Free · No sign-up · Use this before you make a call and something feels unclear.

See how ANCHOR structures a manager decision.

This is a preview of the decision-framing logic used inside ANCHOR. It is not the full platform, licence, or diagnostic. Use it to see how vague workplace situations become clearer, more consistent, and easier to review.

2–3 minutes. No sign-up. Uses real manager decisions.

Decision framing, not a substitute for your organisation’s formal process.

If you want to examine one real organisational decision in depth, ANCHOR Decision Mapping gives you a structured view in 7 days.

ANCHOR decision signal
REVIEW
This signal reflects the decision context, reversibility and visibility needs returned by ANCHOR.

This signal is based on the risk flags returned for this decision. ANCHOR does not manufacture a score.


Here's what to consider

Before you act, make sure you've seen what might be invisible.

Decision Framing

Before you decide, consider:

Receipt sent.
What this would trigger in a licensed workspace

The appropriate organisational reviewer would have visibility.

The decision, context and unresolved signals would sit in one connected record — ready for the appropriate reviewer before the situation hardens.

See the live product, implementation route and licence options for your organisation.

People dashboard preview Licensed workspace
1 Decision capturedManager context and intended action Visible
3 Signals requiring reviewEach remains connected to the receipt Open
Closed-loop responsePeople lead responds and closes each signal Tracked
One decision is useful. The licensed platform shows whether the same gap is appearing across multiple managers.
Before your receipt is generated

Is there anything we should take into account before we confirm this?

e.g. "I've already had that conversation" or "We explored adjustments last week."

DECISION RECEIPT
Decision type
Risk level
Flags raised
Generated
Scenario
Decision recorded

Record your decision

Add what you've decided. This completes your Decision Receipt and gives you a timestamped record.

What to do next

Your personalised action plan

Generating your action plan...
FROM ONE DECISION TO ORGANISATIONAL EVIDENCE

This is one decision. The wider pattern is still unknown.

The free tool gives one manager structured challenge. The organisational platform examines consequential decisions made by managers, People teams and senior leaders.

Share this with the person responsible for People, Employee Relations or decision governance.

Decision Mapping examines one live decision in depth over seven days. A 10-week Pilot then tests how decisions are framed, challenged, reviewed and resolved across a defined organisational cohort.

£1,000 7 days 1 live decision
Explore Decision Mapping →
Share this decision signal

Use the tool on a real decision first — then share the signal with the person responsible for People, Employee Relations or decision governance.

From one decision to organisational visibility

You have just seen what ANCHOR can surface from one manager decision.

The free tool creates clarity for one manager and one moment. The organisational platform is broader: authorised managers, People professionals and senior leaders can structure decisions, receive challenge and follow the appropriate review route.

What you have just used

One structured decision

  • Neutral decision framing
  • Five questions before action
  • Visibility and escalation signals
  • A timestamped Decision Receipt
What the licence adds

The organisational picture

  • People-team visibility before decisions harden
  • One connected record from manager decision to resolution
  • Open signals, ownership and response tracking
  • Patterns across teams, decision types and support needs
What is happening across the decisions you cannot currently see? Explore how ANCHOR operates across managers, People teams and senior leaders.
Explore the organisational licence →
What this tool does

Structured decision support before a people situation becomes harder to reverse

Most difficult workplace decisions do not begin with bad intent. They begin with incomplete context, inconsistent questions or a formal step taken before the conditions around the decision were fully understood.

Describe what is happening and ANCHOR structures the decision, surfaces what may be invisible, identifies whether further or specialist review may be needed and creates a Decision Receipt you can retain or share.

The free tool is designed for one manager and one decision. Decisions are stored securely to generate the receipt and, where you provide an email address, deliver it to you.

Built for live manager decisions

The moment between “something is wrong” and “we have started a process”

Performance and capability

Separate output concerns from barriers, support needs and unstable working conditions before formal action takes over.

Absence and return to work

Clarify capacity, expectations and support before treating a return as proof of full readiness.

Adjustments and support needs

Distinguish general support from an actual exploration of the barriers affecting this person’s work.

