The Problem

Managers don’t fail because they don’t know the rules.

Managers make decisions every day that create risk for the organization, often without realizing it. They respond to complaints. Address performance. Handle attendance issues. Navigate accommodations. Manage conflict. And decide whether something is serious enough to involve HR.

Most aren’t trying to make bad calls. They keep handling things themselves because they don’t recognize the moment an ordinary management issue has become something more, or because they believe they already know how to handle it. SignaTrain builds the judgment managers need to recognize that moment, respond well to what’s still theirs to handle, and know when to bring in HR.

This is not passive compliance education. It is active decision calibration — the kind that changes what a manager does in the moment that matters, not just what they can recall on a quiz.

How it Works

How SignaTrain Builds Workplace Judgment

SignaTrain is built around decisions, not lectures. Managers practice recognizing risk, making judgment calls under pressure, and identifying when HR needs to get involved.

01

Spot the Risk

A realistic workplace scenario unfolds, performed by professional Broadway actors. What begins as an ordinary performance conversation, attendance issue, employee complaint, uncomfortable comment, or unexpected request starts to change. Can the manager recognize when the situation has become something more?

02

Make the Call

Keep managing? Ask another question? Stop the conversation? Document it? Call HR? Managers commit to a response before they know how the situation turns out because that’s how workplace decisions actually happen.

03

Rank the Responses

Managers see the range of responses other participants chose and rank them from strongest to weakest. They have to defend their own choice and explain what’s wrong with the ones they’d avoid. Different interpretations surface. Assumptions get challenged. That’s where judgment gets stronger.

04

Know When to Escalate

The debrief connects the scenario to the manager’s actual responsibility. Managers leave understanding what they could handle themselves, which warning signs they should have caught, what should have been documented, and the point at which HR needed to be involved.

The Manager Subscription

One Subscription. Year-Round Practice.

Judgment isn’t built in a single session. Managers need repeated opportunities to encounter new situations and test their instincts.

  • Three Core Courses

    Live, two-hour courses delivered in a cohort format throughout the year.

  • Focused Courses

    Live, one-hour training on specific workplace decisions and high-risk situations.

  • Unlimited Participation

    Subscribers can return to any scheduled course throughout the subscription year at no added cost. Different participants and different breakout groups mean each session plays out differently, even when the scenario is one a manager has seen before.

  • New Content Throughout the Year

    New courses and special sessions are added around the issues managers are facing now.

  • New Manager Primer

    A monthly 30-minute introduction for newly hired and promoted managers, included for organizations enrolling 11 or more managers.

The Core Curriculum

Three foundational courses build the workplace judgment every people manager needs.

Each program is a two-hour session. Each one stands alone, but the organizations that see the biggest shift in manager behavior are the ones that invest in all three.

Two Hours

Communication Under Pressure

Most workplace problems don’t begin with a dramatic event. They begin with a conversation that goes badly. This course helps managers recognize when an ordinary workplace conversation is becoming unproductive or risky, respond deliberately, and identify when the conversation needs to stop and HR needs to get involved.

Managers will work on:
  • Recognizing when a conversation is shifting from productive to confrontational
  • Spotting comments or concerns that change the risk level of a conversation
  • Addressing performance and conduct concerns directly
  • Avoiding explanations, jokes, texts, and emails that create unnecessary risk
  • Responding when an employee says something unexpected or raises a new concern
  • Knowing when a situation has moved beyond what a manager should handle alone

Two Hours

Winning Documentation Strategies

A manager may have dealt with a problem for months while the written record tells a completely different story. This course teaches managers what needs to be documented, how to create a reliable record, and when the facts being documented signal that HR needs to get involved.

Mangers will work on:
  • Identifying when a conversation or incident should be documented
  • Writing specific descriptions of performance and conduct
  • Recording expectations and follow-up clearly
  • Keeping written feedback consistent with what employees are told
  • Recognizing when the facts being documented signal a larger issue
  • Knowing when HR should review a concern before further action is taken

Two Hours

Anti-Harassment, Anti-Discrimination & Reasonable Accommodation

Employees rarely walk into a manager’s office and announce, “I am making a legally protected complaint.” They mention something that happened. Ask for a change. Make an offhand comment about a medical condition. Say a coworker makes them uncomfortable. Explain why they can’t do something the way they used to. The manager has to recognize the significance of what they just heard.

