Meeting with Emmanuelle Goulas

31/10/2025
Training
Interview
5min
Training
Interview
Link to form

Meeting with Emmanuelle Goulas

After more than 15 years as HR Director in organizations ranging from start-ups to multinationals, Emmanuelle Goulas now supports managers and teams as a coach, trainer and HR consultant. She combines strategic expertise with a human approach, nourished by coaching. Since September 2024, she has been working with NUMA on behalf of customers such as Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, CMA and UPSA, with a very hands-on, practical approach.

Can you tell us more about your background? 

I began my career as an employee in companies such as La Fourchette, Samsonite and General Mills. For several years now, I've been working independently, in particular as a part-time HR Director. This dual experience has enabled me to navigate between strategic and operational issues, always with a strong grounding in the field.

Today, I work with managers and their teams on a wide range of issues, from HR structuring to coaching and training.
What motivates me is being able to work closely with teams, to provide them with concrete solutions tailored to their needs.

What are your areas of expertise? 

I combine HR expertise with a coaching posture to support both managers and their teams, on issues that are both strategic and highly operational. My assignments, which are often hybrid, combine structuring, organization, managerial posture and team dynamics. It was to better meet these challenges that I trained in coaching. Today, I intervene as much in managerial development as in professional transitions or team dynamics.

How and why did you decide to work with NUMA? 

It was a friend in Bordeaux who told me about NUMA, at a time when you were looking for coaches in particular to relaunch face-to-face training in the Bordeaux region. She put me in touch with Claudio and Jenny: we got to know each other very quickly, I ran a demo on feedback... and a few weeks later, in September, I started my first assignment for Sanofi. Everything followed naturally. What immediately appealed to me was the modern, human approach, with solid, lively content, and a real pleasure to lead.

How do you integrate your professional experience to engage participants? 

I draw on my experience as an HR manager to quickly grasp the issues at stake for the participants and to anchor the discussions in concrete terms - including my own mistakes. This creates a climate of trust and closeness. With a touch of self-mockery, I show that it's possible to make mistakes and still make progress. I don't set myself up as an absolute expert: my role is to pass on useful tools and open up a space for exchange. The most important thing is that they leave with ideas they can try out the next day.

What's the key to successful training? 

In my opinion, it's above all a question of balance between 3 key elements:

  • solid content: a clear theoretical framework, concrete cases/real-life situations that echo what participants experience in their day-to-day lives, and above all a coherent common thread. 
  • engaging facilitation: creating a safe space where everyone feels free to participate, where interaction makes all the difference. When participants get involved, training takes on a whole new dimension.
  • the right posture: our ability to embody the message by showing that we've been there too.

Can you share with us a technique or method you use regularly in your training courses? 

I often use the "positions of perception" technique. It's simple but powerful. We propose a role-playing game with three players: the doer, the receiver and an observer. It allows you to change your point of view on a situation, particularly in the event of conflict. I also use it in mediation, to help two people move away from head-on opposition. By putting yourself in the other person's shoes, you can better understand their intentions and unblock the relationship. It's a method we find in the NUMA workshop on feedback, but I use it far beyond that.

On Emmanuelle's desk

We've never done it this way - HR podcast by Florent Letourneur.

After more than 15 years as HR Director in organizations ranging from start-ups to multinationals, Emmanuelle Goulas now supports managers and teams as a coach, trainer and HR consultant. She combines strategic expertise with a human approach, nourished by coaching. Since September 2024, she has been working with NUMA on behalf of customers such as Sanofi, Johnson & Johnson, CMA and UPSA, with a very hands-on, practical approach.

Can you tell us more about your background? 

I began my career as an employee in companies such as La Fourchette, Samsonite and General Mills. For several years now, I've been working independently, in particular as a part-time HR Director. This dual experience has enabled me to navigate between strategic and operational issues, always with a strong grounding in the field.

Today, I work with managers and their teams on a wide range of issues, from HR structuring to coaching and training.
What motivates me is being able to work closely with teams, to provide them with concrete solutions tailored to their needs.

What are your areas of expertise? 

I combine HR expertise with a coaching posture to support both managers and their teams, on issues that are both strategic and highly operational. My assignments, which are often hybrid, combine structuring, organization, managerial posture and team dynamics. It was to better meet these challenges that I trained in coaching. Today, I intervene as much in managerial development as in professional transitions or team dynamics.

How and why did you decide to work with NUMA? 

It was a friend in Bordeaux who told me about NUMA, at a time when you were looking for coaches in particular to relaunch face-to-face training in the Bordeaux region. She put me in touch with Claudio and Jenny: we got to know each other very quickly, I ran a demo on feedback... and a few weeks later, in September, I started my first assignment for Sanofi. Everything followed naturally. What immediately appealed to me was the modern, human approach, with solid, lively content, and a real pleasure to lead.

How do you integrate your professional experience to engage participants? 

I draw on my experience as an HR manager to quickly grasp the issues at stake for the participants and to anchor the discussions in concrete terms - including my own mistakes. This creates a climate of trust and closeness. With a touch of self-mockery, I show that it's possible to make mistakes and still make progress. I don't set myself up as an absolute expert: my role is to pass on useful tools and open up a space for exchange. The most important thing is that they leave with ideas they can try out the next day.

What's the key to successful training? 

In my opinion, it's above all a question of balance between 3 key elements:

  • solid content: a clear theoretical framework, concrete cases/real-life situations that echo what participants experience in their day-to-day lives, and above all a coherent common thread. 
  • engaging facilitation: creating a safe space where everyone feels free to participate, where interaction makes all the difference. When participants get involved, training takes on a whole new dimension.
  • the right posture: our ability to embody the message by showing that we've been there too.

Can you share with us a technique or method you use regularly in your training courses? 

I often use the "positions of perception" technique. It's simple but powerful. We propose a role-playing game with three players: the doer, the receiver and an observer. It allows you to change your point of view on a situation, particularly in the event of conflict. I also use it in mediation, to help two people move away from head-on opposition. By putting yourself in the other person's shoes, you can better understand their intentions and unblock the relationship. It's a method we find in the NUMA workshop on feedback, but I use it far beyond that.

On Emmanuelle's desk

We've never done it this way - HR podcast by Florent Letourneur.

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