and feasibility analysis
  • Value proposition and messaging
19
Risk and Resilience
  • Crisis and reputation communication
  • Decision support and insight
  • Likelihood, impact and risk rating
  • Risk treatment and countermeasures
  • Intelligence-led risk assessment
  • Risk registers and reporting
  • Continuous risk monitoring
  • Tax risk management
  • How insurance works: risk pooling and the value chain
  • Underwriting principles and risk selection
  • Duty of care and risk management
  • Business continuity and recovery
  • Resilience, wellbeing and stress management
  • Risk assessment and judgement
  • Managing risk and difficult cases
20
Data and Reporting
  • Monitoring, evaluation and reporting
  • Findings, reporting and remediation
  • Data and information requirements
  • Control monitoring and reporting
  • Data analytics in audit
  • Evidence, judgement and scepticism
  • Professional report and presentation
  • Metrics and reporting
  • Data migration and cleansing
  • Stakeholders and users of financial information
  • Management reporting and decision support
  • Writing advisory reports that drive decisions
  • Reporting to boards and executives
  • Project KPIs and performance metrics
  • Quality and delivery metrics
21
Stakeholders and Oversight
  • Stakeholder engagement plan
  • Stakeholder and investor engagement
  • Partnership building and multi-stakeholder platforms
  • Regulatory compliance and biosafety
  • Corporate social responsibility and community impact
  • Regulatory compliance and market requirements
  • Group dynamics, facilitation and community mobilisation
  • Regulatory and fair-treatment obligations
  • Service analytics and dashboards
  • Stakeholder mapping and collaboration
  • Managing difficult stakeholders
  • Board reporting and information flows
  • Regulatory change management
  • Onboarding and induction programme design
  • Management and board reporting
22
Leadership and Decisions
  • Influencing and advising leaders
  • Field sales and territory management
  • Tender and bid management
  • Reporting to leadership
  • Team leadership in sales and marketing
  • Capacity and performance management
  • Nutrient management planning and the 4R framework
  • Land-use planning, capability and degradation management
  • Team leadership in field and project settings
  • Communicating financial results
  • Implementation planning and risk management
  • Decision-making and problem solving
  • Revenue management and yield
  • Renewals and churn management
  • Data-driven decision-making
23
People and Conduct
  • Managing resistance and capability
  • Capability and skills frameworks
  • Employee engagement models and drivers
  • Training needs analysis and learning strategy
  • Strategic workforce planning and demand forecasting
  • Succession planning and talent pipelines
  • Talent sourcing channels and pipelines
  • High-potential identification and talent reviews
  • Employee voice, surveys and action planning
  • Professional ethics and codes of conduct in HR
  • Workforce planning and the capability gap
  • Bribery, corruption and conduct risk
  • Training needs analysis
  • Talent and capability ecosystems
  • Career and talent development
24
Operations and Quality
  • Continuous improvement of programmes
  • Ethics and professional standards in finance
  • Standard costing and variance analysis
  • Continuous improvement of finance processes
  • Applying reporting standards and accounting judgement
  • Product safety and standards
  • Sustainability standards (GRI, ISSB)
  • The HR operating model and business partnering
  • Continuous improvement cycles
  • Driving measurable safety improvement
  • Management review and improvement
  • Self-service and digital support
  • Design thinking for service
  • Customer service technology stack
  • Emerging service technologies
25
Programmes and Change
  • Project management principles and lifecycle
  • Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic approaches
  • Cost reduction and efficiency programmes
  • Tax planning, avoidance and evasion distinguished
  • Compliance frameworks and programmes
  • Managing HR projects and change
  • Supply analysis, gaps and scenario planning
  • Change management models (Kotter, ADKAR, Lewin)
  • Culture change and behaviour embedding
  • Performance management that changes behaviour
  • Attachment and developmental theory
  • Technology governance and change control
  • Foreign exchange and hedging
  • Development banking and project finance
  • Managing scope and change
26
Technology and Data Risk
  • Technology selection and integration
  • Digital, mobile and internet banking
  • The banking system, intermediation and financial markets
  • Digital disruption and the future of banking
  • Digital transformation in banking
  • Branch-to-digital migration
  • Data protection and customer privacy
  • Digital banking platforms and APIs
  • Payment technology and switches
  • Automation, RPA and straight-through processing
  • Cybersecurity and fraud technology
  • Email and marketing automation
  • Marketing technology stack
  • CRM and marketing automation platforms
  • Professional roles, boundaries and settings
27
Third Parties and Procurement
  • Supply market analysis
  • Procurement and supply chain: scope and value
  • The procurement cycle and operating models
  • Procurement’s contribution to organisational strategy
  • Supply markets and the enabling environment
  • Digital procurement and the future of the profession
  • Supply market analysis and Porter’s forces
  • Sustainable procurement principles and standards
  • Fair trade and responsible supply
  • Water supply systems: sources, treatment and distribution
  • Ethical principles and codes of practice
  • Conflicts of interest and procurement ethics
  • Procurement and contract value
  • Procurement and contract management
  • Vendor selection and management
28
Sustainability and ESG
  • Managing boundaries and dual relationships
  • Peer support and consultation
  • Monitoring sustainability outcomes
  • Policy, institutions and the enabling environment for agriculture
  • Gender, youth and social inclusion in agricultural development
  • Monitoring, evaluation and sustainability plan
  • Responsible and sustainable banking
  • Social performance and outreach
  • Sustainable and green banking
  • Control environment and risk assessment
  • Emerging assurance areas (ESG)
  • Mine water, tailings and environmental management
  • Social media management: platforms, communities and algorithms
  • Measurement and analytics for media and social campaigns
  • Integrated and sustainability reporting
29
Communication and Disclosure
  • Managing sensitive disclosures
  • Professional report writing and presentation
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Influencing and presenting insights
  • Professional and persuasive communication
  • Transaction monitoring and suspicious reporting
  • Regulatory reporting and audits
  • Crisis communications
  • Stakeholder communications
  • Ethics in communications
  • Internal communications
  • Trends: ESG, transparency and stakeholder capitalism
  • Governance of ESG and reporting
  • Communicating and reporting to leadership
  • Safety communication and campaigns
30
Strategic Context
  • Translating insight into strategy
  • Organic, inorganic and biological fertiliser strategies
  • Sustaining ethical, effective practice
  • Managing growth, risk and resilience
  • Ethical frameworks and codes of practice
  • Category management and strategy
  • Competitive bidding processes
  • Financial inclusion strategy
  • Strategic analysis: PESTLE, SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces
  • Learning strategy and business alignment
  • Real options and strategic investment
  • Setting strategic priorities and choices
  • Aligning teams around strategy
  • Strategy execution and the balanced scorecard
  • Strategic decision-making under uncertainty
Learning Outcomes