This course trains managers to spot harassment, discrimination, accommodation, and retaliation concerns even when employees don’t use the expected language, and to understand when HR needs to take the lead.

Mangers will work on:
  • Recognizing harassment and discrimination concerns, including less obvious ones
  • Responding appropriately when an employee raises a concern informally
  • Identifying statements or requests that may trigger an accommodation process
  • Understanding what information needs to reach HR
  • Avoiding retaliation, including subtle changes in treatment
  • Knowing what they should handle and what HR needs to lead

Focused Courses

Focused Training for High-Risk Moments

In addition to the Core Curriculum, managers have access to focused one-hour courses addressing specific decisions and workplace situations.

One Hour

Hiring Practices for Managers

Run a sharper interview: ask questions that actually predict performance, evaluate candidates consistently, and recognize risky questions or applicant disclosures before they become a problem. Know when to pause the process and bring in HR.

One Hour

Firing: Making & Communicating Termination Decisions

Recognize documentation gaps, inconsistencies, and recent complaints HR needs to know about before a termination decision becomes final, then deliver the conversation itself without volunteering explanations that create risk.

One Hour

Violence & Theft in the Workplace

Recognize immediate safety concerns and respond without escalating the danger, then know when HR, security, or emergency services need to take over.

Under Consideration

Possible Additions

SignaTrain adds new courses and special sessions throughout the year based on the issues managers are actually facing. Courses currently under consideration include:

Managing Leave Requests

Recognizing when an informal request for time away from work may require HR involvement.

Performance Improvement Plans That Work

Setting clear expectations, providing meaningful feedback, documenting improvement, and recognizing when additional HR guidance is needed.

Managing Remote & Hybrid Employees

Addressing performance, availability, communication, and consistency while recognizing when an ordinary management issue becomes something more.

New Manager Primer

New Manager? Start Here.

“The first time a manager learns what should have been escalated shouldn’t be after something goes wrong.”

The monthly New Manager Primer introduces newly hired and promoted managers to employee communication, documentation, issue spotting, escalation, and the full SignaTrain curriculum. The Primer establishes the framework. The Core Courses build the judgment.

Included for organizations enrolling 11 or more managers.

Private Cohorts

The full curriculum, your managers only.

Not every organization wants its managers folded into a shared subscription. For companies that want the full curriculum delivered exclusively to their own managers, SignaTrain offers private cohort pricing.

Private cohorts include the same Core Curriculum and Focused Courses, delivered live to your managers only, with discussion and debriefs built around situations specific to your organization. Pricing is structured per course rather than per subscription seat, scales with group size, and is available upon request.

Private cohorts are a good fit for organizations that want a controlled rollout, a single consistent training experience across all their managers at once, or content tailored more closely to their own policies and past situations.

Request Private Cohort Pricing

Testimonials

From the people who sat in the room

  • “The trainer has a legitimate sense of humor, and he's not afraid to apply it in his teaching. People are able to take his criticism and suggestions seriously because they don't see him as being pedantic or overly pushy. He just did a fantastic job getting people excited and engaged.” HR Professional
  • “It was very realistic, very useful because the participants were dealing with a real problem and being asked, if this was you and an employee was coming to you with this problem, how would you have handled it?” Hospitality Executive
  • “There was real competition and people wanted to beat the other teams. People were invested in learning. He just did a fantastic job getting people excited and engaged.” M. Lefkowitz
  • “People were having fun, enjoying themselves, and learning by accident. They were invested in the process. That's the only way things are going to stick with them.” Hospitality Executive, Triumph Hotels
  • “They put together a training exercise, not a lecture. The level of discussion was extreme; people really got into it. By the second session, the participants were actually looking forward to participating.” Execuitive, Financial Services Company

$800

per manager, annually

Includes three live, two-hour courses delivered in a cohort format throughout the year, live, one-hour training on specific workplace decisions and high-risk situations, unlimited participation, new content throughout the year, and the new manager primer.

Sign Up

View Pricing Details