Who We Are
We (Jennifer West and Graham Miller) are partners in business and in life. One of the biggest challenges we faced when we first got together many years ago was blending a family of five very different children (ranging in age from 8 to18), as well as a ‘standoffish’ cat and an anxious dog. (It sounds a bit ‘Brady Bunch’ but it was far from it!). We achieved this by facilitating regular family meetings complete with paper sheets on the wall, seeking input from all ‘stakeholders’ on agenda items, engaging all ‘stakeholders’ in discussions, listening compassionately to diverse views, working through issues, reaching agreements, and having difficult conversations. At times the process of blending the family was a messy business (much like managing change in organisations) but it taught us a lot about what humans (in this case young humans) needed to feel safe and respected. It was this lived experience that truly awakened us to the power of transformational change and to gain a real appreciation that there is nothing ‘soft’ about good people skills. Without knowing it at the time, this experience informed the principles and concepts that underpin Humans Being At Work. Our five children are now adults, many with children of their own.
Along our journey, we also bought and, together with our great team, ran a small business; and started and ran another management consultancy, Slingshot Consulting. Before that, we had both worked in and led teams in large organisations where we experienced the good and the bad of organisations, first hand.
We founded Humans Being At Work in 2015 with a vision of helping people to bring their humanity to work. They knew from first-hand experience that the ‘doing’ stuff in organisations is important, but if this is the only focus, the result can be increased dysfunction rather than increased productivity. And we knew that it didn’t have to be that way. We had both worked for great bosses who got the best from their people by treating them with respect and taking a genuine interest in others. These bosses ‘met people where they were at’, knowing that everyone has their own strengths and preferences, and their own unique talents to offer.
We knew that in organisations (1) relationships matter, (2) the ‘soft stuff’ is actually the ‘hard stuff’, and (3) dealing effectively with the ‘soft stuff’ (the people stuff) enables the ‘doing’ to happen more easily and effectively – resulting in organisational resilience.
Jennifer West
Jennifer has over nine years coaching and consulting experience. She helps leaders and leadership teams bring their humanity to work, and in so doing, helps organisations thrive and the people within them flourish.
She is an internationally accredited executive coach, facilitator and trainer with a fascination for how people and organisations ‘tick’. She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF), and works face to face (in person) and virtually with clients across the world. Jennifer is also a member of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF), and is an Accredited Associate with the global company Heartstyles to deliver the Leading with Heart leadership program.
Jennifer has an eclectic career background with experience in public and private sector roles in sales, marketing, personal services, adult education, change management and community engagement. She has post graduate qualifications in communication, adult learning, mindfulness coaching, and kinesiology (a natural therapy which helps people to balance stress and manage change). She is also a trained ‘end of life’ doula providing support and comfort to people preparing to die.
In her spare time, Jennifer spends time with the family, composting and growing food in the garden, and together with her trained therapy dog, Pepper, (an RSPCA rescue poodle) volunteering at a local aged care facility.
Contact Jen
E: jen@humanatwork.com.au
M: +61 412 117123
Graham Miller
Graham is an experienced management consultant and seasoned group facilitator. He is a Certified Professional Facilitator (CPF) under the International Association of Facilitators (IAF). He has a Grad Dip in Human resources, and a Masters in Human Resources and Organisational Development.
Graham spent over 20 years in the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Air Arm in aviation and management roles, before working in organisational development positions in the public sector. For the past 12 years he has consulted to organisations large and small, in the areas of organisational resilience and organisational development.
Graham has always been fascinated with how people work in organisations. During his naval career, Graham developed an early understanding of people, leadership, teamwork and managing risk. He has always been fascinated in how organisations work, and believes in the collective wisdom of groups. He is an organisational resilience and business continuity management specialist, and is highly experienced in designing and delivering scenario-based discussion exercises to test disaster management, crisis response and business continuity plans.
In 2020 Graham published his book ‘The Human Factor’, combining his aviation background with his consulting experiences to explore the lessons learned in the aviation industry over the past 40 years. This book outlines how ‘human factors’ thinking can be adapted and adopted in other industries and organisations to optimise performance, get the best from people, and build organisational resilience.
In his spare time, Graham spends time with the ever-growing family and occasionally takes his motorbike for a ride through the mountains of Southeast Queensland. He also volunteers with a local organisation helping people who feel socially isolated.
Contact Graham
E: graham@humanatwork.com.au
M: +61 403 337 894
Where
We
Work
The Humans Being At Work office is in Brisbane, Australia. We consult with clients face to face anywhere in the world (COVID-permitting) and virtually. Jennifer coaches clients online from all corners of the globe.
