About O’Brien Learning Solutions
Who we are
We are leadership development specialists with a focus on helping organisations to successfully navigate through periods of change, no matter how big or small.
What we do
We offer a broad range of services that support change, the achievement of strategic objectives, and the development of current and future capability.
Who we work with
We work with organizations of all types, from corporates to public sector bodies and start-ups to large multinationals. We also work on a one to one basis with executives during our personalised one to one coaching sessions.
Our Philosophy
At O’Brien Learning solutions, we understand the impact that change has on the people within the organisation. Our aim is to provide businesses with the skills and knowledge needed to facilitate successful change.
What does ‘change’ mean for individuals and for organisations?
A change in an organisation can be as ‘minimal’ as hiring a new operations manager, or introducing a new system. Or it can be as significant as a start-up in an exponential phase of growth or a company who is downsizing one or all of its departments.
We begin by ‘looking within’ – i.e. within the organisation, the structures, the people, the culture, the mindset, with the aim of assessing the change-readiness climate. We then work with those involved, to build change management solutions together. These solutions will ultimately support the business strategy, promoting successful implementation of the change agenda.
“People don’t resist change. They resist being changed!”
Peter Senge
Denise O’Brien (MMII Grad)
Founder/ Business Owner
Denise founded O’Brien Learning Solutions in 2015. Prior to that Denise spent 17 years in Financial Services, working solely with renowned multi-nationals and Fortune 500 companies, such as General Electric, Wipro Ireland, Lloyds Banking Group, Halifax Bank and St. Andrew’s Group.
Denise has supported the organisational change agenda at many points throughout her career. Having the opportunity to support projects relating to exponential growth, acquisitions, mergers and downsizing, Denise understands the impact of change on the people within the organisation. Responsible for managerial roles across management development, operations management, process improvement and change integration, Denise applied her learning and development foundations to ‘real life’ operational and change challenges.
Denise has been fortunate to form a key role in award-winning training and development teams during her career. This allowed Denise to witness first-hand the benefits of creating a learning organisation, from the inside out. An ardent change advocate and skilled executive coach, Denise is an experienced facilitator with a true passion for developing people.
Since forming O’Brien Learning Solutions, Denise’s speciality is in supporting organisations through periods of change. Denise is a native of Shannon, Co. Clare and is the proud mother to her daughter Eva. In her spare time, Denise has a love for continuous learning, is an avid reader and watcher / listener of TED talks, and inspirational speakers. She can also be found out walking along the banks of the Shannon Estuary in her home town, taking an opportunity for reflection and valued ‘time out’.
Marketing Graduateship – Marketing Institute of Ireland, Business Studies Diploma with Marketing – The Institute of Public Administration, Executive & Life Coach Diploma – Positive Success Group, Accredited Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Practitioner, Neuro Linguistic Programming Certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Practitioner, Accredited Lean Six Sigma Practitioner (Green Belt)
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence
— it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
Peter Drucker
Services
‘Because Change Matters’
At O’Brien Learning Solutions, change is our speciality. We believe that once change is signposted, and that people feel supported and safe, the change agenda is more likely to be successful. Through our facilitative approach, we help employees at all levels to feel empowered and resourceful when dealing with change. Our inclusive approach means that we always ‘begin with the end in mind’, taking an ‘aerial view’ of the organisation as it is. Together we work on supporting the organisational strategy, bringing employees on a journey away from the current ‘norm’ and moving steadfastly towards a new vision for the future.
Signposted
We work with your senior team to develop a range of bespoke activities and interventions. These solutions will enable transparency of the change agenda, clarity of message and understanding of objectives throughout the organisation.
Supported
For a leader or manager to become an authentic change agent and advocate of change, they must demonstrate the necessary change management and leadership skills. We provide a suite of leadership skills programmes designed to enhance middle management capability during periods of change.
Safe
We help individuals to appreciate what they can influence and control, during times of change. We focus on what is within reach, such as the personal reaction to change, and how to manage responses at an individual level.
Signposted
The senior team is looked to for direction when an organisation is undergoing significant change. We work at a senior level to clarify desired outcomes, and to understand the organisational needs during times of change. We then work to agree a change management approach that works best in serving these needs.
