Aidan
Job: People Coach – Information Assurance
Profession: Security
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what you did before you applied for the People Coach role?
Before joining DE&S, I worked as a commodity trader for a multinational company, following my first MSc in Business Management and a career in professional rugby. I joined DE&S 2.5 years ago as a Business Manager, focusing on business management, information knowledge management, and information assurance. I later became an Information Assurance Manager, specialising in information assurance and cyber security, before transitioning to my current role as a People Coach.
How would you describe the role to someone who’s never heard of it before?
A People Coach is responsible for supporting a group of individuals by leveraging your people and interpersonal skills to build strong relationships with a diverse range of people, provide development opportunities, and help colleagues perform at their best while achieving their career goals. I work closely with my cohort and various areas of the organisation to ensure everyone’s skill sets and time are effectively utilised, enabling a smoother workflow across the organisation. This helps mitigate project peaks and troughs, maintain a healthy work/life balance, and deliver consistent outputs to support our armed forces.
What attracted you to the role, and what excites you most about it?
Coming from a strong rugby background, I love working with people and developing strong relationships to achieve shared goals. The People Coach role enables me to support colleagues from diverse backgrounds and help them achieve their own unique career ambitions. The organisation is also going through change and becoming a People Coach gave me a greater insight into what was going on and the ability to actively contribute to that positive organisational change.
What’s been the most rewarding part of being a People Coach so far?
Helping colleagues overcome challenges such as health issues and mental well-being, and ensuring they find job satisfaction has been incredibly rewarding. Being able to provide positive change through pastoral support, active listening, and implementing systems and opportunities to help them thrive has been really fulfilling for me.
“The People Coach role enables me to support colleagues from diverse backgrounds and help them achieve their own unique career ambitions.”
– Aidan, DE&S People Coach, Information Assurance
What opportunities for growth and development have you experienced since becoming a People Coach?
Having been recently promoted within my People Coach role, I can safely say there are opportunities to progress in this role. I’ve also had opportunities to enhance my leadership and coaching skills through bespoke training sessions where I collaborate with People Coaches across the organisation.
What does a typical day look like for a People Coach?
The exciting thing about being a People Coach is that no two days are the same. A typical day involves interacting with a wide range of people, including one-to-one meetings with members of my cohort, collaborating with fellow People Coaches, and liaising with task managers across the organisation. These conversations often lead to a variety of tasks for me to complete, for example, managing workloads, resolving issues, or identifying solutions to challenges faced by my cohort. Other tasks might include preparing progress and performance reports, addressing ad hoc requests such as reasonable adjustments, leave, or sickness, and ensuring that individuals feel supported.
How do you build strong relationships with your team members and get to know them on a professional level?
It’s important to me to create a safe and supportive environment where my team members feel comfortable to share their thoughts, concerns, and career goals with me if they wish to. One way I try and create this is by sharing something personal about myself to tap into that human side of having a working relationship with someone. I also ensure I actively listen and respond in a way that demonstrates I’ve truly heard and understood their thoughts and feelings and acknowledged their perspectives. It’s important to remember that everyone is unique, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work for everyone. Therefore, I try to tailor my approach to each person by getting to know them a little better first.
“Beyond skills development, the role also allows you to make a meaningful impact by helping others grow and achieve their career aspirations, which is very rewarding.”
How do you manage the demands of a busy role, particularly during peak times like year-end?
Plan, then plan, and finally…plan! Organisation is key to me and is really important when you’re looking after so many people. Setting out time frames for activities to be completed has served me well. If there’s a deadline I need to get things completed by, such as end of year reports, then I make sure I have all the conversations with my cohort a month before the due date.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering becoming a People Coach?
Embrace the opportunity. It’s a chance to be part of a huge organisational change and that doesn’t happen often! It’s a role where you can develop your coaching and leadership skills while working with a community of passionate and talented people.
Would you recommend being a People Coach to others as a great role or as something that will benefit their careers?
I’d definitely recommend being a People Coach. The role equips you with essential skills that are fundamental to becoming a successful leader such as communication, active listening, empathy, strategic thinking, and problem-solving. Beyond skills development, the role also allows you to make a meaningful impact by helping others grow and achieve their career aspirations, which is very rewarding.
