The People Problems Your Managers Are Not Handling Are Becoming Your Problems
Practical management training for SME businesses, giving your managers monthly support so fewer people problems reach your desk.
Only £57 per month
Interested in group membership for your organisation? Book a call
The Manager’s Academy UK is a monthly management training membership for small businesses, charities, care providers and growing organisations that need their managers to handle people issues earlier and more confidently.
It helps managers deal with difficult conversations, underperformance, delegation, feedback, absence, team tension and toxic behaviours before those issues escalate to senior leaders or HR.
What's Really Going On?
You have a manager and they have a team. And you are still the one dealing with the team.
The performance conversation has been unresolved for months. Team tension that should have been addressed weeks ago. Now a complaint has landed in your inbox because it was not dealt with at the right level, at the right time.
And somewhere underneath the frustration, a quieter question: did I set them up well enough? Have I made expectations clear enough?
Here’s what I know after 40 years working in and around management: it is rarely a character problem. It is almost always a preparation problem. Your manager was promoted because they were good at the job. But in many cases, nobody taught them the people side of it.
You may have tried training before. And it didn't stick.
You may have tried a course or a development day. It may have created good intentions in the room. However, by the following Monday, very little had changed.
That is not bad luck. That’s often the result of training that’s one-off, theoretical, and disconnected from the real-world situations your managers face.
The Manager’s Academy works differently. It is ongoing, monthly, and built around the situations your managers are currently facing. They learn something, apply it, bring what happened to the next call, and refine it. That is how behaviour changes and stays changed.
What staying stuck is costing you
Time
The time you spend on situations that should never have reached you
Retention risk
Good people who leave because they weren’t managed well enough to want to stay
Delegation trap
The delegation cycle: you hand something over, it comes back worse, you step in and fix it, and both of you learn the wrong lesson
Avoidance Costs
Conversations avoided at the manager level that become formal processes at the senior level
Join the success
Become part of The Manager's Academy membership
Only £57 per month (cancel anytime)
Or £570 for the year, saving 2 months’ subscription.
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The Manager's Academy
A monthly membership giving your managers practical, ongoing training in the people side of the role.
What they get each month:
Manager training hub
Online training modules covering the full range of people management situations, worked through at their own pace
Monthly skills session
Monthly training call: live, practical, focused on one topic in depth
Monthly coaching clinic
Monthly Manager support call: they bring a real situation and get specific help with what to say and do next
Manager support space
Heartbeat community: a space to ask questions and learn from other managers going through similar things
Downloadable Tools for action
Templates, scripts and checklists they can use straight away
Plus when you join
How to Make Difficult Conversations Easier in the Workplace: a journal for managers and leaders, to work through at their own pace alongside the training
Build stronger managers
Management topics covered inside The Manager’s Academy
- Setting direction and standards.
- Communication.
- Building trust and the right culture.
- Getting the best from your team.
- Training Your People.
- Delegation.
- Developing people.
- Difficult conversations and conflict.
- Performance and feedback.
- Absence.
- Toxic behaviours.
Difficult People.
What changes with The Manager's Academy
One of my members joined the Academy as a new manager, running a 24-hour helpline for a charity and managing limited staffing amid significant organisational turbulence. Her confidence had taken a knock. She felt overwhelmed.
A year later, her own manager noticed the difference. Her team noticed it. She was handling things with composure, coming up with her own solutions, and no longer escalating everything upward.
Join The Manager's Academy
The Manager’s Academy UK is a monthly membership programme for managers and team leaders who want practical, real-world support with difficult conversations, managing underperformance, and building stronger teams. Join The Manager’s Academy UK today for just £57 per month, or £570 annually.
What you are really aiming for
To take a week away from the business and come back to a team that has not drifted.
A management layer that handles the people stuff at the right level, applies consistent standards without you standing behind them, and brings you options rather than problems.
That is not an unreasonable expectation. And it is achievable. The gap is almost always preparation, not people.
Who The Manager’s Academy is for
This is a good fit if:
• Small business owners with managers who still escalate too much
• Senior leaders who want fewer people problems landing on their desk
• New and developing managers who need practical support
• Charities, care providers and service based organisations with stretched teams
• Organisations that want ongoing manager development rather than a one off course
This is not the right fit if:
• You need bespoke one-to-one consultancy for a specific or urgent situation
• Your managers are already confident and effective on the people side
Not sure? Book a call. I will tell you honestly.
The investment
Monthly: £57 per month. Cancel anytime.
Annually: £570 for the year. Two months free.
Less than the cost of an hour of HR consultancy, paid monthly, for training your managers will use across the full year. One avoided grievance covers it. One resignation prevented, covers it several times over.
More than one manager? Get in touch for a group arrangement.
About Nicola Richardson.
I have been managing teams for over 40 years, starting in the Civil Service in complex, high-pressure environments.
I hold a CMI Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership, as well as Professional Consulting and am a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
I have been on both sides of the difficult conversations that managers avoid. I have raised bullying concerns, designed the response, and had the direct conversation. I have held standards without losing the human side of the role.
I have also been a workplace organisation representative, which means I know exactly where the risk sits when these conversations go wrong.
I serve as a trustee with Centrepoint Outreach, supporting homeless people in Boston, and previously with Butterfly Hospice. That work sharpens what I already knew: difficult conversations in stretched environments, with real stakes, require preparation. Not personality.
I built The Manager’s Academy because the pattern never changes. Capable people are promoted into management and left to figure out the people side on their own. The cost lands on the teams beneath them and on the senior leaders above.
Your questions answered
Common questions
My manager is already stretched. Will they use this?
The training is online and self-paced. The calls are live and one hour. The monthly coaching call is drop-in. Everything is designed to be applied immediately, so the time they invest produces something tangible rather than notes that go nowhere.
How is this different from a management course?
A course gives information. The Academy gives information, live practice, a community of other managers, and a place to bring real situations and get direct help.
One-off courses are rarely applied consistently. The Academy works across twelve months of actual management situations. That is where lasting change happens.
Can I join on behalf of my managers?
Yes. Many of the founders and directors I work with do exactly that. For more than one manager, get in touch and I will arrange a group rate.
Ready to get started?
Give your managers the practical, ongoing training that means the people side of the role is something they can genuinely handle.
Join The Manager's Academy today
Monthly: £57 per month. Cancel anytime. Annually: £570 per year. Two months free.
Questions first? hello@thepeoplementor.co.uk | Book a call
(Want more than one manager to join the academy get in touch to purchase a group membership)
(Get in touch if you are looking for a group membership for all your managers, whether paying monthly or annually)
FAQ Block
What is The Manager's Academy?
The Manager's Academy is a monthly membership for managers who want practical support handling difficult conversations, underperformance and team challenges. £57 per month with no long-term commitment.
Who is The Manager's Academy for?
It is designed for team leaders, middle managers and SME founders who want real-world support with the people challenges they face every day.
How do I join The Manager's Academy?
You can join The Manager's Academy directly online. Visit the page and book your onboarding call to get started.