Performance management training for managers

When managers avoid difficult conversations, buy training that lets them rehearse what to say, listen to the response and agree a useful next step. Start with the performance tasks they need to handle. For broad budgeting context, day rates shown on UK General Leadership provider profiles have a median of £1,000 across 477 providers, from TheTM’s 21 October 2026 snapshot. This is not a performance-management course price. Ask for a quote against your cohort and required practice.

Compare the published training options

This curated selection highlights two TheTM premium Verified Experts: Kwelanga Training and MCA Training International. It compares two focused Kwelanga workshops with a related MCA coaching programme, rather than treating them as equivalent courses. Published outlines and profile badges were checked on 27 October 2026. Both providers are based in South Africa; establish UK delivery, timings and local employment-policy requirements before booking.

A course length does not tell you how much time each manager will spend practising. None of these public outlines specifies individual rehearsal minutes. Use the table to prepare an enquiry, then compare proposals on the same requirements. The selection is not a whole-market ranking, a confirmed UK course schedule or a comparison of employment-law qualifications.

Kwelanga Training Performance Management Skills

The two-day syllabus links setting standards and SMART objectives with assessment, review discussions and corrective coaching. It explicitly includes developing and practising performance feedback. That makes it a relevant starting point when managers need to connect everyday expectations with a clear conversation about progress. The provider describes facilitator-led classroom and virtual options, plus post-course application support.

Ask for a sample exercise using an anonymised situation from your organisation. Establish whether each participant will practise explaining a performance gap, hearing the employee’s perspective and agreeing support and follow-up. Request the group limit and facilitator-to-participant arrangements. A programme can cover the right subjects while giving each person very different opportunities to rehearse.

Kwelanga on TheTM | Course details | Detailed syllabus

Kwelanga Training Managing Poor Work Performance

This one-day workshop is more focused on addressing an existing performance concern. Its detailed outline covers setting standards, exploring causes of underperformance, holding a counselling meeting and following up. It may suit a brief built around a particular management task rather than the full annual performance cycle. Ask the provider to show how those discussions will be practised, with feedback on the manager’s approach.

The published syllabus also includes disciplinary and incapacity procedures. For a UK workforce, agree how legal content and examples will be adapted to the relevant jurisdiction and your organisation’s policies. An international syllabus should not be treated as a statement of UK employment law. Have HR establish the boundaries between a manager’s developmental conversation and a formal process.

Kwelanga on TheTM | Course details | Detailed syllabus

MCA Training International Mentoring Coaching and Counselling

MCA describes coaching as a continuing, action-oriented process that involves the learner and requires planned practice. Its wider offer includes tailored leadership development. Explore this route when your brief is about managers supporting improvement over time, alongside the immediate conversation. Request a programme proposal that names the feedback and underperformance situations your managers need to handle.

Agree the audience, duration, delivery format and practice arrangements before comparing it with a fixed workshop. In particular, ask how every participant will rehearse a challenging conversation and receive feedback. The public description supports a coaching-led enquiry; it does not establish a fixed UK performance-management course with a published allocation of rehearsal time.

MCA on TheTM | Published programme descriptions

Make practice a buying requirement

Put the conversation you need into the brief. For example, a manager has repeatedly accepted late work without discussing it. In a training exercise, they could prepare the facts, explain the impact, ask what is getting in the way and agree a realistic next step. This is an illustrative exercise to request, not a claim about either provider’s existing delivery.

Ask suppliers to explain the sequence: preparation, first attempt, feedback and a second attempt. Find out who observes each person and what the feedback covers. Agree how confidentiality will work when participants bring workplace examples. If the proposed group is large, check how the facilitator will support practice without reducing most learners to observers.

Keep conversations fair and connected to your policies

Acas guidance on reviews and appraisals recommends regular feedback and check-ins alongside formal reviews, with fair objectives that reflect the employee’s work. Its guidance was updated on 23 June 2026. Use this as a reference when briefing the supplier on your organisation’s approach.

Acas also distinguishes capability and conduct when addressing performance problems. It describes support before formal action and, where informal steps do not work, a performance improvement plan with objectives, a reasonable timescale and support. Managers should know when to involve HR, including where disability and adjustments may be relevant. Confirm the applicable process with your HR team.

Compare complete quotes and plan the follow-up

Give suppliers the same cohort size, manager responsibilities, conversation scenarios and required delivery arrangements. Ask for preparation, facilitation, materials, any assessment, travel and follow-up to be itemised. Separate a per-person course place from a dedicated group programme. A broader coaching engagement may include support that a short workshop does not, so establish the scope before comparing totals.

The £1,000 figure is a median of day rates shown on UK General Leadership provider profiles. It is not a survey, a quote for these providers or a price for an individual course place. VAT basis and inclusions are unknown. There is no defensible like-for-like course-price comparison in the available evidence, so none is presented here.

Before training, agree what participants will apply afterwards and how their own managers will support them. A useful follow-up might review an anonymised conversation plan, the support agreed with an employee and whether a check-in occurred. Judge progress against the behaviours in your brief. Do not assume attendance or confidence alone demonstrates that performance conversations have improved.

Frequently asked questions

What should performance management training cover?

Look for setting expectations, giving specific feedback, exploring performance gaps, agreeing support and reviewing progress. Ask how managers will practise those tasks and receive feedback, using scenarios relevant to your organisation.

How much conversation practice should we ask for?

There is no published individual practice allocation for the options shown here. Ask each supplier to specify rehearsal time, group size, observer feedback and opportunities to try again. Agree those details in the proposal.

Can an international provider train our UK managers?

Discuss the specific programme, UK timings, delivery arrangements and local policy requirements. Do not assume that a published international course includes UK employment-law content or that onsite UK delivery is available.

What should we budget for performance management training?

Request a complete quote for your cohort and required practice. The £1,000 median across 477 UK General Leadership provider profiles is broad day-rate context from 21 October 2026, not a performance-management programme fee. VAT basis and inclusions are unknown.

Find performance management training for your managers

Tell TaMi what your managers need to practise and include your cohort size, delivery requirements and the conversations they are avoiding. TheTM can help you explore relevant providers and request proposals against the same brief. Start with the required change, then ask suppliers to show how their training will help managers practise it.

Explore the wider Leadership hub. For a fuller buying checklist and budgeting method, read our leadership programme selection and training cost guides.

About Peter Evans: Dr Peter Evans is Co-founder and CEO of The Training Marketplace, with more than 35 years’ experience in corporate training. He writes Training Journal’s column, Before It Becomes Training, and co-authors Training magazine’s Training Pulse column. He built two global training businesses: 7city Learning, now part of Fitch Learning, where he co-led more than 90 trainers as Joint Managing Director; and CTG, which he founded and sold to ILX.

Recommended providers

Kwelanga Training — Performance feedback and underperformance workshops; agree UK delivery and policy adaptation.

MCA Training International — Coaching-led leadership development; agree the performance-conversation syllabus.