HR Business Partner Day 2025 (Copenhagen)

Dare to act on what you notice – Even with the elephant in the room

By Lotte Svalgaard from INSEAD

In her presentation, Lotte Svalgaard explores how HR Business Partners can strengthen job satisfaction, creativity and productivity by addressing the unspoken dynamics – the elephants in the room – that often derail collaboration and results. She introduces the concept of double awareness, the ability to stay attuned to both task and process even under pressure, and brings this to life through practical, relatable examples. Through real-time reflection and courageous action, Lotte invites us to notice what is happening beneath the surface, act and engage with it mindfully, and in this way foster trust, transparency and psychological safety in our organizations. This requires that we dare more, risk more and step into the difficult with curiosity and courage.

Rethinking the HR Business Partner model and core competencies (CASE)

By Michel Ruiz, Head of People Business Partnering, BEST SELLER

Michel Ruiz from Bestseller introduces us to they have rethought their HR Business Partner delivery model and role. This model caters for the difference between the different business units. The HR Business Partner profile is therefore tailored to each business unit by reviewing needs and competencies required. In some units, the partner's focus is on more operational deliverables and in other units more strategic advisory.

Michel also shares how they identified a set of competencies for HR Business Partners and how they narrow these competencies to specific HR Business Partner profiles for a business unit.

Finally, Michel will reflect on key insights on competence development across the HRBP community.

Bridging the Gaps: Unlocking the HR Business Partner's Role in Closing the Strategy-Execution Gap

By Jens Christian Foged from Business Model Excellence Institute

In this interactive session, Jens Christian Foged from BME Institute shares insights and perspectives on how to close the strategy-execution gap. The complexity of organizations is high, and many transformations still fail in implementation – often because there's a gap between the company's strategic intentions and the competencies and capabilities within the organization. Drawing on his extensive international leadership experience, as well as years of facilitating and developing senior specialists, project managers, and leaders in global organizations, he zooms in on the critical role of HR Business Partners in bridging this gap. Together, we will explore the meta-competencies required to succeed in the future.

The Strategic and Inclusive People & Culture Business Partner – Enabled by a Matrix Model (CASE)

By Anders Weincke Toft from Coloplast

Coloplast has chosen a distinct People & Culture Business Partner framework – one that combines strategic impact with broad organizational reach. Anders Toft will share why this model is the best fit to support Coloplast's business and people agenda. At Coloplast, P&C Business Partners are expected to operate both strategically and operationally – not as a contradiction, but as a strength. They support leaders at all levels – from senior executives to frontline managers – and are also accessible to employees. This inclusive approach ensures that P&C is not just a partner to the few, but a resource for the many. To deliver on this ambition, Coloplast has implemented a matrix-based P&C BP model, where collaboration across roles and functions is key. Each Business Partner works closely with both local teams and P&C specialists – forming a network where no single person is expected to "hear it all" or solve everything alone. Instead, the model enables shared ownership, mutual support, and coordinated delivery across the organization. Through stories and examples, Anders will illustrate how this way of working enables P&C to be both deeply embedded and strategically aligned – and what it requires from the Business Partners themselves. 

Dilemmas in the HRBP role When living a new HRBP delivered model (CASE)

By Michelle Cecilia Svensson from Topsoe

Michelle shares learnings and insights into the next steps on Topsoe's HR Business Partner delivery model. The focus for the HR Business Partners is strategic and customer centric.You might have heard about the model which was introduced at our NOCA HRBP Conference in 2024. As always when you move from a vision and model to daily life, Michelle and her HR business partner team have met different dilemmas and challenges. She will open these up for us and hear how they continuously focus on where it matters most for the business. You will learn about how Topsoe handles these dilemmas and what they are focusing on now.

How to use AI in your HR Business Partner role 

By Claus Nygaard from Claus Nygaard & Partners

In this session, Claus Nygaard zooms in on what AI means for the HR Business Partner role, both as a way to reduce transactional workload and as a lever to increase your strategic impact with leaders. Claus demonstrates how AI can streamline everyday HRBP tasks such as drafting and refining communication, summarizing and translating texts, preparing meeting briefs, creating slides, and structuring processes, so you free up time for the work that creates value in the business.

A core theme is how HRBPs can use AI to spot and translate business pain points into relevant HR actions, making HR initiatives easier for leaders to adopt because they connect directly to their priorities.

Through practical prompting examples, simple AI agent setups, and creating an HRBP case, Claus shows how AI can support decision preparation, strategic workforce planning, and change efforts in organizations shaped by new technology.

You'll leave with hands-on examples and a clear framework for moving from operational support to a more strategic, business-aligned HRBP role using AI.

