Alex Dawes

Alex Dawes has worked in the field of occupational psychology since 1981 when she moved from Coopers & Lybrand to join the international test publisher SHL. She was struck by the value of quality evaluation and honest feedback in helping others to define and achieve their career aspirations.

During Alex Dawes’ 20 years at SHL she was involved in the development of the business which grew to a worldwide operation in 35 countries working in some 28 languages. As a Board member before and after flotation she was actively involved in acquisition due diligence and working with investors as well as spending two years as Managing Director of SHL UK.

Companies operating across several cultures need to find ways of enabling a very diverse range of people to contribute to the ongoing success of the business. Over the last 8 years Alex Dawes has worked as a practitioner on leadership assessment and development across very different businesses in the UK and Europe. Using a combination of first hand commercial experience and working as a consultant, she has been privileged to work with a diverse range of people — both as individuals and in teams — on identifying and improving leadership skills within a business context. Sometimes this is about their personal development and at other times it is driven by the business needing to understand more about the potential of a recruit or an existing group of individuals.

Much of the work Alex Dawes does involves individual assessment and feedback as a start point but she also deliver a more workshop oriented approach where individuals identify their own development needs through a combination of engaging with others, facilitated activities and time for self reflection. She also is doing one to one coaching particularly with people working in companies undergoing rapid change or who themselves are moving to new and unfamiliar roles.

Alex Dawes has worked with a range of companies from very small “high tech” businesses right through to FTSE 100 and DAX 30 companies such as Tesco, Sony, Astra Zeneca, UBS, Deutsche Bank and E.ON. Most of her work has been delivered in Europe although not necessarily with Europeans.