Conduct, conflict and progression

Create a clearer record of what was observed, what remains uncertain and who needs visibility before action.

For Heads of People and People Partners

One receipt improves one decision. A licensed workspace reveals where the same gap is appearing across managers, which signals remain open and where People-team intervention is repeatedly arriving too late.

See the organisational licence and implementation route →
Why it matters

Why the question you ask before the performance conversation is the one that matters

UK employment tribunal records consistently show the same pattern: managers who made decisions that looked reasonable in isolation, without the question that would have changed the outcome.

In Merchant v BT, a performance process ran its course without anyone asking whether the role design was creating a barrier for a dyslexic employee. The tribunal found for the claimant. Not because the manager was negligent. Because the framework they were working inside didn't prompt the question that would have changed what they were looking at.

Merchant v BT — Employment Tribunal

The question that wasn't asked is always cheaper to ask than the outcome it prevents.

Performance management done well is not about following a process. It is about asking the right question before the process takes over. This tool is built for that moment — the thirty seconds before you decide, before you send the email, before you have the conversation.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about handling performance conversations

How do I handle a performance conversation without starting a formal process? +
Start by asking whether the performance issue is a capability problem or a barrier problem. A capability problem is where the employee lacks the skill to do the job. A barrier problem is where something in the environment or circumstances is preventing performance that was previously available. Most managers go straight to the formal process when the right question first is: has something changed for this person? Is there a barrier that wasn't there before? ANCHOR's free tool is built for this moment — the structured thinking before the conversation, not the process that follows it.
Is this tool free? +

Yes. Completely free. No sign-up, no credit card, no trial period. You can use it up to three times per week.

The free tool is intentionally manager-facing: one decision, one receipt and one moment of structured challenge before action. It does not create organisational pattern visibility or route decisions across multiple roles.

The wider ANCHOR platform is broader than the free tool. Decision Mapping (£1,000 / 7 days) examines one live organisational decision in depth. The 10-Week Pilot (£5,000) tests ANCHOR across a defined cohort of managers, People professionals and leaders, including role-based review routes and a final evidence pack. The Annual Licence (£12,000–£36,000) embeds ongoing Decision Receipts, review routes and organisational pattern intelligence.

Is this legal advice? +
No. ANCHOR is decision framing, not legal advice. It surfaces considerations, invisible factors, and risk signals based on the type of decision you're facing. If your situation requires legal guidance, speak to an employment lawyer or your People team. ANCHOR is designed to help you ask better questions before you need that conversation — not to replace it.
What is a reasonable adjustment and when do I need to make one? +
A reasonable adjustment is any change to how, when, or where someone works that removes a barrier to their performance — where that barrier relates to a disability or health condition under the Equality Act 2010. Employers are legally required to make reasonable adjustments when they know, or should know, that an employee has a disability. 'Reasonable' is determined by what is practicable given the size and resources of the organisation — not by what is convenient for the manager.
How is this different from HR case management software? +
HR case management tools are built for what happens after a decision goes wrong. They manage the case once it exists. ANCHOR is built for the moment before the decision is made — the thirty seconds before the manager acts. By the time a situation reaches a case management system, the decision that caused it was made weeks or months earlier.
What if our organisation needs more than the manager tool? +
The free tool is intentionally a single-manager experience. The organisational platform is broader: authorised managers, People professionals and senior leaders can structure decisions, receive challenge and follow role-based review routes. Start with Decision Mapping to examine one live decision in depth, or use a 10-week Pilot to test the workflow across a defined cohort.

Explore the ANCHOR pathways →
Further reading

Why no one asks the right question before a performance conversation — and what Merchant v BT tells us about the gap in every performance process.

Read the full breakdown →

How ANCHOR works across managers, People teams and senior leaders.

See how ANCHOR works →
Unlock your full results

Your ANCHOR decision signal is ready.

Enter your work email to get the full breakdown — every flag explained and your Decision Receipt.

No spam. Occasional insights on manager decision-making from ANCHOR. Unsubscribe any time.

If this form glitches, don't worry — just email me a few lines about what's happening and I'll run it for you. ruth@ruth-ellen.com