Skills

Facilitation

As change specialists with a strong communication bias, we are often asked to facilitate team and company events. These can range from senior manager “retreats” to teambuilding workshops and company conferences. We combine expertise with creativity and precision to deliver activities which produce lasting change. Click here to view Helen’s facilitation experience.

Capability Building

We help organisations to turn teams into high performing teams. We do this through a blend of consultancy, coaching and facilitation – and close collaboration with the client. This ensures that the learning stays inside your business, not ours.

Skills development

Our clients often ask us to help them improve the skills of their leaders and managers. The emphasis of our development work is customisation to meet a specific need – we do not deliver “off the shelf” products. We blend learning techniques to cater for different learning preferences and position training carefully so that it is perceived to be of value to the participant. If you are interested in developing the change, management, personal effectiveness or communication skills of your leaders, please contact us.

To find out more, please take a look at our client case studies.

- What Our Clients Say
  
  Their ability to measure the impact of strategies and define appropriate interventions has greatly impressed me.
  Ramon Werner, General Manager Switzerland, BP
  CSC offers unusual and extremely useful insights as well as creative but practical solutions.
  Anne De Lannoy, Technical Cooperation Department, United Nations
  Helen has been working with us to assess how effective DCSF is at bringing the ‘voice of the customer’ into policy making. This is a strategic priority for the department – and a challenging, specialist area to explore. Helen’s strong marketing background, communication expertise and consultancy skills have helped us to make significant progress. The recommendations Helen has made are being discussed at board level and will help the department to start making the cultural shift it needs to, to put the public at the heart of everything it does
  Jane Cooper, Director of Communications, Department for Children, Schools & Families
  To work with Helen Coley-Smith is a pleasure, as she combines deep functional expertise with empathy, commitment and a true interest in helping achieve the client’s objectives. Engaging in meaningful dialogue with the client and being led by evidence and insight whilst not losing focus on action, is a rare combination. Helen has challenged my thinking as well as pushed me forward to implement programmes essential for our business. I can fully recommend working with her.
  Markus Graw, Global Marketing, BP
  Helen Coley-Smith took a creative approach to ensuring that the cross government stock take of customer insight capability met a wide range of objectives. She has a very positive, hands-on way of working and is very good at keeping her stakeholders well informed about how the work is progressing and at adapting to changing demands
  Helen Begley, Transformational Government, Cabinet Office
  Helen has worked for HMRC on several occasions. She is highly focused, flexible and doesn’t have a problem if the final outputs have varied from what was first envisioned. She has brought consistent personal energy and careful thought to play on all our working collaborations and works hard, with sometimes quite demanding or undisciplined clients, to understand the needs of all stakeholders. I value her pleasant style and her good understanding of the sensitivities and wider requirements of working across Government.
  Paul Eaves, Head of Customer Understanding, HM Revenue & Customs
  CSC can both coach and ‘encourage’ at the same time.
  Mark Taylor, Ministry of Justice
  Helen worked with us at HMRC over many months to help the organisation put the public, especially taxpayers, at the heart of what it does. Genuinely “putting the customer first” represented a significant new direction for HMRC and this role needed someone with tact, understanding, relationship management, discipline and persistence to make a difference. In filling a temporary vital gap as Communications Partner for our Customer Units while we sorted a permanent recruit, Helen did just that. Helen’s direct and business-like approach created pace, got things done and provided an important reality check for those seeking to introduce the customer insight programme. Helen endeared herself quickly with the senior managers involved, gaining their trust and respect – a vital piece for the role she performed. Helen also played a pivotal role in ensuring that our ‘Leading the Way’ programme engaged leaders and secured their commitment to creating a long-term customer culture. Helen’s professionalism, determination and grit is a real asset to any organisation.
  Russell Grossman, Director of Communications, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
  Helen worked with us at HMRC over many months to help the organisation put the public, especially taxpayers, at the heart of what it does. Genuinely “putting the customer first” represented a significant new direction for HMRC and this role needed someone with tact, understanding, relationship management, discipline and persistence to make a difference. In filling a temporary vital gap as Communications Partner for our Customer Units while we sorted a permanent recruit, Helen did just that. Helen’s direct and business-like approach created pace, got things done and provided an important reality check for those seeking to introduce the customer insight programme. Helen endeared herself quickly with the senior managers involved, gaining their trust and respect – a vital piece for the role she performed. Helen also played a pivotal role in ensuring that our ‘Leading the Way’ programme engaged leaders and secured their commitment to creating a long-term customer culture. Helen’s professionalism, determination and grit is a real asset to any organisation.
  Russell Grossman, Director of Communications, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
  The recommendations made are being discussed at board level and will help the department to start making the cultural shift it needs.
  Jane Cooper, ex Director of Communications, Department for Children, Schools & Families