Siobhan Barnes

Alright, hello and welcome everyone to the Aligned Achiever podcast. I’m your host, Siobhan Barnes, and today we have a very special guest joining me. We are welcoming Renee Conklin onto the show. 

And Renee is a very seasoned coach who used to work in HR and actually specifically focuses on supporting female leaders in human resources who feel stuck, and she supports them to love their work or find the work that they love. And I really wanted to have Renee on the podcast today, because she has such a breadth of experience. 

15 plus years of HR experience at companies like IBM, UBS and Barclays. And is also a coach, an ICC, sorry, a PCC level coach with the ICF. And also has an MBA from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and she uses a very strengths based approach to support her clients level up in their careers and maximize their potential or thrive in roles that they love. So a very warm welcome. Renee, thank you for coming on today.

Renee Conklin

Thank you, Siobhan, that was such a nice introduction. I’m really happy to be here.

Siobhan Barnes 

Really happy to have you here. And the reason why I really wanted to get you on is because I know that you do such wonderful work with your clients. I’ve been seeing all your posts on LinkedIn and how you specifically support HR professionals. And I thought, you know, we both kind of serve similar women in terms of like professionals. I know you’re focused specifically on HR professionals, but you yourself have had such a an interesting transition in your own journey and your own life, and I would love to share your story with the listeners, because I think the more we can hear how others navigate their career transitions and navigate their decisions, the more helpful it can be. But equally, I would love to hear your expertise with what you see with your coaching clients, because I know you help them on a very strategic level as well. 

So let’s kick off with your own story. I would love to hear about how you transitioned from a very successful career in recruitment and HR to now coaching professionals, particularly those in HR. So can you share a little bit about your own pivot from corporate to coaching and what sparked that transition?

Renee Conklin 

Yeah, sure. Yeah. Thank you for that. As you said, I had a 15 year career in human resources across the US and Asia Pacific, and I did a number of different things within that career. 

So I started my career doing graduate recruitment and then lateral recruiting. I was a head of talent acquisition and HR business partner, head of HR and a management consultant as well focusing on HR projects. So I looked at HR from a number of different angles, across that 15 year career, and I think at some point it was when I was a business partner at an investment bank, particularly, that I started to feel a little bit burnt out in my role. And this can happen to a lot of HR leaders. It depends on how the roles are structured. What’s the focus role? 

But for me, my role had really become focused very much on doing Employee Relations investigations and on large scale redundancy exercises too, very negative aspects of HR. And so I was really doing quite a lot of negative work for a long time, and I tried to kind of shift out of that and change into a different role at a different company. But that sort of followed me, that feeling, and when I left my last inhouse corporate HR role, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do next. 

I was offered another role in HR at a law firm, and I just sort of thought, you know, that sounds like a lot of work, and I just didn’t want to take it. I couldn’t bring myself to take it. So I had this moment where I was standing in my home office, and I literally was like, turning my feet like, this way, that way, that way, that way, because I couldn’t work out what I wanted to do that day, like, just something very simple. I couldn’t figure out how to use my time. 

And I just said, You know what, I need a coach. And I myself, hired a career coach to help me through that period, to figure out what was next. And so she and I worked together on a whole bunch of sort of goals and ideas of things I wanted to do. I wanted to go get an advanced degree, I wanted to learn Mandarin, I wanted to become a social media influencer, like all these things. 

And so working with her helped me to figure out what was important, how I prioritize those things, and then what I could really kind of offer the world based on my experience. And so it wasn’t immediate from working with that coach that I came to where I am. Now, there’s been multiple kind of evolutions, but that did get me out of corporate HR and got me into setting up my own business, which is our CHR consulting, and also enrolling in my MBA at HK UST, which was something I’d always wanted to do an advanced degree to round out my HR experience, learn more about marketing, finance, operations, all the things that we often don’t see when we’re in our HR silo. 

And over the course of several years, I started my business in 2018, I’ve now evolved it into what it is now, which is, supporting female senior leaders in HR who feel stuck to love their work or find work that they love, as you said. And I do that really through three main ways. One is through corporate training for HR teams. The next is through one on one executive and career coaching, and the last is through my group job search accelerator program.

Siobhan Barnes

Fantastic, wonderful. So interesting that you yourself had a coach to support you when you were navigating that transition. 

