Clear expectations
Define the required outcome, standard, behaviour and timescale before assessing performance against them.
Performance Management and Difficult Conversations
Address performance before ambiguity becomes the culture.
Practical manager development for setting expectations, discussing evidence, addressing behaviour and agreeing credible follow-through.
ForPeople managers, team leaders, new managers and management cohorts
FocusExpectations, evidence, feedback, behaviour, fairness and follow-through
FormatsWorkshops, role-play laboratories, modular programmes and manager clinics
The Management Problem
Delay rarely makes a difficult performance conversation easier.
Managers may soften the message until it becomes unclear, save every concern for a formal review, or enter the conversation with conclusions but insufficient evidence. Employees then leave unsure what must change.
The Institute helps managers prepare, speak precisely, listen properly and agree proportionate next steps while respecting organisational policy and professional boundaries.
Common reasons organisations enquire
- Managers avoid or postpone conversations about performance.
- Expectations are assumed rather than stated clearly.
- Feedback focuses on personality instead of observable behaviour.
- Conversations become defensive, emotional or inconclusive.
- Agreed actions are not documented or followed through.
Outcomes
What the training is designed to strengthen.
Evidence-led feedback
Use relevant observations and examples without exaggeration, labels or vague generalisation.
Direct language
State the issue and its impact clearly while maintaining professional respect.
Listening and diagnosis
Test assumptions, hear the employee's perspective and distinguish capability, conduct, clarity and resource issues.
Agreed action
Translate the conversation into specific next steps, support, ownership and review points.
Managerial follow-through
Maintain appropriate records and revisit commitments rather than allowing the issue to return to ambiguity.
Conversation Framework
Prepare. State. Listen. Agree. Follow through.
- Prepare the evidence.
Clarify the expectation, observed gap, impact and relevant context. - State the issue.
Use calm, specific language that the other person can understand and respond to. - Listen and test.
Ask questions, examine causes and avoid treating assumptions as facts. - Agree the response.
Define what changes, what support is appropriate and how progress will be reviewed. - Follow through.
Record and revisit the agreement in line with organisational policy.
Important boundary
This training develops managerial communication and judgement. It does not replace the organisation's HR policies, formal procedures, employment-law advice or case-specific guidance from authorised professionals.
Scenarios can be aligned with the organisation's process so managers understand when to act, document, seek support or escalate.
Questions
Performance-conversation training FAQs.
Is this suitable for new managers?
Yes. New managers benefit from explicit structure and repeated practice. Experienced managers can use more ambiguous scenarios involving defensiveness, competing evidence or established patterns.
Does the programme include role play?
It can. Structured role play, observer feedback and second attempts help managers move from knowing a framework to using it under realistic pressure.
Can our HR policies be incorporated?
Yes, where the organisation provides the relevant material and clarifies the required process. The training should reinforce rather than contradict organisational practice.
Can this cover conduct as well as performance?
Scenarios may distinguish performance, behaviour and conduct, but formal case handling should remain within the organisation's authorised HR and legal framework.
Give managers the language and practice to act earlier.
Tell the Institute which performance or behavioural conversations your managers need to handle more effectively.