Got a new job? You’re going to need some new skills then. The challenge of promotion is often that the skills that earned you the shiny new senior position are going to be largely defunct as you move into the management structure.

Someone who knows all about how to help people make the leap is Hannah McNamara, Director of HRM Coaching the company provides career coaching, executive coaching, life coaching and leadership development for professionals in London, the UK and internationally

Every year Hannah and her team help hundreds of professionals make the often challenging transition from proven expert to new manager.

“It’s a real issue for people entering management for the first time and leading a team – no one has told them how to do it. Plus all the aptitude they had for their old job is largely redundant as they will need a whole new skill set,” explained Hannah McNamara.

“We work with people either sponsored by their company or who have approached us privately. We also work with a lot of people coming via the Government’s ‘Train to Gain’ initiative, a funded service offering UK companies assistance in improving the skills of employees so that they can compete in the global economy.

“Train to Gain estimates that every day over 1.3 million people go to work without the skills they need to do their jobs well. As a recommended supplier we help people to identify and develop the necessary ability, confidence and motivation they need to deliver real business results.”

As part of the HRM Coaching process, the consultants use the PeopleMaps personality profiling tool.

“We ask clients to complete the questionnaire and then share the results before we start the sessions. It provides a very accurate insight for both of us and helps us to get an understanding on where we need to start from,” said Hannah McNamara.

“It also overcomes the perennial problem of people putting on their ‘best face’ in the initial sessions and not relaxing, plus the clients like the independent assessment.

“The outcome that we are looking for is that people can identify what their goals are. Everyone knows what they don’t want but people are not necessarily clear on what they want to achieve and what it looks like.”

HRM Coaching also uses the PeopleMaps profiler when working with business owners. One common objective is to help them create the environment where the business can operate without them.

“It sounds odd initially but owners should be working ‘on’ the business not ‘in’ it. They need to be able to detach themselves so that they can look strategically at how the business should be developed,” said Hannah McNamara.

“People often make the mistake of thinking that being very busy all the time is best, but it isn’t always so. To run the business well you need to be able to take time out and consider your options on where the company is going. The same is equally true when people realise that perhaps they don’t actually need to know everything and that it’s not a weakness to delegate or bring in advisors. Many people have an issue with trust but we can help them to overcome it.

“There is also the occasional revelation by people that it may be something in their own personality that is holding then back. I spoke to one successful business woman who absolutely disagreed with part of her PeopleMaps profile only for her to suddenly realise how correct it was when she started to evaluate her own responses to questions during the session. She admitted that she simply did not realise that she was like that before. Though, the most common response to the report by clients is that its accuracy is nothing less than ‘spooky’.”

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