What You Will Achieve

  • The Board and Its Information — applied to your own work
  • Who Owns Risk — applied to your own work
  • Conflicts and Related Parties — applied to your own work
  • Policy That Changes Behaviour — applied to your own work
  • Governance Across Entity Types — applied to your own work
  • Assurance the Board Can Rely On — applied to your own work
Enrolment Process

How to Get Certified

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions

What is the CDPE certification?

Yes. GLI certifications are recognised across 100+ countries and are aligned with SHRM, CIPD and ILO Labour Standards. Graduates receive a digital certificate, a physical certificate and CPD credits recognised by employers worldwide.

Who should enrol in the CDPE?

This certification is ideal for HR Managers and Directors, HR Business Partners, Learning and Development Managers and Employee Relations and OD Specialists, and other professionals seeking to formalise their expertise in human resource management, talent development and organisational effectiveness with a globally recognised credential.

How long does the CDPE certification take to complete?

The programme is structured over 12 Week and offers flexible learning modes. Self-paced learners can progress at their own schedule, while live virtual participants follow a structured cohort schedule with facilitator-led sessions.

Is the CDPE internationally recognised?

Yes. GLI certifications are recognised across 100+ countries and are aligned with SHRM, CIPD and ILO Labour Standards. Graduates receive a digital certificate, a physical certificate and CPD credits recognised by employers worldwide.

What is the cost of the CDPE certification?

The Certified Director of People is offered in two formats: Self-Paced at USD 399 and Live Virtual at USD 599. Corporate group rates are available for organisations enrolling 5 or more participants. Contact GLI for a bespoke corporate training quotation.

What does the CDPE certification include?

Enrolment includes all study materials and study guides, access to GLI's online learning portal, online examination, digital certificate and badge, physical certificate (posted), CPD credits, GLI alumni network membership, and ongoing facilitator support.

What is the assessment format for the CDPE?

The Certified Director of People is assessed through an online examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, case study analysis, and practical application assignments. The assessment is designed to evaluate real-world competency, not just theoretical recall.

What CPD credits do I earn from the CDPE?

The Certified Director of People carries Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits, which can be applied towards professional body requirements including recognised international professional associations.

Can I study the CDPE while working full-time?

Absolutely. The self-paced option is designed for busy working professionals and allows you to study when and where it suits you. Live virtual sessions are typically scheduled in the evenings or on weekends to accommodate professional commitments.

What career outcomes can I expect from the CDPE?

Graduates progress towards CHRO and senior people-management roles. The CDPE strengthens your expertise in human resource management, talent development and organisational effectiveness and positions you for advancement across multinationals, NGOs and international organisations.

Graduate Voices

What Our Alumni Say

“

The curriculum was directly applicable to my daily work. I immediately applied what I learned and saw results within weeks of completing the programme.

HR Director
Private Sector
“

GLI's certification is the most practical professional programme I have attended. The international frameworks gave me credibility with my employer and clients.

People Manager
NGO Sector
“

I earned my CDPE while working full-time. The self-paced format made it possible, and the quality of the content is genuinely world-class.

Talent Lead
Government
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