employee relations | performance management | difficult conversations | conflict resolution | pip plan | exit interview
What You Will Learn:
- Run the performance cycle so a problem is visible months before it becomes a case
- Give difficult feedback in the moment instead of saving it for a review
- Tell a skill gap from a will gap from a system gap, and treat each differently
- Build a performance improvement plan that improves performance rather than documents a decision
- Write measurable goals for it, and run the three conversations it requires
- De-escalate a conflict, and mediate one you are not part of
- Run an exit interview that produces usable data rather than politeness
- Turn exit data into a turnover action plan you can defend to leadership
- Learn alongside Mike’s 1.6 million students from 185 countries
- Get the author’s experience from Preply, Wargaming, iDeals and Alfa-Bank
Overview
Let’s be honest: most management training is absolute fluff. It’s usually a collection of HR platitudes that fall apart the second a high-performer starts coasting or a team dynamic turns toxic. I’ve spent over a decade in the tech trenches, and I’ve seen my share of “paperwork-heavy” HR courses that focus more on protecting the company from a lawsuit than actually fixing a broken team. Mike’s course, Employee Relations: Performance, Conduct, PIP and Exit, is the antithesis of that corporate noise.
What struck me immediately is the focus on psychological safety through radical clarity. Instead of the typical “sandwich method” feedback that everyone sees through, this course teaches you how to treat employees like adults. The instructor’s background at heavy hitters like Wargaming and Preply shows; he understands the fast-paced, often chaotic environment of modern tech companies. This isn’t just about certification prep for an HR exam; it’s about surviving the Tuesday afternoon when your lead dev tells you they’re “checked out.” It’s about moving from a reactive “firefighter” mode to a proactive leadership style where nothing—not even a termination—comes as a surprise to the employee. This is beginner to advanced level content that bridges the gap between theory and the messy reality of career growth.
Prerequisites
- Management Experience: While not strictly required, you’ll get 10x the value if you’ve actually managed a human being before. If you’ve ever had a “difficult conversation” go sideways, this will resonate deeply.
- Foundational EQ: You need a decent level of emotional intelligence. The course provides the scripts, but you provide the empathy.
- Corporate Context: Familiarity with basic industry-standard tools for performance tracking (like Lattice, CultureAmp, or even a basic Jira board) helps in visualizing where these processes live.
Skills & Tools
- Performance Diagnosis: Mastering the “Will vs. Skill vs. System” framework to stop misdiagnosing performance issues.
- Conflict De-escalation: Using tactical empathy and specific phrasing to lower the temperature in high-stakes meetings.
- PIP Architecture: Moving beyond the “documenting a firing” mindset to building a real-world project plan that actually gives an employee a fair shot at a comeback.
- Data Analytics for HR: Turning qualitative exit interview “politeness” into a quantitative turnover action plan.
- Feedback Loops: Implementing job-ready skills for real-time coaching that replaces the dreaded annual review surprise.
Career Benefits & Job Roles
If you’re looking to climb into Director or VP-level roles, you can’t just be “the tech person” anymore. You have to be a people strategist. This course provides the hands-on labs (in the form of scenario-based learning) that prepare you for high-level leadership. For Engineering Managers (EMs), it helps you handle the “brilliant jerk” without destroying team morale. For HR Business Partners (HRBPs), it’s a masterclass in becoming a strategic partner rather than just an administrative hurdle. Whether you’re a Team Lead or a People Operations Manager, these are the job-ready skills that make you indispensable during organizational restructuring or rapid scaling.
Pros
- The Will vs. Skill Distinction: This is the “aha” moment for most. Most managers try to “train” a motivation problem or “discipline” a training problem. This course stops that waste of time immediately.
- The PIP Reimagined: We’ve all seen PIPs used as a death warrant. Mike teaches you how to build a performance improvement plan that actually functions as a roadmap for success, making the eventual outcome—stay or go—fair and defensible.
- Actionable Exit Strategies: Most exit interviews are a waste of breath. The focus here on turning that “fluff” into a turnover action plan you can actually present to a CEO is worth the price of admission alone. It moves HR from a “cost center” to a “value driver.”
Cons
If I’m being brutally honest, the tone might feel a bit “corporate-heavy” for someone at a five-person seed-stage startup where there are no rules and everyone is a co-founder. The processes Mike outlines are industry-standard tools for scaling companies, so if your “performance management” is currently just a beer on Friday, some of this structure might feel like overkill—until your first HR nightmare hits, that is.