Diploma in Performance Management
Course Overview
The Diploma in Performance Management at the London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is written for the HR business partner or reward analyst who owns the annual performance cycle inside a UK operating business. Sitting in the Human Resources & Leadership faculty at Level 4, the diploma spans 9 to 12 months on-campus in central London, fully online, or by distance learning. The classroom material tracks the CIPD Profession Map at Associate level and the Acas Code of Practice, so the diploma is written to survive contact with a live UK HR function.
The programme is designed around CIPD Associate-level competencies and the CMI Level 4 people-management track. You will graduate able to design a performance cycle end to end, run a calibration meeting, defend a reward recommendation and handle a formal capability process under UK employment law. Tutor input comes from CIPD-chartered HR directors and reward specialists at UK mid-market and PLC employers, so the case pack sits close to live practice. The sections below detail modules, audience and progression.
Key Features
- Curriculum designed around the CIPD Associate track and CMI Level 4 competencies.
- Three study modes — central London campus, fully online or by distance learning.
- Fortnightly clinic with a CIPD-chartered HR director and a UK reward specialist.
- Applied capstone: an end-to-end performance cycle for a simulated UK operating company.
- Structured articulation into the LSIBM Advanced Diploma in Performance Management Systems.
- Assessment blend of a cycle design, a calibration case and a written recommendation marked by a working HRBP.
- Structured route toward CIPD Associate Member (Assoc CIPD) grade with tutor support.
- Optional reward-benchmarking workshop using publicly available UK gender pay-gap and CEO-pay-ratio data.
What You Will Learn
Performance management is taught as an annual working cycle — goal setting, mid-year, end-of-year, calibration, reward — anchored to UK employment law and the CIPD Profession Map.
- Goal setting, OKR versus SMART, and how each fits a UK operating team.
- Mid-year and end-of-year review conversation design.
- Calibration and moderation — running a fair session across a UK site.
- Reward design — pay bands, on-target earnings, bonus schemes.
- Capability, conduct and grievance processes under UK law.
- Poor performance conversations and the Acas Code of Practice.
- Performance data, dashboards and the HR analytics that support them.
- Coaching for performance and the manager’s weekly cadence.
- Working with line managers to raise the quality of performance conversations.
- UK gender pay gap and CEO-pay-ratio reporting basics.
- Introduction to performance management inside a hybrid or remote-first UK team.
Who This Course Is For
- HR advisers moving into HR business partner roles.
- Reward analysts owning bonus and salary review cycles.
- Line managers with formal people-management responsibility.
- Talent and OD coordinators owning the performance calendar.
- Career changers from operations or consulting entering UK HR.
Career Pathways
Graduates typically move into HR business partner and reward-analyst roles across UK mid-market and PLC employers. Financial services, professional services and technology employers in London recruit consistently. Typical destinations include:
- Performance & Reward Analyst
- HR Business Partner (junior)
- Talent & Performance Coordinator
- Reward Analyst
- People Analytics Analyst
- OD Coordinator
- Learning & Performance Specialist
- Head of Performance (small employer)
The diploma is the natural step onto the LSIBM Advanced Diploma in Performance Management Systems and supports CIPD Associate-level membership. Candidates progressing to the Advanced Diploma often move into a substantive HR Business Partner role within eighteen months.
Entry Requirements
- A relevant Certificate (Level 3) or equivalent — mature applicants with two years of professional experience are welcomed on a portfolio route.
- GCSE English Language at grade 4/C and Mathematics at grade 4/C (or international equivalent).
- IELTS 5.5 overall (no band below 5.0) for non-native English speakers.
- A short statement of intent and one academic or professional reference.
Why Study at LSIBM
The London School of International Business and Management (LSIBM) is a specialist business-education provider based in central London and part of Harold International College. We teach in small cohorts so every student is visible to their tutor, run a single intake schedule that students can rely on, and partner with UK professional bodies — CMI, CIM, CIPD, ACCA, CIMA, CFA UK, CIPS and IOE&IT — so qualifications carry weight with employers.
London puts the City, Canary Wharf, Whitehall, Companies House, the FCA, the Bank of England and the West End within a short tube ride of every classroom. Diploma cohorts run structured cohort clinics with working practitioners — a Big-Four tax adviser, a CIM Fellow in marketing, a CIPD-chartered HR director — so students meet professional expectations well before graduation.
Apply for the Diploma in Performance Management
Take the practitioner step with the Diploma in Performance Management. Click Enrol Now and our admissions team will respond within one working day with intake dates, credit-transfer guidance and current fee schedule. Diploma students are eligible for direct progression to LSIBM's Advanced Diploma or Higher Diploma routes on completion.
