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First Time Manager Training

First line managers or supervisors play a pivotal role in connecting single contributors to their senior leadership team, yet there are some sobering statistics that highlight how ill equipped many managers are when they take on their first people manager or supervisor role.

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Almost 8 in 10 employees are promoted into a management position without any management training

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69% of managers feel unprepared for the changing workplace

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38% of employers cite a lack of leadership and management skills as their biggest skills challenge

This clearly has ramifications for the organisation hiring or promoting managers but from the perspective of a new manager, this lack of preparation can lead to among other things:
  • unnecessary anxiety
  • imposter syndrome and
  • a feeling of being thrown in at the deep end without support
Investing in your new managers not only negates this impact but can get them off to the best possible start with an immediate return on your investment.
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First Time Manager Training Tailored Specifically for Your Needs

At Donovan Training Associates, we believe that optimised and effective training cannot be achieved with an off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all solution. As a result, our first time management training is bespoke, tailored to the specific needs of your organisation and the individual delegates.

How Our First Time Management Training Works

Whether you are starting out in your very first people management role, you have just been promoted having managed previously, or you are new to an organisation but joining with previous management experience, we can offer a learning solution that is relevant to your needs.

The process begins with a free no obligation consultation where we will identify your requirements, learn more about your culture and the measures that will represent a healthy return on your investment. We will then prepare a bespoke proposal which we can then amend to ensure we meet your specific requirements.

Many of our clients ask us to facilitate onsite or at a local venue of their choosing but if you prefer to come off site, we can offer facilities in our Oxfordshire training centre which is designed to host workshops in a professional and comfortable environment.

Why You or Your People May Need First Time Manager Training

  • Helping potential new managers assess if they are ready (and would like) to become a people manager
  • Investing in a new cohort of people managers
  • Assisting the transition from single contributor to manager or supervisor avoid imposter syndrome
  • Developing & improving management and communication skills
  • Helping experienced managers transition to your organisation’s preferred approach to people management
  • To help new managers work with your existing policies and procedures
  • Supporting personal and professional development

First Time Management Training Course Outline: An Example

As mentioned above, all our training is tailored specifically to you and considers the needs of your organisation and the needs of your people. Where possible, we endeavour to provide examples and scenarios which are relevant to your business and therefore, which your people can relate to.

However, we understand that when comparing learning providers, it is helpful to have a better understanding of their approach and what a typical day of learning might look like, and so we have put together the following as an example which we hope you will find useful.

Course Overview

Our first line manager training is typically a 2-day workshop, designed and tailored to your needs. This can be facilitated over two consecutive days, broken down into two separate one day workshops or broken down further into half day or bitesize workshops over a longer period of time.

Experience has shown us that many new managers or supervisors’ benefit from having time in between sessions to digest, reflect and apply the learning, rather like somebody learning to drive for the first time. This builds confidence and deters people from trying to apply the learning all in one go.

Depending on the number of learners, your location, and demands of the business, training can either be provided:

  • In-person
  • Face-to-face via online real-people video training, broken down into half day or bite size sessions
We also provide customised pre-prepared learning materials, including videos and interactive resources. These are useful for learners to utilise as reminders or to learn in their spare time.

Course Structure:

This example is based on a two-day workshop. A typical training day may include the following topics, but to maximise engagement, each will tie-in with real-world issues and scenarios which your managers and supervisors can instantly relate to, see the benefits of, and understand how they can apply various techniques straight away:
  • Understanding the role and responsibilities of a manager, form a legal and procedural perspective
  • Having clarity on the measures of success when managing a team
  • Prioritising and working on your own time management as well as the time of others
  • Building trust and authenticity with your new team and your leadership team
  • Developing your team to perform to the best of their ability
  • The influence of a people manager when motivating others
  • Exploring the pros and cons of different people management styles and knowing when to apply each one in your own scenarios to generate ownership and accountability
  • Outcome based objective setting
  • Learning when and how to delegate
  • Facilitating feedback conversations
  • Active listening skills and being present when facilitating one to one conversations
  • Techniques for managing conflict
If you would like to explore any of these themes in further detail, or if you have a team of existing managers who would also benefit from this training, we can facilitate tailored bite size, half day or full day training courses.

Certification

If requested, we can offer certificates for our training.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this level of training course. It is suitable for anyone looking to begin their people management career or for anybody looking to hone their existing people management skills having been promoted or recently joined your Organisation.

Resources:

After the workshop, we will send out resources that are specific to the needs of the audience. Typical examples include links to podcasts, TED talks, books etc.

When suitable, we also embed relevant TED talks into the workbooks that we provide which are all in an interactive PDF format.

To find out more about our bespoke first time manager training, please call us on 01295 675506 for a free, no obligation consultation.

If you have any questions or would like an informal chat then please click below.

Case Study:

capital one

“Everything about the session was great, really well structured and easy to digest. The role-playing exercises were challenging but really good for learning and the facilitator was really good at leading these and making it easy for people to get involved to the extent in which they were comfortable doing so.”

'Capital One People leader Fundamentals Programme', Nottingham

It has been our pleasure and privilege since 2012 to support new people leaders at Capital One.

Over the years, the programme itself has gone through various iterations to reflect the needs of the business and to keep up with current trends. At the heart of all of the learning however is the importance of supporting people leaders to make the transition from single contributor to people leader.

The existing programme is facilitated over three separate face to face workshops, each day spread a month apart to allow time for reflection and application. One of the most rewarding aspects of this programme is to see tangibly how the learners grow in confidence and are happy to share their experiences with one another. It also sets a great foundation for an ongoing peer group once the programme has been completed.

Both of the quotes in this case study are taken from learners who were kind enough to share their feedback in an anonymous internal learning survey in October 2024.

“I really enjoyed this course, as a new people leader this has helped massively in getting me up to speed in terms of behaviours and possible situations I will encounter with both team members and others at similar levels.

One of the main factors of enjoying the course so much was the facilitator, Anthony who while a professional who has taught the course many times came across as friendly, funny, engaging and most of all informative. I'm sure we have only scratched the surface with this course, but it certainly gives me the courage to take what I've learned and put it into practice.

Along with the course content I got a lot of value from the discussions/hearing how Capital One colleagues manage day to day People Leader situations and the opportunity to network with fellow People Leaders was super useful.”

'Capital One People leader Fundamentals Programme', Nottingham

Why Choose Donovan Training Associates?

  • We are MCIPD (Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development) Certified
  • All training is tailored to the specific needs of your organisation, ensuring you get the best ROI possible
  • We are passionate about making training enjoyable, rewarding and relatable so that your staff appreciate the investment you’ve made in them, and can see the benefit to them as an individual
  • Whilst we are based in Oxfordshire, we provide professional training to organisations both here in the UK, and overseas.