Who We Are
The Learning Company Team
Who better to explain what we do than our Managing Director, Kathy Tracey.
“Everything we do at The Learning Company relates to people management, whether it’s managing your own effectiveness or the effectiveness of other team members.
We work on management & leadership, team building, motivation, recruitment and absence management as well as communications, presentation skills and assertiveness.
All of our tutors and coaches are professionally qualified – learning is the very heart of who we are. Each of us brings an array of experience to the table which means that whoever you are working with from our team, you can be assured of a confident and expert approach.
We've used the experience and knowledge we have to create DVDs which are highly effective in developing people's skills.
Kathy founded The Learning Company in 1999. Since then the company has grown and been successful in building a reputation for high quality training, coaching and consultancy.
The business was acclaimed and applauded by the panel of judges who awarded it the Best Small Business Award 2008 at the Guernsey Awards for Achievement. The perfect accolade, one might say, for a business that sells its business acumen and advice.
She was awarded the first Personnel Appointments “Boss of the Year Award 2008” and it was noted that the parallel between delivering training and coaching for managers and ‘walking the walk’ made this a particularly valuable success.
Kathy is also a celebrated Ocean Rower, holding, along with her 3 crewmates, a Guinness World Record for the first ever women’s fours crew to row across any ocean. They were entirely self-sufficient for the duration of the journey across the Atlantic, which took them 67 days, 7 hours and 20 minutes.
She is also a conference speaker and author. “The ABC to Victory, An Achievement Methodology”, has changed lives. She has been ratified as a Member of the International Federation of Speakers.
Kathy’s background includes working in the public sector as a qualified social worker in Child Protection, working in the manufacturing sector at her father’s clothing factory, and representing New Zealand in the 1986 World Kayak Championships in Montreal, and winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Regatta the same year.
She sits as a member of the Guernsey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal Panel, and runs training on local employment law, equal opportunities and dignity at work, as well as a raft of management training.
Kathy’s academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Social Work Degree from Massey University (New Zealand); a Masters Degree in Education (Exeter University); a Postgraduate Certificate in Professional Management (Portsmouth University) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management.
Kathy is also a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a Member of the Institute of Directors and has served as the Vice President of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce.
Head of Coaching Services
Miranda is passionate about coaching and has been involved in developing and delivering training and coaching services for the past 20 years. She is an experienced coach and counsellor, with over 5,000 hours practice, an AC Accredited Member of the Association for Coaching (UK), and is currently studying towards her Master Coach qualification. Miranda has responsibility for building and delivering the coaching programmes offered by The Learning Company.
She earned her Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development by working in senior HR roles for 10 years, and is highly respected for her work and knowledge in this field. She had an extremely successful term of office in the role of Chairperson of Guernsey CIPD.
Her experience is wide ranging, including working within the Finance Industry, the Health sector, the Civil Service, the voluntary sector, and International Private Banking, including responsibility for liaising with the Bahamas, London and Jersey.
Miranda has run two small businesses, a training company providing communication and management development skills, and a counselling business, which offered employee assistance programmes. Her experience in these areas has given her an understanding of employer and employee perspectives, and of the return on investment organisations achieve by supporting and developing employees to be the best they can be.
Miranda has been coaching senior executives and managers in both the public and private sector since before coaching became fashionable. Her experience and training allow her to offer a pragmatic business approach, combined with a sensitivity to the needs of individuals, resulting in clients committing to actions which ally with their values and skills, and crucially, delivering results to their organisations.
Learning Consultant
Alison joined The Learning Company in 2007 and has since been working with a wide range of sectors including finance, law, accounting, retail, manufacturing, engineering, banking and utilities.
Her ever-increasing portfolio of courses includes customer care, appraisal skills, assertiveness skills, performance management, time management, team building, stress management, conflict, business writing, managing change, supervisory and management development programmes.
Alison’s expertise in management is far reaching. She joined the supermarket giant Sainsburys as a trainee manager in 1988, and departed as a Duty Manager in 2005. She has worked in stores with annual turnover ranging from £7m to £47m.
Alison faced various challenges during her time as a manager including; new store openings, raising the performance of problem outlets, and a store closure. As a manager she was responsible for the delivery of department, shop and company targets. Integral to these responsibilities was a need to display competence and excellence in: recruitment, training & development, appraisal & feedback, performance management, change management, teamwork, leadership, time management, problem solving and organisation.
Alison’s experience means she has “hands-on” understanding of dealing with people and the issues they bring, and can help others to enhance their skills and knowledge in order to perform more effectively in the workplace.
Learning Consultant
Richard joined The Learning Company in 2009, bringing with him 20 years of experience from both the public and private sectors.
Throughout his career, Richard has understood the importance of people. He believes that the success of any organization is based substantially on the quality of the people engaged, and the support and development they receive.
Having worked initially in the public sector, Richard worked for Guernsey Telecoms throughout their transition from a publicly owned, to a privately owned business. Richard made the most of this seemingly daunting situation, gaining enviable experience by heading up the negotiating team during the industrial relations storm which was raging during the sale of the business to Cable & Wireless. Due to the respect and experience he gained throughout the transition, Richard was appointed as Learning and Development Manager in the new company. In this role he worked closely with the Board on delivering strategies and successful change programmes.
In 2005 Richard accepted the Head HR role at Specsavers, where he was charged with delivering a business driven HR model. He worked closely with each of the Divisions to identify needs and to ensure HR were delivering the direction, support and guidance required, particularly in terms of training, development and organizational design.
After working at Specsavers, Richard returned to C&W where he lead a project to review all aspects of the Strategic Retail Plan including performance measures, reporting, succession planning and team development. He performed this role again at Guernsey Post just prior to joining TLC.
These experiences have enabled Richard to develop a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced within organizations and a creative approach to problem solving. He never tires of finding new ways to help individuals and businesses develop, and he has a track level of delivering tangible benefits through one-to-one coaching, mentoring, facilitation or training.
Richard has also devoted a significant amount of time to voluntary organizations such as the Samaritans and is currently a Panel member for the Child Youth Community Tribunal in Guernsey.
"Other Stars"
Our DVDs also feature other role players, and our thanks go to The Commercial Director of a large food retailer, the Managing Director of a Builders Merchants, the Director of the local Chamber of Commerce, and our own Office Manager. All whom (mainly willingly) took part in our role plays and shared their experiences of dealing with their own staff and customers during their years in both the public and private sectors.