Course Details

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT · ENGLAND AND WALES

Workplace Communication Management

Communication as a managed process — for practitioners already working in the field.

TWELVE MODULES · 20-QUESTION ASSESSMENT WITH RATIONALES · ENGLAND AND WALES

CPD HOURS

22 hours

ACCREDITED BY

CPD Standards Office

FORMAT

Blended self-paced

SLIDES

PPT Deck

LISTEN

Audio Podcast

QUIZ

Audio Quiz

VISUAL

Infographic

Overview

Most organisations treat communication as a personal attribute — something people either have or lack. This course treats it as a managed process with identifiable stages, predictable failure points and legal consequences, and builds practitioner capability against each of those.

Module one establishes communication as a designed process. Module two sets out the legal and regulatory frame in England and Wales, which most communication training omits and which is where the largest organisational risk sits. Modules three to eight build core practice: listening and questioning, plain English and written records, channel discipline, meetings and hybrid working, non-verbal signal, and inclusive and accessible communication. Modules nine to eleven address the conversations that cost most when delayed. Module twelve covers confidentiality, records and a method for measuring improvement. Where a popular claim is not supported by the evidence — the ‘7-38-55 rule’ on body language is the clearest example — the course says so and explains why.

Who this course is for

Assumes you are already working. Not an introduction for people new to work, and not a qualification for professional mediators, employment lawyers or mental health practitioners. It will not, on its own, make anyone competent to conduct a disciplinary investigation, advise on a tribunal claim, or provide clinical support.

▸ Line managers and team leaders — structure for one-to-ones, feedback and difficult conversations, plus the point at which an informal matter must become a formal one

▸ HR and people professionals — the communication requirements inside the Acas Code, records that hold up, and the escalation routes between informal resolution and tribunal

▸ Health, social care and education practitioners — recording standards, inclusive and accessible communication, and the boundary between supporting a colleague and taking on a clinical role

▸ Health and safety and wellbeing leads — how communication features in the duty to assess and manage work-related stress, and how change is communicated without creating harm

▸ Administrators, coordinators and business support — channel discipline, plain English, meeting design and confidentiality in everyday written work

▸ Union representatives and staff-side reps — fair process requirements, mediation and grievance routes, and de-escalation in live disputes

Learning outcomes

On completion of all twelve modules and the assessment, you should be able to:

✓
Describe communication as a designed process, identify where it fails, and match a purpose to an appropriate channel rather than defaulting to habit.

✓
Identify which bodies of law in England and Wales bear on everyday workplace communication, and state the communication requirements of the Acas Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures.

✓
Distinguish direct discrimination, harassment and victimisation in communication terms, and explain why intention is not a defence to harassment.

✓
Select question types deliberately, avoid leading questions in any account that may become evidence, and confirm understanding by read-back rather than by asking whether something made sense.

✓
Write in plain English without losing accuracy, and produce records that separate observation from inference and hold up when read by someone who was not there.

✓
Classify channels by latency, permanence and record status, and recognise where instant messaging creates disclosure and confidentiality exposure.

✓
Design and chair a meeting that produces a decision, and correct the specific ways hybrid meetings disadvantage remote participants.

✓
Adjust voice, pace and presence deliberately, and explain why the ‘7-38-55’ claim about body language does not generalise.

✓
Apply the reasonable adjustments duty to communication, hold an adjustment conversation without requiring a diagnosis, and produce accessible documents as a matter of routine.

✓
Prepare and deliver a difficult conversation using dated evidence, handle emotion in the room, and recognise the point at which an informal matter must become a formal process.

✓
Map the escalation routes available in England and Wales, distinguish mediation from grievance, and recognise where mediation would be the wrong response.

✓
Sequence a change in communication, recognise signs that a colleague may be struggling, and escalate and refer within the limits of a practitioner role.

✓
Apply UK data protection principles to routine notes, emails and messages, and run a measurable ninety-day improvement cycle on your own practice.

Career path

Communication capability is a supporting competence rather than a job title in itself. It appears in the person specification for most supervisory and people-facing roles, and it is usually the thing that separates candidates who are otherwise technically equivalent.

