Speaker biographies
Chair: Jo Causon, CEO, ICS (Institue Customer Services)
Jo Causon took up her appointment as chief executive of the ICS in late March this year, succeeding David Parsons, who held the post for more than eight years.
Jo Causon took up her appointment as chief executive of the ICS in late March this year, succeeding David Parsons, who held the post for more than eight years.
Jo joined the Institute from the Chartered Management Institute, where she had been director of marketing and corporate affairs since July 2005. She previously held director roles in brand and business consulting and prior to that was both head of group marketing and strategic executive to the director-general at City & Guilds. Jo also has over eleven years experience in the financial services sector.
Jo has indicated that under her leadership the Institute will work in partnership with its members and other stakeholders in realising the increased return on investment that excellent customer service can deliver and the role it can play as a motivator for those working within an organisation, enabling those organisations to keep their talent as well as their customers.
It is also her belief that by working to develop customer service excellence organisations will not only survive the current challenging economic conditions but will also prosper and help to lift the UK out of recession earlier than would otherwise have been the case.
Keynote speaker: Linda Holbeche, Director (until recently, Director of Researchand practice at CIPD), The Holbeche Partnership
Linda joined the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in July 2007. Before that she worked as director of leadership and consultancy at The Work Foundation. Previous roles include director of research and strategy at Roffey Park Management Institute and management development manager for American Express.
Named as one of the Top 40 power players in personnel by Personnel Today in 2000-2002, and 2005-7, Linda has a strong interest in helping organisations and individuals achieve sustainable high performance. Her career history combines extensive experience and expertise in management and organisational development with a strong track record in leading-edge research.
Julie Naismith, principal, Towers Perrin Executive Compensation and Rewards practice
Julie is the leader of the rewards team at the London office of Towers Perrin, where she helps clients to deliver business results through people. Her expertise lies in developing performance and reward systems that reflect the requirements of high performing organisations.
She specialises in total reward management and performance management including strategy, base pay development and job evaluation, incentive and bonus design, line of sight reward systems and individual performance management.
Alison Doyle, Director HR Capability Henley Business School
After 18 years in HR the corporate sector Alison is now working at Henley as well as doing private consultancy. She has a broad experience of HR as well as 10 years operating at global level in Learning and development, leading the agenda for a top 100 FTSE business. I have experience in:
Design and delivery of global and local management development programmes
OD approach to support cultural integration post merger
Talent Management: identifying and developing talent as well as succession planning
Capability Development
Working with teams and individuals at senior level to drive performance improvement
Alison is also a qualified coach and facilitator
Design and delivery of global and local management development programmes
OD approach to support cultural integration post merger
Talent Management: identifying and developing talent as well as succession planning
Capability Development
Working with teams and individuals at senior level to drive performance improvement
Alison is also a qualified coach and facilitator
Alison's Specialties:
HR Capability, Talent Management, Learning and Development, Coaching, Facilitation
Matt Brown, director, global psychology consultancy YSC
The aim of YSC is to bring about positive change in individuals, teams and culture. Matt has separate degrees in politics (from the London School of Economics) and psychology; and a Masters in Business Psychology (from UMIST).
Prior to joining YSC, he gained strong commercial experience with Barclays Bank, where he undertook both business line and strategic HR roles. As well as having responsibility for client management in the north of England, he is also YSC's head of research. He combines a passion for facilitating long-term sustainable change at an organisational level; with a real commitment to helping individuals achieve their personal ambitions.
Lynne Graham, director of HR, British Gas Services
Lynne has over 20 years' experience in senior operational and HR roles in various retail and service organisations. She has worked for British Gas Services since September 2003 and is responsible for the people function - HR; leadership development; technical training through the renowned Engineering Academy; Health, Safety and Environment and Internal Communications.
British Gas Services is the leading provider of home services – gas, electrical, plumbing and drains in the UK and employs 15,000 highly committed people.
Stephen Moir, director of people and policy, Cambridgeshire County Council
At Cambridgeshire, Stephen is responsible for corporate strategy and policy, communications, strategic partnerships and diversity. He also leads the council’s award winning HR services, organisational development, payroll and pensions functions in support of the Council’s 18,000 strong workforce.
Stephen is also a non-executive director of the Improvement & Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA).
Lisa Marsh, Head of HR, Clerical and Medical/Halifax Life
Over the past 20 years Linda has specialised in human resource management working in a variety of industry sectors including manufacturing, telecoms, retail, distribution and banking.
A passionate advocate of true employee engagement she has successfully used storytelling as a way of creating consistency and meaning in organisations.
Alison Esse, co-founder, The Storytellers
Alison set up The Storytellers, a pioneering consultancy which works with large organisations worldwide to help to connect employees to their strategic journey on both a rational and emotional level.
With a background in PR and marketing, Alison has spent her career in internal and external communications, and is a great advocate of the power that stories can have in creating engagement, productivity and change in the workplace. When relaxing, Alison can be found on a ski-slope, on the water, or with a shotgun (clays!).
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