Key People
Director of Professional Parents - Sharon Rice-Oxley, 3 children aged 2, 5 and 7
Sharon has three children and for the past 7 years she has mixed work and caring for her family. She has experienced at first hand the challenge of balancing work that is satisfying and financially rewarding with the flexibility she needs to play a large part in bringing up her family. This is a balancing act that Sharon has managed with her husband, who until recently also worked part-time.
Sharon has worked with many business leaders and teams and always adopts a facilitative approach to working with her clients. In particular, her coaching style is highlighted by comments from some of her recent clients.
Sharon has a successful track record as an independent management consultant with over 15 years corporate experience.
Her recent clients include a global management consultancy, a global resources company, a leading UK retail bank and a UK media group. Sharon is a fellow of the CIPD.
Sharon has worked with many business leaders and teams and always adopts a facilitative approach to working with her clients. In particular, her coaching style is highlighted by comments from some of her recent clients.
Sharon has a successful track record as an independent management consultant with over 15 years corporate experience.
Her recent clients include a global management consultancy, a global resources company, a leading UK retail bank and a UK media group. Sharon is a fellow of the CIPD.
Facilitator - Joanna Pollard, 2 children aged 13 and 16
Jo is an independent management consultant and executive coach with a career spanning 20 years in large blue chip organizations She specialises in working with leadership teams who are engaged making their organisations more effective. Success is measured in terms of improved bottom line results and people development.
With a growing awareness of the importance of work life balance in enabling individuals to take an effective role in organisations, she has welcomed the opportunity to join up with Professional Parents. Jo and her partner have first hand experience of juggling caring responsibilities with managing their careers. Having tried a number of solutions over the years Jo is very aware of the uniqueness of every situation and that finding the right answer, and enabling it to evolve over time, can have huge benefits for families as well as organisations.
Jo is a Fellow of the CIPD and a coach. She and her partner both work and have two teenagers.
Recent clients come from retail, airlines, facilities management and the public sector.
With a growing awareness of the importance of work life balance in enabling individuals to take an effective role in organisations, she has welcomed the opportunity to join up with Professional Parents. Jo and her partner have first hand experience of juggling caring responsibilities with managing their careers. Having tried a number of solutions over the years Jo is very aware of the uniqueness of every situation and that finding the right answer, and enabling it to evolve over time, can have huge benefits for families as well as organisations.
Jo is a Fellow of the CIPD and a coach. She and her partner both work and have two teenagers.
Recent clients come from retail, airlines, facilities management and the public sector.
Facilitator - Karen Edwards, 2 children aged 7 and 9
Karen is an experienced General Manager and HR generalist with a proven track record over the last 20 years in managing large teams and delivering change. Over the last nine years she has experienced the challenges of trying to balance a senior career with a family and has tried many options during this time to achieve a successful balance.
She and her husband now both work part time and flex their work and family commitments to meet both their needs; they understand the need to adapt the solution over time and realise there are many ways to achieve the balance. She believes it's essential to be able to discuss issues and work them through so that both the family and business benefits even if it means making some tough decisions along the way, as a result Karen is passionate about getting individuals and organisations to challenge the way they think and work.
Karen has recently become an independent consultant and is currently leading the People and Organisation Development for a significant change project in the Private Health Sector. She is renowned for her drive, enthusiasm and her people and results focused approach.
She and her husband now both work part time and flex their work and family commitments to meet both their needs; they understand the need to adapt the solution over time and realise there are many ways to achieve the balance. She believes it's essential to be able to discuss issues and work them through so that both the family and business benefits even if it means making some tough decisions along the way, as a result Karen is passionate about getting individuals and organisations to challenge the way they think and work.
Karen has recently become an independent consultant and is currently leading the People and Organisation Development for a significant change project in the Private Health Sector. She is renowned for her drive, enthusiasm and her people and results focused approach.
Facilitator - Carla Schaeffer, 3 children aged 5, 3 and 2
Carla is the mother of three young boys and a successful management consultant. In the last five years she has worked to achieve a balance between developing her own career, supporting her husband in his and playing a very active role in her children's daily lives.
She has over 17 years experience working for major corporations and a top consulting firm. In the last five years has worked part time as an independent consultant flexing her work to fit in with the needs of her growing family. She is currently going into partnership with Sharon to expand their practices.
She specialises in working with senior executives to deliver major change in their organisations. As part of this she has developed coaching programmes to support young managers in their roles and run a major diversity programme that established a mentoring network and tools for senior female executives.
The three key attributes she believes that define her success at this juggling act are openness and good communication, flexibility with clients and doing something that she enjoys.
She has over 17 years experience working for major corporations and a top consulting firm. In the last five years has worked part time as an independent consultant flexing her work to fit in with the needs of her growing family. She is currently going into partnership with Sharon to expand their practices.
She specialises in working with senior executives to deliver major change in their organisations. As part of this she has developed coaching programmes to support young managers in their roles and run a major diversity programme that established a mentoring network and tools for senior female executives.
The three key attributes she believes that define her success at this juggling act are openness and good communication, flexibility with clients and doing something that she enjoys.