Interview with Omar Ismail, People Development Director : Interview by Juliet Norton

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an interview with Omar Ismail, a development coach and trainer with a significant wealth of senior level experience. Today he is a well‐established educator, trainer, coach and business consultant. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent interviewer Findings – Omar Ismail offers advice on how to go about identifying learning and development needs within an organization, how to evaluate the results of training programmes, and the differences between Generation Y and Generation X in their expectations of the workplace. Practical implications – Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations. Social implications – Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that can have a broader social impact. Originality/value – Omar has 18 years of development experience, ranging from developing health and well being of personal clients to coaching global CEOs. He specialises in the development of senior executives looking to break the barrier into greatness. Equipped with a comprehensive set of development tools, skills and experience, Omar works with CEOs, managing directors and senior management personnel offering them a challenging experience designed to bring them to a new level of thinking.