Services / Training
What if your managers are all handling the same situation differently?
Manager and staff training for small UK businesses, in person and online.
Based in Caterham, Surrey, and working across London, the South East and the UK.
Training at your workplace or at a venue, delivered by What If HR and our consultant partner. Or short online courses through our training partner, with completions tracked for you. Compliance, manager skills and the culture side, sized to your team.
Not sure which one you need? Call 07557 982407, Monday to Friday 9 to 5, or email hello@whatifhr.co.uk.
£800 + VAT
In-person bespoke training, half day at your workplace or a venue
- Full day
- £1,500 + VAT.
- Manager Confidence Workshop
- From £800 + VAT for up to 8 managers.
- Online training
- Priced by team size after a short call.
Where most people are
Your managers are managing, mostly. Nobody trained them.
"I want to invest in my managers. I just don't want to book a day course they'll forget by the following Monday."
Employees notice when the same situation is handled differently by different managers. It feels unfair, and it is the kind of inconsistency that causes trouble if a case ever reaches a tribunal.
Then there is the compliance side. Preventing sexual harassment is a legal duty and health and safety needs a record.
What usually gives it away
- One manager documents every absence conversation and another does not bother.
- A new team lead is unsure what they can say in a performance discussion.
- A disciplinary started on the wrong foot and is now messier than it needed to be.
They are doing their best.
Before you book anything
Spend 30 minutes with us first, free
Anna Wheeldon, our consultant partner for leadership and training, runs a free online session on what makes training stick: what to decide before you book, how to get managers behind it and what to do in the first 30 days after.
Two ways to train
In the room, or online and tracked
Most teams use both: in person for the skills that need practice, online for the topics everyone needs to cover. All prices + VAT.
In person, bespoke
Bespoke training at your workplace or at a venue
Half day £800, full day £1,500 + VAT
A session tailored to your team, run where it suits you: on-site at your workplace, or off-site at a venue if you would rather get people away from the day job.
- Compliance topics delivered by What If HR
- Culture, wellbeing and people-skills topics delivered by Anna Wheeldon, Chartered FCIPD, our consultant partner for leadership and training
- Built around your policies, your sector and the situations your team faces
- Some specialist sessions delivered through our training partner
Venue hire, if you want one, is agreed with you before booking.
Book a free 20-minute callOnline
A library of courses and live online sessions, tracked for you
Priced by team size
Hundreds of short online courses through our training partner, covering compliance, leadership, communication and wellbeing, done on any device, plus live online sessions your team can book.
- Live online sessions your team can pre-book
- One topic rolled out across the team, with a briefing note for managers and a completion report
- Or ongoing learning, with every new starter enrolled from their first week
- We enrol, chase and report on completions, so you never need a login
- Certificates and a record you can show an auditor or insurer
Priced after a short call, based on your team size and how much support you want.
Book a free 20-minute call
Our flagship in-person programme
Manager Confidence Workshop: tools your managers keep
A half-day or full-day session for up to 8 managers. Your managers leave able to handle people situations properly and the same way as each other, and clear on when to bring us in rather than handle something alone.
Before the session we read your handbook and processes, so the scripts and reference cards match how your business runs, not a generic pack that goes in a drawer. Plus 30 days of email support for follow-up questions.
Suitable for brand-new managers. It does not assume any HR knowledge.
What your managers learn
- Probation reviews: what to cover, how to write concerns down and what to do if it is not going well
- Absence conversations: how to have them, when to refer and what not to say
- Performance: the difference between informal support and a formal process, and which one applies when
- Disciplinary basics: what triggers it, what the steps are and which documents are needed
- Grievances: what to do when someone raises a concern
- When to bring in What If HR, and what information to have ready
Half day
£800 + VAT
Three or four topics in depth. Best for a specific gap, for example probation reviews and absence conversations.
Full day
£1,500 + VAT
Every topic in full, with time for practice scenarios and questions. Best where people management is a big part of the role.
A generic management course costs £200 to £400 a person, so eight managers cost more than a tailored session for the whole team, and the course knows nothing about your business.
Popular topics
The topics small businesses ask for most
Each topic can be run in person, online or both. Online topics come with a manager briefing, a message for your team and a completion report.
In person or online
Preventing sexual harassment
What harassment looks like, the employer's duty to prevent it and how managers respond when something is reported.
A higher duty under the Employment Rights Act 2025
In person
Managing absence and performance
The conversations managers avoid, done fairly and the same way across the team.
Pairs with the Manager Confidence Workshop
In person or online
Equality, diversity and inclusion
What the law expects, what fair treatment looks like day to day and where unconscious bias creeps in.