Michelle Cecilia Svensson, Director, Head of Global HR Business Partnering, Topsoe

Michelle is an experienced HR leader with over 15 years of experience in strategic HR, talent development, and international leadership. She Currently serve as Head of Global HR Business Partnering at Topsoe, Where she is part of the Global HR Leadership Team. In this role, she overlooked overall HR business partnership, regional HR Heads, and the Global Talent Acquisition team - leading more than 20 Colleagues across Denmark, the US, India, and China. Previous, Michelle luck several HR manager leadership roles Within Topsoe, driving initiatives that supported the company's overall growth and green energy transition. Earlier in her , she spelt more than five years at Maersk Oil, focusing on recruitment strategy, employer branding, and HR operations for highly highly specialized functions worldwide. Michelle holds a master's degree in international business communication from Copenhagen Business School. She is recognized for each strategic mindset, strong people leadershipand Ability to build collaborative, high-performing overall teams.

Michel Ruiz, Head of People Businessss Partnering, BESTSELLER

With over 9 years at BESTSELLER, Michel Ruiz leads People Business Partnering, ensuring HR strategy, leadership development, and the implementation of HR processes, policies, and tools are carried out effectively across countries, brands, and functions — always in line with the business's readiness and maturity. His work focuses on strengthening HR capabilities and developing the skills of Business Partners and HR Managers to drive impactful collaboration with the business.

Michel combines strong business insight with a forward-looking HR perspective, fostering learning, innovation, and future skills. Passionate about building resilient organizations and creating workplaces where people thrive, he is dedicated to making HR a strategic enabler of growth and performance across BESTSELLER.

Lotte Svalgaard, Executive Coach and Leadership Consultant, INSEAD

Lotte Svalgaard is an executive coach and leadership consultant affiliated with INSEAD and a senior partner at Action Lab. With a Ph.D. and MSc in Business Psychology, she draws on deep expertise in group dynamics, leadership development, and organizational behavior. She is the author of The Elephant in the Room & Working with the Elephant, exploring how unspoken dynamics shape collaboration, leadership, and organizational culture.

Claus Nygaard, Professor, AI advisor and CEO

Claus Nygaard is an internationally recognized expert in organizational strategy, learning, and artificial intelligence. With a cand.merc. in Strategy, Organization, and Leadership from Copenhagen Business School and a PhD focused on strategic collaboration in the Danish manufacturing industry, Claus brings nearly 30 years of experience bridging research and practice. He has led more than 120 executive workshops, taught over 1,000 hours of leadership development, and published extensively – with more than 150 articles, books, and reports in Danish, Swedish, German, and English. Claus is the founder and CEO of Claus Nygaard & Partners, where he advises organizations on how to strategically implement and leverage AI through keynotes, workshops, automation, and training programs. His approach combines deep strategic insight with practical, hands-on solutions for navigating the AI ​​transformation. He is also the founder and Executive Director of LiHE – Institute for Learning in Higher Education, where he collaborates with universities worldwide to transform higher education through learning-centred pedagogy. In addition to his executive work, Claus is visiting Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga and an External Lecturer at Aarhus University. His work is guided by agile methodologies, positive psychology, and a strong commitment to creating sustainable impact through learning and innovation. 

Anders Weincke Toft, Director of People & Culture in Denmark, Coloplast

Anders Toft is responsible for the full employee experience in Coloplast – from onboarding to offboarding. He leads the HR Business Partner delivery model in Denmark and is a member of the Global People & Culture Leadership Team. With a strong focus on employee experience and organizational development, Anders ensures that People & Culture contributes to both business impact and an engaging workplace. He reports to the EVP of People & Culture at Coloplast.

Jens Christian Bailiff, Partner & Advisor, Business Model Excellence Institute

Jens Christian is Senior Partner and CCO of the Business Model Excellence Institute (BMEI) and a Master Excellence Instructor and he has trained & mentored hundreds of leaders and core employees in top tier Danish and International companies. The first part of his career he spent with AP Moller – Maersk, including 10 years opening and scaling offices across Europe, Western Africa and Asia, most recently as Area Managing Director for Maersk Logistics in South Korea & Japan. Following his full-time MBA from IMD, he worked as a senior management consultant. Before becoming a Partner in BMEI, he held various leadership roles with a focus on scaling and financing growth companies and bridging transformation and innovation gaps in top-tier organizisations. Jens Christian is also an active Board Member, Advisor and Executive Mentor to leaders and other business professionals.

*No show fee

By registering for this event, you also accept NOCA's conditions regarding the no-show fee. In order to give the most members the opportunity to participate in the event and to protect ourselves against food waste etc., we need to know if you are participating, otherwise we can give your place to someone else.

Therefore, if you cancel after the deadline on December 9 at 12:00 CET or do not arrive on the day, you will subsequently receive a charge of DKK 500.

Should you be prevented, you are always welcome to send a colleague in your place and thereby avoid paying a no-show fee. Your colleague just needs to pick up your name tag upon arrival at the event.