ANCHOR Manager Development Programme | Ruth-Ellen Danquah
ANCHOR Programme

The ANCHOR Manager Development Programme

A six-module programme that teaches you to make clean decisions at the moments that matter most — so the right response becomes instinct, not luck.

6 modules
Digital + live
90 days
Start to embedded
Virtual
All delivery
Up to 20
Managers per cohort

What this programme actually is

Every day, you make decisions about people. Someone discloses a condition. Someone comes back from sick leave. Someone says “the noise is harder than I expected” at the end of a 1:1.

In that moment, you have about three seconds. And right now, most managers default — to warmth without action, to deferring to HR, to saying “let me know if you need anything” and hoping for the best.

ANCHOR teaches you to recognise those moments as decision points, ask the question that changes the outcome, and act before the system tells you to. Six modules. Digital learning at your own pace. Live sessions where you practise the real scenarios under pressure.

You finish the programme with a structured response for every people decision that used to make you freeze, defer, or default.

What you’ll learn

Three phases. Six modules. Each one addresses a specific decision point you face.

1
Recognise

See the gap between what you think you’re doing and what’s actually happening at decision points.

Module 1
The Decision Gap

Why good intentions become bad outcomes. You’ll map your own default responses and see what they cost — in time, trust, and outcomes. This is where most managers realise they’ve been defaulting without knowing it.

Module 2
The Disclosure Response

What to do in the three seconds after someone tells you something that matters. You’ll learn the difference between a response that opens a door and one that closes it in thirty seconds — and practise until the right one comes naturally.

2
Reframe

Replace your defaults with structured questions and practise until the right response feels natural under pressure.

Module 3
The Adjustment Conversation

From barrier to implementation in one meeting. You’ll learn to respond to what someone actually needs — not wait six weeks for a report that tells you what they already told you on day one.

Module 4
The Conversation You Keep Avoiding

The 14-day early intervention protocol. Performance dips, unexplained absence, a change in someone’s energy — you’ll learn to have the conversation within two weeks instead of waiting until it becomes a formal process.

3
Lead

Embed structured decision-making into how you manage — so it becomes what you do, not something you learned once.

Module 5
Three High-Stakes Conversations

The return, the review, and the exit. Three conversations most managers get wrong because they’ve never been taught a structure. You’ll learn a framework for each one and practise them live.

Module 6
Making It Stick

Clean decisions become automatic. You’ll build the practice into your weekly rhythm — and learn to document decisions in three minutes so the record protects everyone.

The ANCHOR method

A repeatable process for every people decision. This is what you’ll use on Monday morning.

A
Awareness
Recognise you’re at a decision point. Most costly errors happen because the manager didn’t realise a decision was being made.
N
Notice
Name what’s invisible. What assumption or default is shaping your response before you’ve thought it through?
C
Consider
Ask the question that changes the outcome. Not “how are you feeling?” — the question that actually surfaces what you need to know.
H
Hear
Listen to the answer they actually give — not the one you were expecting. Take it at face value.
O
Outline
Frame the simplest action that removes the barrier. Not a six-week referral. Something this week.
R
Record
Document it. Three minutes. Protects the employee, protects you, protects the organisation.

How it’s delivered

Digital learning builds the thinking. Live sessions build the muscle.

1

Digital Modules

Six self-paced modules with frameworks, tribunal case studies, the ANCHOR method, and default mapping. Complete at your own pace before each live session.

2

Live Virtual Sessions

90-minute facilitated sessions. Real scenarios. Real-time coaching. Group debrief. This is where the right words start coming out under pressure — not just in a training room.

3

Post-Programme

12-week scenario email series keeps the thinking sharp. One real scenario per week. Enterprise clients also get dashboard access and ongoing measurement.

What your week looks like

BEFORE
Digital module arrives. Takes 30–45 minutes. Frameworks, case studies, one scenario to think about. You can do it on the train, at your desk, or in a quiet half-hour before the week starts.
LIVE SESSION
90 minutes, virtual. You practise the scenario you’ve been thinking about. Real-time coaching. You hear how other managers approach the same moment. You leave with words you can actually use.
BETWEEN
Apply it. Use the ANCHOR method in your next people conversation. Document it. Notice what changes. The next module builds on what you’ve tried.
AFTER
Weekly scenario email. One real decision point in your inbox. Keeps the thinking sharp for 12 weeks after the programme ends.

Programme options

All programmes delivered virtually. All invoiced directly. A conversation first — because that’s the whole point.

Sprint
£3,500
+ VAT · Up to 20 managers

See the gap and decide if you want to close it.

Digital access: Modules 1 & 6 1 × 90-min live virtual session Pre-programme default diagnostic 1 × 60-min stakeholder debrief Digital resource pack
Enterprise
£25,000
+ VAT · Up to 40 managers (2 cohorts)

Embed decision quality as infrastructure across your organisation.

Full course for 2 cohorts 6 × 90-min live virtual sessions 6 × fortnightly check-in calls ANCHOR tool: 12-month licence Dashboard access for 12 months Train-the-trainer session 12-month scenario email series

Ready to start?

Every programme starts with a conversation. 20 minutes. No pitch. Tell me what’s happening in your team and we’ll both know if ANCHOR is the right fit.

BOOK A CALL WITH RUTH-ELLEN

or

Take the 4-minute Manager Defaults Assessment first →