While this is a highly tailored aspect of the services we offer, generally we provide facilitated workshops on:
- Understanding the impact of change on employees
- Providing realistic clarity at times of uncertainty
- Developing a co-creative change management approach
- Inspiring and leading others at times of change
Supported
Middle management are in a unique position when it comes to managing change. While they must support their teams by acting as the first point of contact when concerns are raised, they also need time to understand the change and to assess it from a both a business and a personal standpoint.
We provide a series of management workshops on:
- Change Management Essentials
- Communicating and Influencing
- Team Building
- Performance Management
Safe
Self-Management of Change:
On an individual level, employees may respond differently to change. However, the safer and more ‘in control’ that individuals feel when faced with change, the easier it can be to handle.
We provide a suite of change-management courses for employees such as:
- Change Management & Me
- Self-Awareness & Personal Impact
- Communicating Effectively
- Managing My Performance
‘Changing it Up’
We provide a variety of options to support your customers, teams and individuals during times of change:
The ‘Short & Sweet’ Change Series
We appreciate that when time is of the essence, short bursts of information can be helpful to promote the change strategy.
We therefore offer ‘injections’ of support, designed on a bespoke basis, such as:
- Breakfast Breakouts: early morning engergising sessions to provide focus and purpose.
- Lunch & Learn Sessions: mid-day opportunities to fine-tune the change agenda.
- ‘End of Day’ Review Sessions: review sessions to share learnings and lessons learnt.
Seamless Service
Ensuring that customer service levels remain stable during periods of organisational change can be a challenge.
We provide key customer service skills training, such as:
- Understanding Customer Needs at times of change
- Service secrets – how to manage difficult customers
- Awareness of my personal ‘Customer Service Style’
- Managing my performance during change.
Executive Coaching
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” (Lao Tzu)
Executive Coaching can act as a pre-cursor to change. Transformative by its very nature, coaching assumes that the client is resourceful and whole. We provide an opportunity for confidential one to one coaching which can support the goals of the individual and the organisation
Team Building
We create dynamic team building sessions tailored to suit the needs of your organisation.
Using psychometric tools and techniques, we provide a fun experience, with benefits designed to last beyond the training room.
We include segments on team versus self-awareness, the benefits of understanding opposing communication styles, and creating action plans to take forward beyond the event.
Testimonials
“While introducing a change programme within the department as part of our HR strategy, Denise acted as a facilitator of change. With her support, we created of an inclusive process, leading to many successful outcomes. Through her facilitation, presentation and change management skills, Denise put the stakeholder team at ease and gathered valuable input throughout. This allowed us to tailor our offerings to the needs of the organisation and to introduce programmes which will make a difference at individual and team level.’
“Excellent instructor, A+. Went above and beyond the call of duty…brilliant, very professional but down to earth. Great at communicating and getting the point across. Kept the course interesting at all times – extremely animated and engaging. Denise is a great instructor, easy to listen too, very helpful, and encouraged participation.”
Denise provided me with a number of business coaching sessions. I had been struggling to stay organised and keep on top of everything that goes with running a small business. Denise listened to me, asked some very pertinent questions and guided me towards my goal of getting back in control of my workday, such that I could have more time to relax in the evening and do more exercise. Denise is very easy to talk to and is a great listener. I would highly recommend Denise as a business coach.
Having engaged ‘O’Brien Learning Solutions’ for my interview preparation. I was focused and confident going into the interview. I would highly recommend their coaching for success approach. It was an enlightening and empowering experience. I would not have been as successful without their professional input. I will have no hesitation in using their expertise again.
‘As we approached our 10 year business anniversary, Denise joined the Azurite project team to provide business and change management support. This was to be a period of significant change for Azurite and Denise’s calm and focused approach meant that we faced into the change with as much ease as possible.
Denise brings a wide range of skills to the table, which we benefitted from throughout the project, and she enabled the success of our key objectives in numerous ways. Her efficiency, reliability, follow-through, ‘can-do’ attitude and sense of fun made the whole process appear easy! Denise leads by example when advocating and supporting change, and moving businesses forward at a pace that is realistic, whilst also providing practical, ‘hands-on’ support throughout the process as and when needed.’ She is outstanding at what she does.