Often asked for in audits and tenders
In person or online
Mental health and wellbeing
Stress, mental health and supporting colleagues, plus how a manager starts a wellbeing conversation.
Works well alongside a wellbeing policy
In person
Communication and feedback
Giving feedback people can use, handling pushback and keeping trust when the message is hard.
For new and growing managers
Online or on-site
Health and safety essentials
Fire safety, manual handling, hazardous substances and risk assessment, with a training record you can show.
See also health and safety support
Have a different topic in mind? Tell us what is coming up in your team and we will say how best to cover it.
Our training partner
Online training without the admin
Our online courses come through Training Sensei, our specialist training partner. We manage enrolment, tracking and reporting, so you get a proper learning platform without running it yourself.
Short courses
Courses of a few minutes each, so training fits into a working day.
On any device
Your team can do their training on their phones.
Kept current
Courses are updated when the law changes, so you do not have to track it.
Tracked for you
We enrol, chase and report on completions. You never need a login.
Employment law changes
The duty to prevent sexual harassment is getting stricter
Since 26 October 2024 every employer has had to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees. If a sexual harassment claim succeeds and the tribunal finds the duty was not met, it can increase compensation by up to 25%.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 raises that to "all reasonable steps", a higher bar, and employers must not permit harassment of their staff by customers, clients and other third parties. Our post on the new duty has the start date and a checklist.
Training is one of those steps, alongside a clear policy, a risk assessment and a way for people to report concerns. A session or an online rollout gives you the training and the record that it happened. For the policy, see HR Documents.
What this doesn't cover:
- Accredited or externally certified training (first aid certificates, NEBOSH, IOSH). We can advise on providers and coordinate it alongside your other training.
- Formal qualifications and apprenticeship levy-funded programmes. A different conversation, and we are happy to point you in the right direction.
- Large-scale organisational development or culture change programmes, which are quoted separately.
- Help with a live disciplinary, grievance or absence case. That is Employee Relations Support or the Retained HR Partner.
Elena is approachable, responsive and very easy to speak to.
Straight answers
Questions about training
Can't see your question?
Ask us directly. We aim to reply within one working day.
Book a free 20-minute callor email hello@whatifhr.co.uk
Is sexual harassment training a legal requirement?
The law does not name training on its own. Since 26 October 2024 every employer has had a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance treats training as one of those steps, alongside a clear policy and a risk assessment. The Employment Rights Act 2025 raises this to "all reasonable steps" and adds a duty not to permit harassment by customers, clients and other third parties. Our post on the new duty has the start date and what to do. Without a record of training, showing you took those steps is much harder.
Where does in-person training take place?
At your workplace, or at a venue near you if you would rather get people away from the day job. We agree the venue and any hire cost with you before booking.
Who delivers the training?
Compliance topics are delivered by What If HR. Culture, wellbeing and people-skills sessions are delivered by Anna Wheeldon, Chartered FCIPD, our consultant partner for leadership and training. Online courses and some specialist sessions come through our training partner.
Can the workshop be tailored to what our managers struggle with?
Yes. We have a short call before the workshop to understand what is coming up in your business and which topics to prioritise, and we build the content on your own handbook and processes.
Can the workshop be run online?
Yes. It runs online or in person, your choice. For in-person sessions we come to you or arrange a venue nearby.
We have more than 8 managers. What are the options?
Get in touch. A second session or an adjusted format can be arranged.
Can we start with online training on one topic?
Yes. You can roll out a single topic with no ongoing commitment. Plenty of businesses start with sexual harassment or health and safety, see how it works and then set up ongoing learning for the whole team.
We are a retained client. Can we add the workshop to our plan?
Yes. Add in-person bespoke training to your Retained HR Partner plan, a half day for £800 a year or a full day for £1,500 a year + VAT, and use it for the workshop. The online training library can be added to plans of 12 months or more.
Good to know
Two reads for anyone who manages people
The duty to prevent sexual harassment, and what happens when a dispute reaches Acas.
Connected services
Works well alongside
Training builds the skills. These keep the rest covered.
- For the escalationsRetained HR PartnerWhen a manager knows to escalate, a named partner picks it up. Retained clients can add the workshop to their plan.from £150 a month + VAT
- One to oneLeadership CoachingFor the owner or manager who needs more than a group session: bespoke coaching with a vetted coach.Priced after a first conversation
- A live issueEmployee Relations SupportSomething has already happened with a member of staff and it needs handling correctly now.from £125 an hour + VAT
Send us your what-ifs.
Twenty minutes, no charge. Tell us what your managers are struggling with or which compliance gap is worrying you, and we will tell you which option fits, or whether you need one at all.
All prices + VAT. This page is general information, not legal advice. What If HR Ltd. Surrey, London, South East England and remote UK.