Henrieta Riesco

HENRIETA RIESCO

OBJECTIVE

To empower individuals and teams to achieve their business goals by delivering customized coaching sessions and facilitating workshops.

QUALIFICATIONS 

•  Trained and experienced in coaching skills.
•  Veteran in corporate training (Microsoft Corporation, T-Mobile) and education.
• Skilled in developing and facilitating learning solution for international audiences.
• Passionate about people and organizational development across cultures and countries.
• Naturally driven to maximize on strengths and enhance productivity.
• Always looking for opportunities to share experiences and best practices.

EDUCATION

• Master’s Degree in Education, specialized in Mathematics and Computer Science, Comenius University, Slovak Republic (5 years program, 1996)
• Coaching Certificate from (30 weeks program, 2012)
•  Competent Communicator and Competent Leader awards with Toastmasters International (2 years program, 2008)

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Independent coaching and consulting
Intentional Career, (greater Seattle area, WA) 2011 - current

• Individual coaching
• Worked with clients (both students and business professionals) on improving their efficiency, self-awareness, ability to set and achieve goals, as well as aligning current work with their long-term vision.
   
• Consulting
• Designed and facilitated the following workshops and presentations:
  - Strengths Finder - for internal groups at Microsoft with the goal of maximizing one’s contributions and promoting collaboration.
  - Giving and Receiving Feedback - for several hundred internal employees of Microsoft Customer Support organization.
  - Setting Goals – for “Prepare for work” class in Bellevue College.

Training Consultant at Microsoft
Consumer Support, (Microsoft, Redmond, WA), 2008-2012

• Training development
• Focused on improving sales and retention quotas for online services and on building customer loyalty by adding value to our customer interaction.
• Collaborated with vendors on developing product and process related training (managed $250K yearly training development budget), while overcoming obstacles related to fast paced environment and ambiguity.
• Always paid attention to cross-cultural differences, looked for opportunities to build better global awareness, and the possibilities to leverage existing material.
• Maintained the high quality of training solutions by consistently incorporating feedback from the end users and stakeholders.
   
• Training delivery
• Delivered numerous product knowledge and professional skills training solutions to Microsoft customer support representatives around the world (USA, Philippines, Argentina, Panama, Germany, India).
• Experienced in class delivery as well as in providing “train the trainer” sessions and end user training remotely via online meetings.
• Able to adjust the content to make it relevant to different audiences.
• Remained flexible by keeping the focus on the end goal.

Customer Advocate at Microsoft
Office/Outlook (Microsoft, Redmond, WA), 2000-2008

• Impact and Influence
• Organized training sessions for employees from international subsidiaries to share knowledge across teams and increase the quality of the final product.
• Arranged postmortem surveys and facilitated activities leading to improvements in satisfaction and efficiency of the team across disciplines.
• Developed and delivered an interactive training session about managing tasks better, after recognizing the needs inside our organization.
   
• Confidence, Taking Initiative
• Assertively represented my group in cross group discussions and negotiations about division of responsibilities. Demonstrated true ownership of projects by driving them independently.
• Developed excellent skills in analyzing issues, understanding details, and at the same time maintaining the high level customer focused perspective.
   
•  Cross Boundary Collaboration
•  Utilized successfully communication skills and talent for leveraging diversity while focusing on a common goal. Collaborated with various supported groups on creating help articles for end users.

Training Specialist
Customer Service Department, (Eurotel / T-Mobile, Slovak Republic), 1998-1999

• Training development and delivery
• Developed and presented various training programs for Customer Service Department addressing company’s policies, information about the products and services as well as improving their communication skills.
   
• Trusted Advisor
• Worked with various customer service representatives to learn about the gaps in their knowledge and issues they were facing. Brought these up to the management and made appropriate improvements to our training program.
• Managed a project to bring Billing Department closer to Customer Service Department that decrease the number of calls, improved the processes and increased customer satisfaction.

Teacher of Mathematics and Computer Science
Gymnazium I. Horvatha School (Slovak Republic), 1997-1998
Top Slovakia Private School (Slovak Republic), 1996 – 1997

• Interpersonal Awareness, Diversity
• Adjusting teaching methods to the needs of various students.
• Mentoring students and helping them recognize their talents and strengths, which allowed them (and their parents) to make more appropriate choices regarding their future education and career.

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

Bellevue, WA City Hall

• Conflict Coach in Bellevue Neighborhood Mediation Program

Toastmasters International

• Created a mentor program and mentoring new members to help aspiring and new members get familiar with the club and its offerings.
•  Volunteering for various roles to maintain the high quality of the meetings and promoting the importance of speaking skills for personal and professional success.

Bellevue College (greater Seattle area, WA)

• Facilitator and coach in “Prepare for Work” class in ESL department
• English Tutor in English as a Second Language (ESL) department
• Math Tutor