So I’m curious for you then, like, how many of the listeners are probably at a similar point to you, where they’re navigating a pivot and they don’t know, you know which way to turn and which way to go next. For you, I know you said you had the offer from the law firm, and you could have gone down that HR route again, but something was off for you. 

I would love to hear, like, what that actually was for you. Like, was it a voice? Was it a feeling? Was it a knowing and also, like, what were some of the fears or mindset hurdles you had to overcome to actually turn that job down and say, you know what? I’m going to pivot into another direction.

Renee Conklin

I think that I had had it in my mind that I wanted to have a break, right? That was the initial thing I was thinking. And that was a lot of the motivation behind, turning down that role, also the role itself. As I said, it seemed like a lot of work. It seemed very messy. They were kind of looking for someone to come in and be the adult in the room, which I’m kind of like, I always have to be. HR responsibility. No one else in the room can be an adult, right? I’m sure HR people will. HR, people will resonate with that. I mean, so I just kind of thought, you know, I’m not in the right mind space to take up this sort of role right now, and so that’s part of why I decided to work a coach to give myself that external sounding board. 

Because, you know, I was in my own head around a lot of these things that I couldn’t figure out how to move forward, I really felt very stuck in where I was, knowing that there’s a lot of things about HR that I love, but just feeling like I couldn’t go back in and do another corporate HR role. 

And that’s partly because I really struggle as an HR professional with that line between what’s right for the employee and what’s right for the organization. And I find that to be really difficult, because I sometimes feel the organization takes too strict of a line, and then I think there should be more leeway with employees, because employees are people. People make mistakes and, you know, but sometimes organizations don’t see it that way. 

So I really found that balance to be really difficult, and that’s one of the reasons that now I focus on supporting HR leaders who might be in similar types of circumstances, but knowing that I myself don’t thrive in that kind of environment. So that’s why working with HR leaders is a really great fit, because I can understand their context, I can understand a lot of the challenges that they’re facing, but yeah, I can still be an outside perspective for them. 

Siobhan Barnes

Yeah, that’s such a beneficial position to take a stand in, right? Like you’ve got the coaching skills to be able to support them to come up with their own answers, but you’ve got that expertise and understand where they come from, which is a really, really powerful combination. 

So curiously, like with, with HR leaders, what do you think are some of the biggest challenges that they face? Is it similar to what you said, like that you face, the employee interest versus company interest? Like, what other things do the HR leaders specifically bump up against?

Renee Conklin

Yeah, I think there’s a number of things. I think one is that HR is, let’s face it, I mean, it’s structurally positioned as a support function within organizations. And so what that means is that HR is expected to execute and enable, you know, different business initiatives that business leaders want to pull out, and yet, at the same time, HR is also tasked with being the authoritative voice on things that are really important to the organization, like culture, like employee engagement, like retention.

And then sometimes there’s a contradiction between those two things. Sometimes what the business wants to do and what HR thinks is the right thing to do around some of those pieces are not the same thing. So I think that creates a contradiction in the role that a lot of HR leaders wrestle with. I think a majority of my clients are women, as I mentioned in HR. I think, if you look at the stats globally based on all the kinds of HR professional associations, it’s somewhere around three quarters of folks in HR are women, right? So that’s part of the reason I focus on supporting women. And also, you know, because a lot of the other things that women hold right?

That they’re caretakers, not only within HR, but also outside of HR, their kids, their spouses, their partners, their parents. But what that means is that a lot of HR professionals suffer from imposter syndrome, again, because of that structural aspect of the role you’re meant to be, sort of behind the scenes, but then at the same time, you know, coming out and being that strategic partner. 

And I think there’s a 2023 study from KPMG that shows that about 76% of women in Fortune 1000 companies experience imposter syndrome, and so HR is no exception to that, at some point during their career. So I think that’s something that comes out quite a lot for HR. 

And another thing that I see is there is a perception that from non HR people that HR work is easy. Mm, yeah, if you know comparing it to, like working in finance or legal, whatever, people think, oh, working in HR is easy. You’re working with people. You’re just sort of sitting around reading your play handbook. And so then that leads HR people to think that the complexity of the role is all in their heads, right, right? But it’s not. 

