Who we are

Antoinette Oglethorpe founded her eponymous training and coaching company, in 2012. Before that, she had 25 years’ experience as a Learning and Development Director for Accenture, Avanade and FTSE 500 companies.

Antoinette is a multi-award-winning consultant, coach, speaker and author. She specialises in career management and mentoring. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management. She is also an Associate Member of the Association for Coaching. Her book, Grow Your Geeks: A Handbook for Developing Leaders in High-Tech Organisations, achieved number 1 Bestseller status on Amazon in the Leadership and Management category.

She has a highly talented values-driven team. Their shared mission is to empower and inspire people to fulfil their ambitions and realise their potential. Find out more about the team here.

Antoinette’s story

We’ll let Antoinette tell it in her own words:

“My passion for career development stems from when I took voluntary redundancy from my first graduate job at Procter & Gamble (P&G).  It was an excellent opportunity in research and development for an excellent company.  But, after a few years I decided I was more interested in people than washing powders.  Unfortunately, P&G was going through a restructuring at the time and there were no people roles where I was based.  So, they agreed to help me find an opportunity outside P&G and I started a career coaching programme.  It was life changing.  It helped me think through who I was, what I wanted from my work and how to go about getting it.  I was lucky I had that experience early in my career.

I thought it was a shame that employees only get support with their careers to help them leave a company rather than to help them stay. I have been on a campaign to support career development in organisations ever since, first as an HR professional within organisations and then as a business partnering with organisations.”

What we do

We have created unique models, tools and templates to empower employees to take ownership of their career development with support from their manager and organisation. Every year, over 1000 employees adopt these approaches in organisations including Red Stripe, the World Health Organisation and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Services. In 2020 we launched ‘Go Virtual Stay Personal’ to help clients make the transition to online learning.

Client feedback was excellent. The L&D Business Partner for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Services said

“The team at Antoinette Oglethorpe have been nothing other than impressive in their approach in supporting us move from face-to-face learning to digital learning for our staff over recent months. We only have one option of platform, which isn’t designed for learning, but they have exceeded all expectations of what they have been able to deliver.”

Participants were also impressed. A participant from Red Stripe said

“The live online session was an amazing experience. It felt like we were in a face-to-face session, can’t think of anything that we missed not being together.”

Online delivery allows us to reach four regions and time zones.  A lot of our clients operate globally and internationally.  

Why we do what we do

Research by the Corporate Executive Board shows that 70% of employees are dissatisfied with perceived career opportunities in their organisation. The average person spends 90,000 hours at work. That is too long to be unhappy.

Progression doesn’t have to mean promotions and pay rises.  Career success is different for everyone.  Our programmes empower employees to take ownership of their career development with support from their manager and organisation. And that’s good for business. Because happy and engaged employees are more vibrant, 15-30% more productive and stay longer.

A manager who attended our Confident Career Conversation Workshop noted

“The toolkit gave me so much more confidence. I did not have to deviate from the suggested questions as they were so rich in depth at capturing what was important”

And the impact on employees was equally positive.

“I’m going to think more about where I can work strategically and keep in mind what I want to achieve whilst doing my day to day job. I’m going to consider sideways as well as upward moves.”

Our Values

We have 5 important company values that underpin all our business relationships:

Be helpful

We put clients’ needs first – always; we go out of our way to help other AO colleagues; we freely share our ideas, experience and insights; we are open, honest and trustworthy.

Have fun

We create a brilliantly enjoyable experience. We are enthusiastic and energetic; we are passionate about our work. We do everything we can to ensure business IS pleasure.

Make a positive difference

We are pragmatic in our approach; we focus on action and results not rhetoric and theories; we do whatever it takes in every situation.

Deliver excellence

We are credible and reliable; we do everything with quality, professionalism and expertise.

Keep learning

We are forward thinking and solution focused; we are continually looking to improve and develop.

Our Working Style

We believe our working style sets us apart.  We aim to keep everything SIMPLE.

Supporting the UN Global Goals

As part of the UN Global Compact Initiative we have made a commitment to take steps to support the UN goals.  We are particularly aligned to Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth.  The goal promotes sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.  It also promotes full and productive employment and decent work for all.

Find out more about why this is important