Wes Ehnert has built a career focused on guiding and empowering others, based on two decades of leadership experience. His leadership career naturally evolved into a love of coaching. He helps professionals at all levels to gain confidence, control, and clarity over their careers and personal lives.
With certification in Organisational and Leadership Coaching, Wes’s approach is based on cognitive science, psychology, and organisational behaviour. This enables him to help clients navigate career transitions, improve their leadership skills, and become more self-aware.
Wes specialises in creating safe, trusting environments to deliver his executive, leadership, and career coaching, enabling clients to uncover hidden beliefs and behaviours that may be inhibiting their growth. With a philosophy that bridges the gap between traditional coaching and deep cognitive exploration, he is the ideal professional to support clients seeking a real breakthrough.
In this Q&A session, we spoke to Wes about the importance of building trust and career coaching, focusing on HR roles and workforce transitions.
1. What drives you to work in this field?
I’m inspired by the ability to make a profound impact on people’s lives. I see each coaching session as an opportunity to help clients navigate changes in their careers, improve their relationships, and purposefully shape their lives. The sense of achievement that comes with seeing clients achieve breakthroughs and realise their potential is exceptional.
My speciality is creating environments that support psychological safety and trust, empowering clients with choices and possibilities for their professional and personal lives.
My own career has been shaped by both traditional roles and an entrepreneurial spirit. My choice of self employment was driven by a desire for independence and creativity, inspired by success stories I heard from mentors and friends.
I’m driven to excel because of the meaningful impact I can have and the endless possibilities I can open. As I continue on my own career journey, my commitment remains the same: I want to help clients to transform their careers and empower them to live more intentionally, authentically, and purposefully.
2. What does your current role involve?
I’m currently focused on helping individuals build clear paths to success, using organisational learning and coaching principles. At the heart of my coaching is a desire to build awareness. Self-awareness helps people to navigate their paths. In career transition, that could be identifying what’s holding them back, what resources they can use, and what they ultimately want.
3. What do you think is the biggest challenge facing HR leaders at the moment?
The biggest challenge is balancing two roles. HR is both an advocate for employees and a representative of the company. There’s an inherent conflict in that, as employees often feel that HR prioritises the company’s interests. If the HR team doesn’t establish trust with staff, then company policies and cultural activities lose their credibility.
4. What happens when trust breaks down during a retrenchment process?
When workforce downsizing happens, things can turn cold – fast. Staff who previously felt valued may suddenly feel like strangers. It’s like a divorce – what was once supportive becomes transactional. It starts long before the retrenchment process, it relates to how trust is built into the company culture.
Yes, listen first. HR needs to gather information from staff, management, and leadership in order to fully understand concerns, conflicts, and inconsistencies. Having listened to that feedback, they need to reflect that information back to stakeholders honestly. If red flags or contradictions arise, they need to be openly addressed before progressing to solutions.
6. What skills do you think junior HR professionals should develop?
They need a broader understanding of organisational development, psychology, and people operations, to enable them to create more people-centred policies and processes.
7. Do you see a place for AI in workplace conflict resolution?
AI has the potential to analyse conversations and raise questions about unspoken narratives – that is to say, what each party is telling themselves in their head. By identifying sources of potential conflict, AI could help employees and managers recognise problems such as trust concerns or emotional triggers, which could in turn make difficult conversations more transparent and productive.
AI can’t replace human intuition yet, but it can help to uncover patterns. The challenge will be in ensuring such tools are used ethically and effectively. AI should enhance human decision-making, rather than replace it.
8. Do you have any final thoughts on what people should focus on for professional growth?
Awareness is the key. We need an awareness of ourselves, our teams, and our communication style. If we can understand the barriers in our way, we’re more able to control our personal and professional lives. In career transition, self-awareness and intentional communication is key to success.
Final thoughts on career transition and coaching
We appreciated spending time with Wes and tapping into his insights about career transitions. You can follow or connect with him on LinkedIn.
If you’re keen to find out more about how Careerminds can support your HR team with retrenchments and career transition, and how we can help you to navigate these challenges, click below. We’d love to chat with you to find out if Careerminds is the right outplacement partner for your business.
In need of outplacement assistance?
At Careerminds, we care about people first. That’s why we offer personalized talent management solutions for every level at lower costs, globally.