And so the things that HR leaders are doing that’s easy for them are actually strengths, but they might not recognize that those are strengths in their role, right? Because they’re sort of told, Oh, well, what you’re doing isn’t really all that all that hard. So I think those are some of the things that I see that are unique to HR leaders. There’s a number of other things, but those are some of the themes that come across.

Siobhan Barnes

Yeah, super fascinating to hear. And it’s interesting, right? Like HR, you are dealing with people, and dealing with people is not necessarily easy, so it’s a, it sounds like a really difficult to be able to tow the line is really, really hard. 

And you know, as I hear you talk, it’s like, yes, you kind of have, as an HR leader, you have this sort of caretaking role at work. But you, as you said, if the majority are women, 75% then most likely, there are caretaking responsibilities at home, specifically, particularly as you kind of get older and like progress in your career. I’m sure for many they will also be thinking about motherhood. 

So I know that you’re also a mom, and you know, you juggle caring with your career. So on that part, and I know a lot of the listeners also juggle this as well. How did becoming a parent influence how you approached your career and how you define success now being your own, you know, business owner?

Renee Conklin

Yeah, I think it changed quite a lot. I mean, I have to say, earlier in my career, before I was a parent I am someone who is very guilty of being a bit rude. I would say to working parents, right who would sort of close their laptops at five and rush out of the office to spend time with their kids. And then I would be like, well, why aren’t you finishing your work? Like what? You know, and that was my viewpoint at the time, because I didn’t understand that balance. 

And so I’ve definitely evolved from that. And I think now my priority is my daughter, she is turning three soon, so she’s still very young and my priority is having a work and life that gives me that balance, that I can spend time with her. So my priority is her first, and then the work second. And I get that now that a lot of women have that challenge, and that it’s not easy, right? And there’s not always an easy answer to when and how you find that balance, and having a under, you know, employer whose understanding can be worth its weight in gold. 

And I’ve also had conversations, I mean, just this morning, a conversation with a woman who was like, you know, I’m not necessarily fulfilled in my role. I’m not necessarily growing now. I’m not necessarily being challenged. But as a working mom, I have a lot of autonomy, I have a lot of flexibility, and that’s really valuable. And I do hear that from a lot of clients, so it’s so what do I do now, right, to kind of meet both sides of that need?

Siobhan Barnes

Mm, yeah, it’s not always easy, but even actually just hearing you speak there a day like you really claim that very clearly, like your priorities and like, your values, right? And so for you, was it very clear from the very beginning that that was the hierarchy, because I know I speak to clients and, like, there’s a guilt, like, I should be, like, leaning in at work, but I’ve also got to be there for the kids, and then that’s a fast track to burnout. I’m curious for you, like, what was that process like? Like, were you clear from the get go, or did you need to go through a process to figure that out?

Renee Conklin

No, definitely not. I wasn’t clear from the get go, and I didn’t know what to expect when I became a mom and I was working full time, and I would sometimes go into the office and be in meetings and just think to myself, what’s the point of me being here? Yeah, I think I’d rather be, you know, my time would be more valued spending it at home with my daughter, like doing tummy time, or, you know, something. And so that was a bit of a wake up call for me to step away from that corporate role and to focus more on building my business.

Now I have a position where I am building a business, but also still have flexibility to spend time with my daughter, and I know that that’s not an option for everyone, and not a choice everyone wants to make either. So I do consider myself to be lucky, but I do think that part of what I do, working with clients, and not all my clients are working moms, right, is helping them figure out, what’s that right thing for them? Right? What is it that is going to make them happy and then feel like they’re fulfilled? And what’s, what are the steps to help them to get there?

Siobhan Barnes

Yeah, yeah. I think you bring up such a good point. Like, nobody knows what it’s going to be like until you actually have a kid, like, you can have all the theories, right, and all the best theories of how you’re going to be this parent. I do this. I laugh about this. So every weekend, got, you know, three kids, and I’m like, my weekends are so busy because I am the mom that’s like, driving them to all their different activities, but when I was working single, it’s like, I won’t be over scheduling my kids and doing all the activities, but here I am, we’re really over scheduled and doing all the activities. So you kind of end up in positions. 

But I think you bring up a really good point, and I think there’s something very powerful about really claiming and owning that season that you’re in and making decisions from that point, right? Because when you’re not there and you’re trying to do everything, you’re just, you know, it’s like paddling underwater, like if the feet are going frantically in the water, and you’re not moving anywhere, and you don’t feel like you’re succeeding in any particular place. 

