When executives and managers have problems – in making decisions, developing their teams or wanting to make more impact when they communicate – they go to Oxford Professional Consulting, Oxford’s leading specialists in business communication and coaching, led by Managing Director Alison Haill.
Written by: Nicholas Newman
International clients include leading energy companies such as Conoco Philips, motor manufactures such as BMW, banks such as Coutts, charities such as Oxfam and locallybased companies like Unipart and Norbar.
The courses
Oxford Professional Consulting provides a variety of courses for leaders, ranging from business speech training and coaching skills to executive education in leadership and management skills. They deliver in a blend of formats including distance learning by videoed tutorials on YouTube or DVD, one-to-one video conferencing, as well as face-to-face personal coaching provided at the firm’s Oxford office or at
a location chosen by the client.
The ‘Coaching Skills for Manager’s Course’ is specifically designed to enable participants to become more effective managers, who can motivate employees to be more engaged, innovative and productive and, in turn, improve company performance. The coaching approach “is based on careful questioning from the coach to help the coachee get clarity and/or a solution on the specific topic they have chosen. But it’s more powerful than a simple question and answer session. At the end of it, the coachee finds that they are able to make a better set of informed and effective decisions than before” advises Alison.
Her company’s objective is “to help ambitious companies work smarter, collaborate better and produce improved results in the UK and internationally.” If you are one of many managers who struggle to enjoy public speaking, or you know you need to make more impact at work, Alison and her team have solutions to help you, including the “Impact Gap Profiler” she recently created.
The expert behind the business
Alison Haill has a 30-year career as an Executive Coach and Communication Specialist. Since founding OPC in 1998, Alison has built up a network of talented professional experts, coaches and specialist trainers, able to deliver tailoredcoaching and mentoring services to an international clientele. She finds Oxford a good place to dobusiness. “It has a great reputation amongst international clients and is convenient not only for London but also its international airport allows clients to fly in their personal executive jets for a few days intensive coaching.” As a consequence, at least 50 per cent of clients are from overseas.
Alison has authored two self-help books to aid managers in their work. Her recent ‘The S-Factor: A Coaching Handbook’ is available from the company’s website where it is positioned as ”the ultimate ‘how-to-coach’ book for managers who want to engage and mobilise their team”.
Feedback
Oxford Professional Consulting is known internationally for its professional approach, executive leadership and communication consultancy services. The firm’s collaborative approach and delivery modes have made it the firstchoice for companies, charities and leading nongovernmentalorganisations. The following testimonial is typical. After working with Alison, a senior executive from RBS says, “I changed my communication style, with the result I get full engagement from others.”
Jonathan Firnberg, Global Sales Manager of toolmaker Norbar Torque Tools in Banbury, admits, “I have been impressed. The results have exceeded my expectations. Frankly, I didn’t realise you would be able to achieve such good results in six months. I would recommend Oxford Professional Consulting wholeheartedly for
the combination of individual tailored programme, extremely professional service, and results which exceeded our expectations.”
New trends
More and more corporates seek to have their senior executives benefit from our services but we see an increase in requests for in-house training for leaders at all levels in how to coach staff. Companies are buying our off-the-shelf readymade courses to use internally as their managers have evolved into on-the-job trainers in this increasingly competitive world.
In the next few issues Alison Haill will be sharing tips on better business communication. So, if you are nervous about public speaking, get ready to turn your fear into excitement with her help.