▸ Line management — supervising a team, one-to-ones, performance, first-line conflict — Modules 1, 3, 9 and 11 map directly onto the day-to-day work; not a management qualification, doesn’t cover budgets, recruitment or strategy

▸ People and HR practice — casework, policy, employee relations — Modules 2, 9, 10 and 12 cover fair process, escalation routes and records; not a CIPD-recognised qualification

▸ Workplace mediation — impartial facilitation of disputes between colleagues — Module 10 explains what mediation is, when it is appropriate and when it is not; practising as a mediator requires separate accredited training

▸ Internal communications — organisational messaging, change communication, channels — Modules 4, 5, 6 and 11 cover writing, channels and change sequencing; doesn’t cover campaign planning, brand or external media relations

▸ Health, safety and wellbeing — risk assessment including work-related stress, wellbeing programmes — Module 11 covers change, distress, escalation and referral; not a health and safety qualification

▸ Equality, diversity and inclusion — adjustments, accessibility, inclusive practice — Module 8 covers the reasonable adjustments duty and accessible communication; doesn’t cover EDI strategy, data or the public sector equality duty

A CPD certificate in workplace communication will not, by itself, secure a promotion or a new role. What it can do is give you a documented, dated body of practice to point at in an application or an appraisal — particularly if you complete the Apply and Reflect tasks and record what changed as a result. That evidence is worth considerably more than the certificate.

Course structure

1
Communication as a Managed Process

2
The Legal and Regulatory Frame

3
Listening, Questioning and Checking Understanding

4
Plain English and Written Communication

5
Email, Messaging and Channel Discipline

6
Meetings, Hybrid and Remote Working

7
Non-verbal Communication, Tone and Presence

8
Inclusive and Accessible Communication

9
Feedback and Difficult Conversations

10
Conflict, Grievance and Mediation

11
Communicating Change, Uncertainty and Distress

12
Confidentiality, Records and Improving Practice

Each module includes at least one video, one authoritative source and an Apply and Reflect task. Module 11 covers organisational change and colleagues in distress at recognition, response, escalation and referral level only, with a practitioner-support note (Samaritans on 116 123, NHS 111, and 999 in an emergency), plus a 20-question assessment with a trainer-only answer key and rationales.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Is this an accredited qualification?

No. It is continuing professional development. No accrediting body is named in this pack because none has been secured, and naming one that has not agreed to it would be a false claim.

Q. How many CPD points or hours is it worth?

No point value is stated anywhere in this pack. CPD point values are assigned by accrediting bodies and by professional regulators, and they differ between them.

Q. Will this let me practise as a mediator, an HR adviser or a mental health first aider?

No to all three. Workplace mediation requires separate accredited mediator training. HR practice is a professional field with its own qualification routes. Mental health first aid is a separate certificated course with a defined syllabus.

Q. Is this legal advice?

No. The legal content describes the general position in England and Wales at the time of writing, for the purpose of helping practitioners recognise when something matters. It is not advice on any specific case.

Q. How current is the content?

Every statistic names its source and the year of publication on the slide where it appears. Several sources update annually and one updates quarterly. The re-check list sets out what must be verified before publication and before each delivery.

Q. Does it cover Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. The legal content is the law of England and Wales. Much of the practice content transfers, and the data protection material applies UK-wide, but the employment and equality frameworks differ.

Q. Can I deliver this to my own team?

Yes, subject to whatever licensing terms the provider sets. Remove the trainer-only slides before issuing the deck to learners, or deliver the assessment from a separate file.

Q. What if a participant is affected personally by Module 11?

That is a realistic possibility rather than an edge case, given that HSE recorded 964,000 workers with work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25. Signpost support at the start of the session and make it acceptable to leave.

WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT · 22 CPD HOURS · ACCREDITED BY CPD STANDARDS OFFICE · TWELVE MODULES

£25.00

Course Features

Lectures 14
Quizzes 2
Duration Lifetime access
Skill level All levels
Language English
Students 2
Certificate Yes
Assessments Self