WCPT are thrilled to welcome back Nicole Cooper. Those of you who have participated in our registration and Diploma courses over the last couple of years will recognise Nicole from our training videos. Nicole joins us from a global consulting firm, bringing with her valuable skills in team and leadership development, performance improvement and project management.
We sat down with Nicole to learn more about her skill set and what it can bring to our WCPT tribe.
Welcome back! Tell us about what you have been up to.
Thanks! I have been working for a global consulting firm as a performance improvement consultant – this is about looking at your core business, carefully dissecting it, and working out how to make incremental improvements. My core work areas have been in people and change management, and this is what I am really passionate about. When we identify business problems and propose solutions, we have many angles to think about – the systems, the processes, the technology. But it is how we work with our people, building high performing teams and empowering leaders, which I really enjoy.
So what will you be doing with WCPT?
It will be a mixed bag, which is really exciting! We see a huge opportunity to work directly with office leaders and teams to improve performance. Take the relationship between sales teams and property management departments as an example – independently, they may perform exceptionally well, but there are so many opportunities – and efficiencies – to be realised if we can get these teams to understand each other and work collaboratively. So we will be partnering with office teams to diagnose their current environment, and then combine consulting, training and coaching to help these teams reach their potential. This has been something that we have been asked to do for a few years now, so it is wonderful to be here full time to deliver this capability to our customers.
We are also transitioning much of our competency-based training online. We know that flexible, online access to training is really important to WCPT customers, but we want to make sure we translate our in-person reputation for excellence to an online environment. Balancing convenience and flexibility with the standard of education our customers expect will be a challenging and evolving exercise, and I will be project managing this.
So why the move to WCPT, and why now?
I have worked with global mining firms, national banks and federal government departments – and funnily enough, the people problems that organisations experience are really the same, everywhere you go. I greatly admire private businesses. Small and medium enterprises have a huge role to play in generating economic performance for our state and our country, and I see so many passionate leaders and teams. The move back to WCPT is about moving closer to these great private businesses, and working in partnership with them to improve performance.
And coming back to WCPT is energising in itself – it is really important to be working with a team you admire and respect, and those feelings have to be mutual. Pairing my consulting capabilities with WCPT’s outstanding training will mean we have a start to finish offering for our customers – from identifying and diagnosing problems and needs, to implementing solutions and providing the necessary training and coaching to make sure these solutions stick.
Finally – what do you get up to in your spare time?
Anyone who spends time with me will know that I am mad for my baby – our Italian Greyhound, Moses. He will be making the regular trek with me to Perth and will become our WCPT office dog when he is in town!
I enjoy great food and wine and spending time with my husband – we try to travel whenever we can and are currently planning a trip to Italy (travel suggestions are welcome!).
To get in contact with Nicole, email her – nicole@wcpt.com.au – or call her – 0402 856 771.