Changing employment rules, rising workplace conflicts and easy access to AI-generated advice are putting managers under growing pressure. Nick McClelland argues that organisations must move beyond compliance-led training and give managers the confidence, judgement and practical conversation skills needed to resolve issues early, fairly and effectively before they escalate further.
In 2026, my conversations have been dominated by one theme: manager and leader capability. Not as a general development aspiration, but as a pressing operational and people risk concern. The rules and risks around managing people are shifting fast and organisations are asking whether their managers, newly promoted or long-standing, are genuinely equipped for what’s now being asked of them.
Behaviours such as bullying or inappropriate conduct can breach conduct rules
This comes from many angles. The Employment Rights Act 2026 is introducing reforms that fundamentally change how people issues need managing, with probation management now under particular scrutiny. Financial services is also in the spotlight with the FCA making it crystal clear that behaviours such as bullying or inappropriate conduct can breach conduct rules and go to fitness and propriety.
Is AI the centre of conflict?
At the same time, workplace conflict is escalating faster than managers can keep up with across all industries. There are many reasons, but all are currently being expedited by the fact that a disaffected employee’s default is to an AI tool rather than an informal discussion with someone. Many of these tools are very quick to categorise behaviour as bullying or harassment without the necessary context, will produce grievance templates in seconds and encourage formal action.
Historically, a disaffected employee would need to seek out a lawyer, union representative or trusted adviser before escalating concerns. Those conversations often introduced a degree of challenge, perspective and realism. People were told just how stressful challenging your employer could be.
Employees can now access instant, free guidance at any time, testing their experiences against legal concepts and generating potential claims. There’s no balancing discussion. Younger generations, in particular, are also entering the workplace with much clearer expectations of fairness and transparency.
A growing gap, and managers are not to blame
Most managers are struggling with all of this. Not because they don’t care; they simply haven’t been given the practical skills, frameworks and confidence they need. Avoiding a challenging conversation is not necessarily a sign of disengagement, they may never have seen this done well or been shown how to handle it well.
For many, the shift from technical expert to people leader was never properly supported. Others received development at the point of transition, but little sustained upskilling as expectations evolved. And of course, managers are already stretched and time-poor at the best of times. The result of all this is a tangible and widening gap between the complexity of the role and the capability to deliver it consistently and confidently.
According to McKinsey, nearly half of senior leadership transitions are considered failures within two years. While often cited in relation to executive roles, the dynamic is broader. Managers at every level are navigating complex performance conversations, conduct concerns, competing team expectations and heightened scrutiny of decision-making without the help they need.
The cost is difficult to isolate but significant: attrition and re-hiring, disengagement and presenteeism, productivity lost to conflict, and substantial HR time absorbed by poorly handled issues. When matters escalate into formal investigations, litigation or regulatory scrutiny, the impact multiplies.
Pragmatic training is the answer, but what does it look like?
Organisations must focus on strengthening the conditions that allow early resolution: psychological safety and confident managers who understand the power of timely intervention. Workplaces that build these conditions can reduce disputes, lower legal costs and strengthen culture. Crucially, they can resolve concerns while there’s still the opportunity for a conversation, rather than after an algorithm has helped turn them into a case.
This requires a focus on pragmatic training going beyond legal requirements. Legal and regulatory knowledge is necessary, but it’s the confidence to have the conversation and a focus on what a manager actually says and does in difficult moments that will determine whether issues escalate. The ability to give clear, constructive feedback, intervene early and handle sensitive conversations with honesty and care is not a soft skill. It is a core cultural and commercial capability for managing people.
Building management capability is not a one-off intervention with a simple off-the-shelf fix. It is a long-term commitment to developing the confidence, skill and cultural awareness that makes good people management possible. Much training in this area starts with, and focuses principally on, the rules and compliance. But compliance should be the outcome. Confidence and competence should be the goal.
Your managers need the confidence and practical skills to prevent relatively small issues from becoming costly disputes, while creating cultures where people feel heard, supported and able to resolve problems before they escalate. And they need it now.
Nick McClelland is CEO of Byrne Dean
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