People Management Training

You wouldn’t board a plane without a qualified pilot at the helm and likewise it is unlikely you would agree to have an operation with an unqualified professional. Yet we consistently hear about businesses promoting people into management roles without providing the necessary training and support.

Making the transition from a single contributor role to a people management role can be as daunting as it is exciting. Having responsibility for the welfare and productivity of others presents many exciting opportunities but with it, some meaningful challenges.

At Donovan Training Associates, we understand these challenges and offer expert people management training to help you make this transition smoothly and your team be the best versions of themselves.

People Management 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 people management training is bespoke, tailored to the specific needs of your organisation and the individual delegates.

How Our People Management Training Works

Whether you are an experienced people manager looking to brush up and hone your skills, or somebody who has recently or is about to embark upon your first management role, we can offer a learning solution that is relevant to your needs.

The process begins with a 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 offices which are designed to host workshops in a professional and comfortable environment.

Why you or your people may need People Management Training

Investing in a cohort of new people managers
Looking to refresh and upgrade on existing people management skills
Wanting to maintain the performance of a high performing team
Looking to inject confidence into a new or underperforming team
Difficulty making the transition from single contributor role to a people manager role
Wanting a structured approach to managing yourself and others in your team
Personal and professional development

People 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 essentials of people management training is typically a 1-day session, designed and tailored to your needs. Depending on the number of learners, your location, and demands of the business, training can either be provided:

In-person, or
Online via face-to-face video with one of our experienced training coaches. Remote online training is typically broken down into three 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.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of the training, participants will:

Have clarity on the core role of an engaging people manager, distinguishing between management and leadership.
Learn that the role of a people manager is to get problems solved as opposed to solving problems
Use the “Skill Will” model to objectively review the skill and motivation levels of themselves and members of their team
Recognise the three key criteria required to motivate ourselves and others according to the theory described in Dan Pink’s book ‘Drive’ and be able to explain how this can be applied in practice
Be able to explain through example, the distinctions between each quadrant of Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model
Have worked through case studies to demonstrate their understanding of how to apply Blanchard’s Situational Leadership model in practice
Learn techniques for producing outcome focused objectives
Be able to distinguish between allocation and delegation
Have analysed the reasons why we choose to, or not to, delegate
Have identified the commercial importance of using delegation
Know when and how to delegate applying a five-stage model
Be able to distinguish between opinion-based feedback and observed behaviour feedback
Have learned and practised tools for facilitating feedback, both the good news and not so good news
Recognise the importance of the balance between telling and asking when having a feedback-based conversation with their teams

Course Structure:

This example is based on a one-day fundamentals of people management 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 team(s) can instantly relate to, see the benefits of, and understand how they can apply various techniques straight away:

The role of a people manager and measures of success
The reasons why some people perform well and others not so well
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
Developing a Personal Action Plan

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 improve their people management skills, regardless of their current level of expertise. However, if you have a large number of delegates, you may prefer to create cohorts based on department or staff seniority level so that attendee’s feel more comfortable being open with discussing pain-points and challenges.

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 people management 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.

Make an enquiry

Case Study:

“We have always found Donovan Training Associates to be professional, trustworthy, highly competent with a warm and welcoming manner.

Anthony Donovan has taken it upon himself to develop a comprehensive understanding of the workings of the business and the people within it, ensuring that both during workshops and individual coaching sessions he is able to provide knowledgeable advice and valuable support.

Anthony is always prepared to go the extra mile - nothing is ever too much trouble”

Julie Burridge, Health and Wellbeing Manager for Servomex

Back in 2017, we were approached by Servomex, a global engineering business, to tender for a people management programme. Servomex had very clear ideas on what they wanted to achieve from the learning and together we worked closely to design and roll out a bespoke face to face people management programme for people in the UK.

Owing to the success of this programme, the programme was then rolled out and facilitated face to face for teams in Europe, Asia and the United States. The content was adapted to cater for cultural differences and local needs.

Servomex continues to invest in their people managers, and we are proud to continue our association with such a forward-thinking organisation. Post pandemic we now facilitate this programme for a global audience remotely via teams and we continue to adapt the content in line with changing business needs and challenges.

Below is a quote received from a learner who attended their first workshop with Servomex in September 2024.

“Thanks for today. I enjoyed the session!

It's quite impressive to see how you keep up the pace, stay sharp on the subject, and manage to make me feel seen in a fairly large group, all with a touch of humour.

I’m convinced I can learn a lot from you and the sessions”

Robbert Steenbergen, based in the Netherlands

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.