So I love that you like own that really, really clearly, if, if you had, like, a client that came to you, and, for example, wanted that work life flexibility, and was working for an employer who perhaps wasn’t so flexible, how would you at least having a conversation, or, like, broaching that topic, like, what are your thoughts on that?

Renee Conklin

Yeah, look, I work particularly in this region, I do I work with clients globally, but I do work with a lot of clients here in Asia, and I think even within HR, which, again, HR is generally seen to be a function that is more flexible than other functions, because it’s not a front office revenue generating function, even within HR, there’s a perception that there isn’t good flexibility in this region, and I try to counter that, because I have seen clients who do have good flexibility and are able to go to their child’s parent teacher meeting, or go to a school play and leave at three, and they sign back on and they do work in the evening, or whatever it is, I have seen that, and so I try to encourage them that it does exist first of all, because it’s a mindset shift into thinking, Oh, I’m never going to find another. I’m not going to find what I want. But that’s a mindset shift in and of itself.

And then trying to start having some conversations so that that potential client can find other employers that are more flexible and that can offer them what they’re looking for in terms of the lifestyle they need if they’re currently in that situation. Absolutely, I would advise having that conversation, because you have little to lose, because essentially, you can’t just keep going the way you’re going, because if you do that, then you’re going to be unhappy, your family’s going to be unhappy, you’re going to miss out on all these important things that you want to be around for. 

So finding the language and the structure to have that kind of conversation, I think, is absolutely worthwhile, because what’s the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen is they say no, and then you know that they’ve said no, and then you can start your planning from there on what’s going to be your next best step so that you can work your way out of that situation into a better one. 

Siobhan Barnes 

Yeah, beautiful, yeah. I think so many people that I work with, it’s like, they stay stuck in the analysis phase and they don’t think it’s possible. Total mindset thing of like, oh, it’s not possible. I’m not even going to ask. And, you know you’re so right. It’s like, well, when you take the action, you get the feedback, then you can move. 

I think so often we want that perfect plan. And we can get on our soap boxes about how in Asia, we’re not as flexible as other countries, which, you know, yes, we have a different working culture, for sure, but I think it’s great that you can speak to the fact that you’ve seen at work here. So you know it is possible, and you support your clients with that, which is great.

So actually, speaking of that, I know that you have obviously, really great experience. You had recruitment experience. So you know about this, the strategic strategy side of what it means to find another career and another employer you know, not the area that I really play in. So I know you have a very strong LinkedIn presence. You bring a CV and interview lens to your coaching. What do you wish more professionals knew when it comes to showing up with confidence in job interviews or like presenting themselves on LinkedIn so they can set themselves up for that next role?

Renee Conklin

Yeah, so this is something that comes up a lot in coaching, and it is this piece around personal branding. I think, I think a lot of women in particular, again, women in HR, another theme that I see around this is that there is a strong sense of loyalty to the organization that they’re currently in, and that is partly because of the type of work you’re doing, where you get to know the people so well, and you’re in sort of that emotional side of the role, and that leads to HR people feeling this sort of misguided loyalty, I would say, around oh, what I have to say, even if the organization’s not treated them well, or whatever it is. 

I think that that is, I see that as more of an issue with HR professionals. And so I think there’s a piece around identity. You being able to separate yourself from the organization, like, who am I outside of this organization? And then, how do I then present that self to potential external employers and be able to speak about the accomplishments and things that you have done rather than your team? 

So I work with a lot of HR, you know, heads of HR, HR directors. And of course, we work on a team basis. Collaborative. Again, this is something women do, being able to separate your contribution versus what you know you and your team have done together, because that’s what potential employers want to hear. They want to know how you’re going to make an impact, not just kind of, oh well, we all did this together as a team, right? It’s being able to have that confidence to use that different language and be really clear about your specific contribution. 

So I think it’s a number of things, and that ties back into the imposter syndrome piece that I mentioned before, and all those different bits and bobs around feeling like, do I deserve the next role? Do I deserve the next promotion? Am I ready? You know, if I leave this place, am I just going to be found out to be a fraud? You know, was I ever really as good as I thought I was, you know, as this, you know, head of rewards, or, you know, a pack head of HR, whatever it is. And so there’s a lot of this sort of stuff that comes out. 

