Most performance management problems that reach HR start as a manager skills problem: objectives nobody can measure, feedback saved up for the annual review, ratings with no evidence, and underperformance left too long. This guide sets out a practical manager training programme for UK and Irish HR teams, built around the review cycle your managers already run, and grounded in what the evidence says makes manager training stick.
Why manager training matters
Gallup estimates that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. In the UK, the CIPD Good Work Index 2025 found that only six in ten managers say they have the training and information (60%) or the time (59%) to manage people well, up from 52% for both in 2023. Employees are noticing improvements, but the gaps are in exactly the areas a performance cycle depends on: 62% say their manager provides helpful feedback, and 63% say their manager helps them perform well in the job.
The CIPD performance management factsheet puts it plainly: people managers are central to performance management, and they need to be suitably skilled and supported by HR practices that are fit for purpose. A new review form will not fix a skills gap. Training will, if it is designed well.
What the evidence says makes manager training work
The CIPD’s evidence review Effective people managers (2023) finds strong evidence that leadership training improves outcomes including communication, goal-setting and the ability to motivate employees, and that the effect can last. It also sets out what separates effective programmes from the rest:
- Start with a training needs analysis. Programmes designed around a needs analysis are more effective than generic, untailored ones, and learners who set clear, specific learning goals apply more of what they learn.
- Teach general management skills first. The skills that transfer best are general management skills such as goal-setting, performance appraisal and time management. Interpersonal skills such as listening, questioning and mentoring also help, to a lesser extent.
- Make it long enough, spaced and repeated. The review points to programmes of reasonable length (at least three days in total), delivered over a period of time rather than as a one-off, and repeated periodically.
- Mix methods and practise on real work. Combine structured lessons, group work and action learning, and give managers chances to practise on real or realistic scenarios.
- Keep the learning climate safe. Managers need to practise without fear of being judged, with feedback, recognition and mentoring afterwards.
- Prioritise the managers who need it most. Training has diminishing returns for managers who already use good techniques, so target new and less experienced managers first, while keeping development open to everyone.
The six-module curriculum
Map the modules to the moments managers actually face in a performance cycle, so each session is used within weeks of being taught. The modules below are playbook guidance; adapt the order to your own cycle.
| Module | What managers learn to do | Practice task | Use with |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Setting objectives | Write specific, stretching objectives that link to team priorities, and agree them with the employee | Rewrite two of their team’s current objectives | Goal-setting guide |
| 2. One-to-ones and in-cycle feedback | Run a regular one-to-one; give specific, timely feedback on behaviour and results | Record one piece of feedback a week for each report | Feedback that never sticks |
| 3. Evidence and writing reviews | Gather evidence across the period and write a review that would survive a challenge | Draft one review against a real scorecard | Performance review template, review prep checklist |
| 4. Rating fairly | Rate against a written bar, and spot leniency, recency and similarity bias | Calibrate three anonymised examples as a group | Reducing rating bias, rating scales |
| 5. Development and career conversations | Agree a development plan and run a career conversation separate from the rating | Hold one career conversation and write up the plan | Development plan guide |
| 6. Handling underperformance | Tell capability from conduct, offer support first and keep a record | Role-play an early, informal performance conversation | Performance improvement plans that work |
If you already have a review cycle in a system, run modules 3 and 4 in the same screens managers will use, so the training and the real task look the same. If you want to see how a cycle like this runs in Revolut People, book a 15-minute discovery call and I will walk you through it.
A 90-day programme
This schedule spreads roughly three days of learning across a quarter, in line with the CIPD finding that spaced, repeated training works better than a one-off course. Timings are playbook guidance.
| When | What | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1–2 | Needs analysis: short manager self-assessment, a sample of current objectives and reviews, and the last engagement survey’s manager items | HR desk work, 30-minute manager survey |
| Weeks 3–4 | Modules 1 and 2 | Half-day workshop each, then practice tasks on live objectives |
| Weeks 5–8 | Peer practice groups (four to six managers) review each other’s objectives and feedback notes | 45 minutes every fortnight |
| Weeks 9–10 | Modules 3 and 4, timed just before the review window | Half-day workshop each, with a calibration exercise |
| Weeks 11–12 | Modules 5 and 6 | Half-day workshop each, with role-play |
| Week 13 | Review: what changed in objectives, review quality and calibration; plan the refresher | HR and manager retrospective |
Give managers time to manage
Training fails if managers have no time to use it. The same CIPD evidence review finds that the more time managers spend on non-managerial work, the worse their team performs, and suggests managers spend no more than 30% of their time on non-managerial work. Before you launch the programme, check spans of control and workloads with leadership, and protect a fixed slot for one-to-ones. The review-cycle checklist helps you set realistic manager deadlines.
UK and Ireland notes
- Reviews and records. Acas guidance says employers should run regular performance reviews for employees, ideally at least once a year, keep a written record and share it with the employee, alongside informal feedback, coaching and one-to-ones. Teach managers to write records as if the employee will read them, because they will.
- Capability before conduct. Acas guidance on problems with an employee’s performance distinguishes capability from conduct, expects support such as coaching or training before formal steps, and covers reasonable adjustments where a disability may be involved. Module 6 should follow your own policy, reviewed by your employment lawyer.
- Ireland. Acas guidance applies to Great Britain. Irish employers should align modules 4 and 6 with their own procedures and the guidance published by the Workplace Relations Commission.
Measuring whether it worked
The CIPD review notes that most good evaluations use Kirkpatrick’s four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour and results. Satisfaction scores alone tell you little. For a performance management programme, track:
- Behaviour: the share of objectives that meet your goal-writing standard, one-to-ones held, and reviews submitted with evidence notes.
- Calibration: how many ratings change in calibration, and whether the changes shrink over cycles.
- Employee view: survey items such as “my manager gives me helpful feedback” and “my manager supports my development”, which mirror the CIPD Good Work Index questions so you can compare against the national picture.
Run the free performance management health check before and after the programme to see which parts of your process improved.
Common mistakes
- A one-day course and nothing else. Spread the learning out and repeat it.
- Generic content. Train managers on your scorecards, your rating scale and your calendar.
- Training only top performers. New and struggling managers gain the most.
- No time to apply it. Protect one-to-one time before you launch.
- Measuring attendance. Measure objectives, reviews and calibration instead.
FAQ
How long should manager training for performance management be?
The CIPD evidence review points to programmes of reasonable length, at least three days in total, delivered over time and repeated periodically. The 90-day programme above spreads about three days across a quarter.
Which managers should we train first?
New and less experienced managers, because the CIPD review finds training has diminishing returns for managers who already use good techniques. Keep development open to all managers.
What should manager training cover first?
General management skills such as goal-setting, performance appraisal and time management transfer best, so start with objectives, feedback and evidence-based reviews, then add interpersonal skills such as coaching and listening.
How do we know if manager training worked?
Look beyond satisfaction scores to behaviour and results: objective quality, one-to-ones held, reviews with evidence, how many ratings change in calibration, and employee survey items about feedback and development.
Want to talk through a manager programme for your next cycle? Book a 15-minute discovery call.
Sources: Gallup, Why great managers are so rare; CIPD, Good Work Index 2025 (PDF); CIPD, Effective people managers: practice summary (PDF, 2023); CIPD, Performance management factsheet; Acas, Performance management. The curriculum and schedule are playbook guidance.
- Free tool: Performance management health check
- Free tool: Goal-setting simulation
- Method: Performance management framework
- Template: Performance review template with worked examples
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- Employee development plans and career conversations
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- Performance review checklist for HR managers
- How long should a performance review cycle take?
- Manager training for performance management
- All guides