In 2022, after 35 years of working in some of the most successful local and global companies, Jacquie Bhana left the corporate world to do what she loves – developing people, seeing them grow and helping them work towards their aspirations. Her current work focuses mainly on coaching and mentoring, which is a process that can empower people at all levels to leverage their unique strengths and achieve their goals.

A year later, Jacquie has many successes to report on. She has quickly grown a solid base of individuals at various levels of their careers and her clients include both large, medium and small businesses and NPOs. Her work as a small business has taken her beyond the gates of a large single corporate to diverse and varied organisations and clients. There is a large, pulsating and exciting world of work ‘out there’, with many individuals looking for growth and development.

Work Experience
Jacquie has worked in various business sectors, including agriculture, financial services, engineering, automotive manufacturing and retail. Within these sectors, she has worked at a senior level in both marketing and human resource functions, and in management, executive and non-executive roles.

The companies that Jacquie has worked for include VWSA, Bostik and British United Engineering, McCarthy Motor Holdings and Tongaat Hulett. She currently serves on the board of the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the first vice president.

Business Focus
Years of experience and success with people development make Jacquie an ideal person with whom to work. Her company, Jacquie Bhana Consulting, is a BBBEE level 1 entity. She is well equipped to work as a high performance and life coach and mentor. Jacquie has worked across the board, with executives, managers, small business owners and women from various backgrounds.


Jacquie says, “I work with people who feel that they are stuck in their careers by helping them to move into meaningful and impactful roles so that they can help move their organisations forward. I know exactly how scary it can be to think about making changes because we’re so afraid of the unknown.”

In order to assist people Jacquie has adopted her signature system of ‘U-2-Great’ for her individual coaching methodology. This involves a bespoke coaching process for every client covering goal setting, addressing their current reality, looking at options and finding a way forward.

Current Projects
• Coaching and mentoring candidates on the Beier Group bursary and education assistance programmes
• Durban University of Technology and Projectised graduate mentoring
• Succession, strategic planning implementation and performance management at Royal Tyres
• A keynote speaker on mental health and wellness
• Various high performance coaching initiatives at leadership and SMME level
• Working with the Sports Coaching Lab and the Da Vinci Institute to develop and professionalise sports coaching capability.

AREAS OF WORK
Business Consulting
The experience that Jacquie focuses on involves the development and facilitation of a range of leadership, management, skills training and graduate programmes, as well as diversity management initiatives at both executive and non-executive levels.

Coaching
Her focus is on executive, management and life coaching, as well as coaching and mentoring small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). Jacquie has a special interest in the coaching of women (as part of the diversity pool).

Mentorship of Youth
Jacquie offers mentorship to young, talented employees, to build their capability and confidence – by providing guidance, emotional support and insight into high performance.

Typically, they would include, but not be limited to formal trainees such as graduate trainees and professional and skilled level workers and their mentors.

Graduates
For graduates a mentor is someone who serves as a guide, providing both professional and personal advice, feedback and support in transitioning into formal employment.

Bursary Candidates
Jacquie coaches a number of bursary candidates to deal with issues that come up in their lives such as career counselling, life coaching as well as high performance management and leadership coaching.

Mental Health Counselling and Coaching
Jacquie has been working with people in business and graduates that experience mental health problems through her coaching and mentoring programme. She has done presentations at conferences and has found that there is a strong need for business to engage more robustly on this topic. There are emerging rich and vibrant discussions in this area, especially after Covid, and with younger employees.

Counselling concentrates on the person’s past and deals with healing emotional pain or dealing with emotional difficulties. It is therefore geared towards understanding and resolving the past, thereby helping someone move forward and be able to reach their potential, and work towards being their best selves.