And I think your point around LinkedIn. It’s so funny as so many of my clients are so afraid of LinkedIn, because they, yeah, they’re worried people are going to see things that they post. They don’t know what to say on LinkedIn. They’re worried about how they position themselves. What if my boss sees? And I would say people are not thinking about you as much as you’re thinking about yourself. Right? Everybody’s just thinking about themselves. No one’s really worried about you. 

it’s a push that I try to give to my clients to get out there and start just doing some simple things on LinkedIn, especially those who are actively looking like not all my clients are actively looking for a role, but some of them are, and I do help them. I’ve helped many clients transition from where they are into their new positions, but just starting with easy things like commenting on other people’s posts or sharing an article that’s relevant. 

So if you’re, you know, responsible for digital transformation, you know, sharing some things around AI and what other organizations are doing in the people space around AI that’s completely neutral and easy to do, and no one’s going to think that sort of thing is weird. So just trying to get people comfortable with that so that they can really position themselves as a subject matter expert and get to the point where opportunities are coming to them, rather than them having to chase opportunities down.

Siobhan Barnes

I think that’s such smart advice, and everything you shared, I’m like nodding my head, because I’m recalling what I felt like when I left my last corporate role, which is like more than a decade ago, but that identity crisis piece was huge, and I think a lot of validation and self worth came from working for a certain organization, and when you pull away from that organization and you’re kind of like you on your own, you could feel like you’re not enough. 

And that whole thing that you said, like, Am I really good at what I can do? Like, who am I like, what you know, like, am I a subject matter expert? Can I claim that it can be very difficult, but I love those tips that you give on, like, just sharing a few things on LinkedIn, just to position yourself to be seen as that for the future, for a future role. And I think my personal belief is that personal branding and this sort of thing is going to be even more important in this kind of uncertain world, like with the way the economy is going, and where jobs are going, redundancies and AI and like, what, how it’s going to shift things. Because you know that loyalty for brands and companies is just not the same anymore. 

So on that topic of uncertain times, if someone’s listening and they’re like, You know what? I feel stuck in my role. I’ve outgrown it, but I think I need to make a change. I don’t know if I should just stick to this job that I’ve got. What would you give to them or like, a thought process to help them understand what they should do as a next step to get unstuck?

Renee Conklin

Yeah, and, and that is exactly the reason a lot of clients come to me, and sometimes the outcome of that is actually the role I’m in is pretty good with just a couple of tweaks, I’m happy to stay here. Or it’s, oh, actually, I really like the company. It’s just the role. It’s not a great fit. And let me try to transition to another role. Or, hey, it’s the company that’s not good, but I love this kind of role, so let me try to find something externally. Right? There’s a number of different potential outcomes, but one of those outcomes can be that someone stays in their current role with just some changes. And I think there’s a number of things that I do with clients through coaching that I think can be helpful. 

One is thinking about strengths. So as you mentioned, I’m a strengths based coach, and so I do use a number of different strengths tools to help clients think about what are the strengths that I have? How am I using them, how am I overusing some of them? And how is that showing up for me right now? How do other people see that? 

I often combine that with some work around values also, because what I typically find is when there is some unhappiness at work, it’s because there’s a value mismatch. So the way the things that you value don’t align with what the organization values, and so that causes friction, either with your boss, with your team, you know, with the project you’re working on. And so knowing what those values are can really help you to pinpoint, oh, this is why I’m unhappy with this particular thing, and how might I find a solution to that? 

So those are two things I typically do. I also often recommend my clients doing what I call a career audit, which is essentially thinking about each of your prior roles and asking yourself a set of reflection questions around those roles and that thing that it’s just a simple tool that I use, and by doing that, seeing if there are themes around some of the things that you like, some of the things that you didn’t like, the ways that you like to work, the types of people you like to work with, all this sort of thing to help you to kind of narrow down what might be what’s causing you to feel stuck at this exact moment. So those are some different things that I recommend.

Siobhan Barnes 

That sounds beautiful, and I think it’s getting to the root cause of like, what’s keeping somebody stuck, right? When you do that, values work and it sounds like you’re really helping clients identify how they can work with their strengths and understand themselves better, which is really powerful. So I think you’ve already answered my question, because I was going to ask you.

