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Anne Cockayne

Senior Lecturer

Nottingham Business School

Staff Group(s)
Department of Human Resource Management International Centre for Talent Management and Development (Specialist Centre)

Role

Anne is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Resource Management, contributing to the Exploring Human Resource Management module at undergraduate level and leading the Learning and Development module for the professional CIPD programmes.

Her research interests lie in autistic employees and the workplace considerations surrounding autistic talents, reasonable adjustments and HRM practices which deliver inclusion for autistic people.  She works with employers to explore autistic talents and deliver awareness training, aiming to deliver mutual understanding for neurodiverse and neurotypical people. Anne has developed a programme tailored to the university’s autistic students, aiming to deliver personalised employability outcomes, supported by local and national employers.

As internal verifier for the Certificate in Human Resource Practice programme, Anne has worked with external and internal staff to ensure the School received excellent ratings for this CIPD programme.


Anne teaches human resource management at undergraduate level and supervises postgraduate projects in the areas of human resources, learning, organisational development, diversity and inclusion, as well as supervising doctoral and Masters students.

Anne is an experienced and qualified coach and takes a leading role in the design den deliver of the Business Schools coaching provision. She is currently working on an ESF funded project, ‘Women In Leadership’, delivering leadership development courses and one to one coaching to support female leaders in Nottingham’s SME sector.

Anne’s career began in personnel management, working with large companies including Boots, STC telecommunications and ICL, before taking up the Head of HR post at a greenfield Nottingham based software firm where she set up the HR department from scratch, implementing reward systems, career pathing and resourcing strategies. She continues to enjoy working with the SME sector.

Career overview

  • Professionally qualified coach and mentor
  • Design and delivery of postgraduate, professional, and in-company programmes, including senior executive development across sectors
  • HRM/HRD practitioner in private and public sectors
  • Consultancy work, in both the private and public sector
  • Development of the Business School's short course programme
  • Short course provision e.g. manager as coach, situational leadership, and team support
  • Accredited in Quintax leadership styles, and SHL OPQ

Research areas

Anne's current research relates to coaching and career development, and her work with companies covers workforce engagement, employee audits, and SMEs.

External activity

  • Abstract accepted for the EMCC conference (Twente, 2011) – Dysfunctional leadership in the coaching relationship
  • Education representative for the current joint accreditation work on coaching qualifications (CBIT)

Press expertise

Anne is available to comment on coaching, and autism in the human resource management context.