By Sarah Beaumont MCIPD, Director of HR at Hunter Adams and Lead on Employee Engagement & Culture Transformation
Stepping into a management role for the first time can be as daunting as it is exciting. New team managers often find themselves promoted for technical ability rather than people skills and are suddenly responsible for leading others without the tools to do it well.
The result is often a lack of confidence, uncertainty about expectations, and a high risk of trial-and-error leadership, which affects performance, morale, and retention.
With over 80% of UK first-time managers receiving no formal training before stepping into their role, according to Investors in People, the need for well-designed, accessible, and practical training is more urgent than ever.
So what does good training for new managers look like? And how do we make it stick?
What first-time managers actually struggle with
The challenges new managers face are well-documented, and if you lead an HR function, you’ve likely seen these firsthand. The most common pain points include:
- Managing underperformance or tricky feedback conversations
- Communication skills/effective communication and active listening
- Navigating absence, sickness and wellbeing concerns day to day
- Mediating interpersonal conflict or team tension
- Balancing fairness with authority in harassment or grievance case
- Building trust
- Understanding what good recruitment looks like
- Feeling unclear on their role as an inclusive leader
- Balancing day-to-day operational pressures with the time required for effective people management
These aren’t hypothetical. They’re the daily realities of people managers across the UK. Without the right support and professional development, many are left guessing.
Unfortunately, most line management training is either too theoretical, too long-winded, or too disconnected from the real world. That’s why our modular workshops for people managers are built differently.
What should training focus on in the first 6–12 months?
Based on recent research and our hands-on experience with clients, there are six key focus areas that set new managers up for success:
1. Performance management training for managers
The foundation. Managers need the skills and confidence to have honest, constructive conversations. That means understanding how to set clear expectations, offer feedback, and manage underperformance without fear or avoidance.
2. Conflict management and resolution
Unresolved conflict saps energy and productivity. We help managers develop the tools to handle it early and effectively, whether it’s personality clashes or deeper team dynamics.
3. Absence and wellbeing
With rising sickness rates and mental health concerns, team leaders are often the first line of support. Gallup noted that learning and development are among the biggest struggles in 2025; we don’t see this changing in 2026. Wellbeing support is at the heart of that.
4. Harassment and misconduct
Missteps here can have serious legal and cultural consequences. First-time manager workshops should provide clear guidance on how to handle inappropriate behaviour, escalate properly, and contribute to a safe workplace culture.
5. Recruitment and onboarding
Hiring is a high-stakes decision. Yet many new managers are left to figure it out on their own. Training should cover fair, unbiased, structured recruitment practices and how to set new team members up for success from day one.
6. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
This isn’t a tick-box exercise. Managers shape culture. They need practical, real-world examples of inclusive behaviours and how to build psychological safety within their teams.
Each of these areas aligns with our most popular training modules. Whether it’s:
Performance – see our employee engagement support here
Conflict – see our employee relations consulting support here
Recruitment – see our learning and development support for people managers here
Or EDI, we tailor every session to reflect the specific challenges our clients face.
Check out our leadership training for managers here> https://hunteradams.co.uk/hr-consulting/learning-development/for-people-managers/
How do you design training that actually sticks?
We’ve learned that no one wants a generic leadership training programme for managers that rehashes textbook models. What works is training that is:
Modular and bite-sized
Busy managers don’t need a 3-day leadership bootcamp. They need focused, manageable sessions that build confidence one skill at a time. Acas confirms this in its Skilled Managers research.
Practical, not theoretical
We use real scenarios, role-play, and live problem-solving to help managers connect the dots between training and their own teams.
Designed for action
Every session ends with clear takeaways and tools they can use immediately. We encourage reflection, then application.
Supported with follow-up
Training isn’t a once-and-done event. Where possible, we embed coaching, line-manager check-ins, or peer learning to sustain momentum.
Delivered by practitioners, not just trainers
All our facilitators are seasoned HR professionals. That means they bring stories, context, and credibility that standard trainers can’t match.
The commercial business case for investing early
There’s growing pressure on HR to demonstrate the ROI of learning and development. Luckily, training for first-time managers in the UK has a compelling business case:
- Better manager capability = better performance conversations and reduced attrition
- More confident conflict handling = fewer employee relations escalations
- Stronger recruitment = better team fit and reduced hiring costs
- Inclusive managers = higher engagement and a healthier workplace culture
People Management reports that HR leaders across the UK flag poor managerial skills as a key blocker to team effectiveness.
PwC’s 2025 Global Workforce Survey also shows that trust, clarity, and cultural support from managers are essential to employee motivation.
And a UK mental health training study confirms a direct link between management capability and improved absence and retention metrics.
When managers get it right, their teams thrive. When they don’t, the ripple effect is costly.
And it’s not just about today. With the Employment Rights Act 2025 introducing 28+ reforms by 2027, the expectations placed on line managers will only increase.
Your next step: make it easy, make it real
If you’re responsible for upskilling first-time managers, your job isn’t to find the most impressive training on paper. It’s to find what actually works in practice.
That’s where we come in.
Our People Manager workshops are:
- UK-based and fully flexible (virtual or in-person)
- Delivered in plain English, not HR jargon
- Designed for maximum impact with minimal disruption
- Tailored to your people, your culture, your values
We’re here to help your managers feel confident, not caught off guard. Capable, not confused. Equipped, not overwhelmed.
Because when managers feel supported, your whole business performs better.
Let’s get started. Talk to us today about your Learning and Development goals today.