This podcast is called the Aligned Achiever, and I called it the Aligned Achiever because I’m really speaking to a person who wants to create success is ambitious, but doesn’t want to do it just for ambition sake, but wants to create something fulfilling. And, you know, live a life in alignment with their values. So for you like, what does alignment mean to you and how do you personally stay connected to it?

Renee Conklin

What does alignment lean mean to me, and how do I personally stay connected to it? I think that one thing that I find interesting when I work with clients and we do exercises like career audit, but I also do another exercise, which is called write your own job description. And this is, again, another activity to help people to get unstuck where they are. And so it, again, has a whole series of reflection questions. You know, who’s there? What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? All these sorts of things. 

And often, what people will write will have no reference at all to job title and to salary, and sometimes not even like a brand name company. And these are the things that we’re sort of taught are the hallmarks of success. It’s like working at these big brands and kind of moving up and getting all these big titles, and we kind of hold on to that title, and we are, you’re really pushing till we get that next promotion. 

But the reality is that if you had to start from a blank slate, a lot of that stuff probably wouldn’t matter. And I think that’s been an eye opener for me as well, because similar to what you mentioned before, when I set up our CHR consulting, of course, no one’s ever heard of CHR consulting. And I had to become my own brand. And that was very different from showing up to a meeting and saying, Oh, I work at Barclays, oh, I work at IBM, oh, I work at UBS, where you’ve got that implicit trust because you come with that brand name. And so I had to sort of step away from that belief that that was something that I held to be important, or that I held to be, you know, that next title, you know, becoming an HR director, whatever it is to be important, because I realized it wasn’t for me, right?

What’s more important to me is, you know, flexibility and having a good work life, balance and making an impact. You know, one HR professional at a time. Those are the things that are more important to me. And I think that’s how I stay aligned. 

Siobhan Barnes

Yeah, that’s really beautiful. Really, really beautiful. And I love how you articulate that. And so for you then, like, I resonate so deeply with how we start with the title, we start with the company. Like I remember even as early as university, these big banks would come and do their tours and, like, try and attract these graduates, and it’s just like, Oh, you want to work at these big names which is really such a disservice, I think, for kids like, not to know, like who they are and like what elements they actually enjoy, or what they would like in a job. 

And that exercise of writing your own job description sounds fantastic, and there’s something really powerful in that. Just to see, what kind of things excite you. Are you a collaborator? Do you like to do your own individual thing? It’d be a really good one to do. 

So on that vein, like, if you could give your younger self, let’s say you college self, some advice or for any parents who are listening to this as well. Or, just like in that kind of limbo land of knowing which way to go, what advice would you actually want them to know? Like from that young age.

Renee Conklin

I think if I was looking back on my younger self, I would probably tell myself, you know, don’t worry. It’s all going to work out, because I think I spend a lot of time, you know, stressing out about making different decisions, I think in retrospect, right where you kind of talk about my bio and all the different things that I’ve done, it all sounds very fancy, but there’s a lot of kind of agonizing, slow decisions that go on behind the scenes and so, and even starting your own business, there’s a huge amount of things that you don’t know, you don’t know, and you have to kind of just work through them. 

So I think I would give the advice of; everything’s going to be fine. It’s all going to work out. 

But I think also for a young person, I mean, others may disagree with me, but I generally like to say that your 20s are a time of exploration. So try different jobs, do different things, because that’s the way you work out what you like or don’t like. Don’t get locked into something too early, because I spend a lot of time coaching people who you know, they’ve been working for 15, 18, 20 years, and then suddenly they wake up and they’re like, I don’t even like doing this. And how can I get out of this? 

Yeah, and it’s just because they just haven’t taken that moment to figure out what it is that they really like to do. And then now they’re at this point where they’re, you know, a sole breadwinner, or they’ve got kids tuition to pay, or whatever it is, and it’s, you know, it’s just, how do I work my way through this particular thing? So I think spending that time exploring, and not to say your 20s, is the only time to do that. You can certainly do that throughout your career, but just because you mentioned young people, yea.

And then the last thing I would say is to surround yourself with mentors and people who you can learn from. So I have been very blessed to have, you know, some very good bosses and colleagues who have become mentors, friends, etcetera, who I can lean on for advice, and who I can come back to, and even one of my kind of key business stakeholders when I was an HR business partner who is now a mentor. We both have subsequently left that bank, but we are in touch and speak a few times a year, and that becomes a relationship that’s really valuable. So I think finding those people who can give you guidance outside of, again, we’re talking about young people outside of your parents, yeah, can be really valuable to you over the long term of your career.

