Eileen Henderson

Eileen Henderson is a secondary school science teacher who has taught in a wide variety of schools from large state schools (Linwood High School) to small private schools (Cottesmore College), in diverse locations throughout New Zealand (Rangitikei College, Paraparaumu College, Marlborough Girls’ College). She changed careers after completing a further degree in psychology and economics.

In 1989 Eileen joined an Australasian consulting company, Bicam Consulting, to extend its training area. In 1994 she set up her own consulting practice, specialising in the area of human resources and organisation development. She has consulted to a wide range of organisations, including schools. Assignments have included the assessment and development of principals, including developing a competency framework and 360-degree feedback survey tool; being keynote speaker at a 2003 deputy principals’ conference on developing careers in the 21st century, and facilitating planning sessions and change management workshops in the education sector.

Eileen’s work has involved her in very diverse areas, including psychological assessment of short-list candidates to aid selection and career development; the selection and development of teams; leadership coaching and competency development; change management; stress management and coping strategies; the development and delivery of tailored training programmes; organisational culture profiling, and survey design and analysis.

A few years ago Eileen completed an MSc in Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Her thesis was based on research into organisational culture using quantitative measurement techniques (Structural Equation Modelling), and an investigation of the impact of cultural dimensions on organisational commitment and job satisfaction.