Siobhan Barnes  

That’s really great advice. You do really become a part of the environment that you’re in. And so if you can be around other people who support you or see something for you that can be really helpful. So actually, on that topic and on that vein, I know that you help HR professionals to kind of change their mindset and broaden their horizons. Would love for you to speak about how you know people can work with you. 

So if there’s an HR professional listening and they’re like, oh my gosh, like, I need this help. Like, what are some of the ways that people can get in touch and learn about your programs?

Renee Conklin

Yeah, sure, yeah. Thanks. Siobhan. So, like I said, I do corporate training for HR teams. So if you’re an HR team head, or listening to this and you’re thinking that it would be good to have someone come in and do you know, kind of a strategy day or an HR offsite with your team, then that person can be me. 

I also do one on one career and executive coaching, as I said. So if that’s something that is of interest. I can be found on LinkedIn. I’m sure Siobhan will share my LinkedIn profile with everyone. 

And then I also run a group program, which is a group job search accelerator program, and it’s just for women in HR. So we’ve just finished our first cohort of the program. Our next cohort is going to launch in September.So I will be sharing details September of 2025, so I will be sharing details around that imminently. And there’ll be some early bird price for those who want to sign up in the next couple of weeks, but that will be small group coaching and some tactical strategies around how to get into that right mindset, and also the practicalities of looking for a new role.

Siobhan Barnes 

That’s awesome, perfect. And yeah, I will pop your website and all the links for LinkedIn, etc, into the show notes. So if anyone’s listening and would like to get in touch, please do reach out to Renee. I think it’s such an amazing skill set that it’s wonderful that you’ve I can see your strengths and that you’ve got, obviously this amazing, like, strategic background and this HR experience, but with the coaching and like, your passion to help HR professionals, it’s just such a beautiful, yeah, sweet spot that you found so really, really, really cool to see you flourish in that area.

Renee Conklin

Thank you, Siobhan, that’s really nice of you to say that’s very true.

Siobhan Barnes

So finally, what’s one thought insight or invitation you’d like to leave our listeners with today?

Renee Conklin

Um, a thought insight or invitation is this, I already talked about the job search program. Should I talk about something else? Or…

Siobhan Barnes

No, you can talk about that more if you would like to. Yeah. 

Renee Conklin

Oh, okay, yeah. I just think that for those of you who might be looking for a new opportunity, I know that this has been a challenging 18 to 24 months for HR professionals when it comes to looking for new roles. The market, really, prior to 2025, was very static, not a lot of movement. There is more movement this year, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty, primarily because of global events, Trump’s tariffs and companies kind of pulling back a little, and so that has made it difficult. And I know that there’s been a number of redundancies as well. 

So there are a number of very good HR people on the market looking for opportunities, and there’s not a huge amount of opportunity, especially at the leadership level. So for those who may feel like they need a bit of additional help to get themselves positioned well, so that you can go out there and articulate your message, so you can feel confident speaking to Headhunters, networking, developing those right kinds of relationships, targeting the types of organizations that you think are going to be a good fit for you, then please do consider the job search accelerator program for female senior leaders in HR. 

Our next cohort, as I said, is in September, and it is a small group coaching program, so we kept the participants at six, and it is for HR leaders everywhere. So whether you’re based in Asia or Europe or the US. We do it at a time that’s friendly for everyone to join. So I’d love to just view and have you join the program.

Siobhan Barnes 

Sounds like a wonderful opportunity, and great that it’s Asia Pacific Time Zone friendly. And I think you’d mentioned this before. Right when you are you know you’re owning yourself as a thought leader, outside of who you are within an organization, your your who your networks, and who you know becomes really, really important as well, so that you’re creating this in a group container, and everyone can learn from each other, and, you know, build those real connections. They’re very, very powerful. 

So yes, yeah, absolutely. Show Notes. So thank you so much, Renee. I really appreciate you sharing your journey and sharing more about your expertise and what you’re seeing in the market. And it’s been such a pleasure to speak with you today.

Renee Conklin

Yeah, thank you, Siobhan, thanks so much for having me on. It’s been really fun.