Authors and contributors
Author
Helen Rosethorn, CEO, Bernard Hodes Group
A pioneer of employer branding practice in the UK, Helen Rosethorn is CEO of the Bernard Hodes Group. After successfully integrating the group into the Omnicom network a decade ago, she has built it into one of the UK’s leading employment marketing and talent specialists.
An MBA at Bradford Management School crystallised Helen’s long-standing interest in the people dimension and cultural dynamics of organisational success. It was here that Hodes’s distinctive approach to employer branding had its origins. Developed and refined during more than ten years’ practice with blue-chip clients, including GSK, Philips and Nokia, the Hodes’s model examines the unwritten deal between employers and employees.
A member of Hodes’s Global Network Executive Board, Helen is also a principal HR/Brand Strategy Consultant on talent, branding, engagement and communications projects. She speaks and writes widely about all these issues.
It is her great hope that the next few years will see more people at CEO level actively engage in the employer brand debate.
Contributors
Annette Frem, Bernard Hodes Group
Over the last 15 years Annette has specialised in HR, internal communications,sales and branding; most recently as International Culture and Leadership Manager within the France Telecom/Orange group.
Leading the Solutions practice, Annette is passionate about helping organisations identify their employer brand and engaging employees with their business culture and strategy. What’s more, she believes they should have fun doing it! The key, she believes, is aligning the touchpoints of the employee lifecycle to ensure the development, reward and recognition of behaviour that demonstrates a company’s internal and external brand and values. This is where companies can set themselves apart to attract and retain talent – and drive shareholder value.
Annette is a frequent speaker at European employer brand and employee engagement conferences.
Paul Crowsley, Bernard Hodes Group
With over ten years’ experience in corporate insight and local area labour market analysis, Paul has a long-standing relationship with the Bernard Hodes Group. Currently Head of Insight, he was our Research Manager from 1999-2002 and, more recently, an Associate Consultant within our Solutions Consulting team.
Paul has run a wide range of research projects for clients, from analysis of local recruitment market conditions to major qualitative research programmes in the UK and overseas. His insights have underpinned the development of employer brands for Orange, GlaxoSmithKline, Tesco, HBOS and Laing O’Rourke amongst others.
Andy Rigden, Bernard Hodes Group
In a creative management and copywriting career that’s mapped the rise of the employer brand, Andy has over a decade’s experience of helping major organisations define and articulate their employer offers. He leads the proposition development and creative expression phase of our branding and engagement projects.
A graduate of Bristol University, Andy jointly leads the Bernard Hodes Group Creative and Production teams as Creative Director. He is an awardwinning copywriter with extensive experience of expressing brands in the private, public and charity sectors.
Andy Hyatt, Bernard Hodes Group
Our Head of Digital, Andy has spent more than 14 years developing, evaluating and implementing operational and interactive marketing strategies for major blue-chip organisations across the globe. He has worked on both client and agency sides for some notable agencies and even more notable brands including Coca Cola, GSK, Mastercard, HP, Johnson & Johnson and Sky.
Heading up our team of developers and project managers and managing our third-party relationships, Andy drives the digital direction of Hodes. A frequent commentator on digital issues, he has spoken at numerous industry conferences, and is the author of advisory papers on electronic and mobile commerce, as well as the use of digital media in advertising communications.
Alex Batchelor, Royal Mail (2005-2008)
Alex is the Executive Vice President – Marketing for TomTom, based in Amsterdam. Satellite navigation is a technology that is being adopted by customers faster than the mobile phone and the MP3 player, and TomTom is the clear market leader in Europe and growing fast in the US. Before his appointment at TomTom, Alex spent three years as Marketing Director at the Royal Mail, launching size-based pricing, managing a £250 million P&L and driving the introduction of tracking systems in mail sorting and with handheld devices. Alex has also worked for Orange (launching the brand in 20 countries), for Interbrand as the Managing Director and leader of the Brand Valuation practice, for Saatchi & Saatchi as a strategic planner and started his career at Unilever.
Pam Bland, Ministry of Justice
Pam joined the Ministry of Justice in February 2007 having previously led internal communications at Gloucestershire County Council. Prior to that, she was Head of Change Communications at the Home Office.
A graduate of University College London, Pam has worked at a senior level both in communications and HR, in the UK and New Zealand and within the public and private sectors. As Communications and HR Director for a large dairy company expansion she developed a successful, integrated communications approach across staff, shareholders and key stakeholders. She has since applied this approach to roles in the public and private sectors that have been supporting significant organisational and behavioural change.
Keith Cameron, Marks and Spencer (2004-2008)
After an introduction to industry via jobs in sales and production planning, Keith Cameron graduated from Bath University with a Social Science degree. He then held personnel management positions with Bestobell, Rank Xerox and Union Carbide before spending eight years as the Northern European Personnel Director of Levi Strauss. Two years were then spent as Personnel Director of Currys Ltd, following which he was appointed as Personnel Director of Storehouse PLC, covering the BhS, Richards, Habitat and Mothercare retail chains. He joined The Burton Group as Personnel Director of Debenhams in 1988, becoming Group Personnel Director in 1992 and was appointed to the Board in September 1994, having responsibility as an Executive Director for Operations, Logistics, Property, Shop Design & Development and Personnel. With the demerger of Debenhams in January 1998, he became Executive Director – Stores, Personnel & Operations for the restructured Group which began trading as Arcadia Group on 26 January 1998.
He has also been a member of the British Retail Consortium’s Board of Management, Chairman of the Home Office’s Retail Crime Steering Group and has served on the Executive Board of Industry in Education Limited.
Keith retired in 2001 but then returned to join Marks and Spencer in 2004 as HR Director. He retired again in 2008 and now has several non-executive directorships, including Barclay Bank Pension Fund, Britannia Building Society, Work Group plc and TacT Ltd.
Sally Jacobson, London & Quadrant Group (1987-2008)
Sally oversees approximately 1000 staff and is responsible for HR, training, facilities management, TUPE transfers and customer care. Under Sally’s management, London & Quadrant has received the following prestigious awards Investors in People, Charter Mark and Age Positive Champion. For the last five years the group has also been placed in the in the prestigious Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work for. Tower Homes, part of the L&Q Group, was placed at No. 1 on the Sunday Times Top 100 small/medium companies list in 2006, and won a special award for work-life balance. London & Quadrant has also been listed in the Financial Times 50 Best Workplaces in the UK for the last four years.
Sally’s professional background began in the NHS starting as a student nurse in 1970 in Nottingham and progressing to Senior Nurse Manager at the Maudsley Hospital prior to joining London & Quadrant.
Elaine MacFarlane, GlaxoSmithKline
Elaine has worked in healthcare communications for more than 25 years, the last 11 of which have been spent at GlaxoSmithKline. Her team are responsible for corporate and global internal communications for GSK, corporate publications and design (including GSK’s corporate identity), and the external website, gsk.com.
During the GlaxoWellcome/SmithKline Beecham merger, Elaine was a member of the merger integration team, coordinating merger communications across the two companies. She had previously been responsible for internal and external communications for the European Consumer Healthcare business.
Before joining SmithKline Beecham in 1997, Elaine worked in healthcare communications agencies involved in advertising, medical education, PR, branding, change management and medical writing. This included two years as founder and Managing Director of a UK-based office for a US agency network, and running her own company.
Elaine has a BSc in Microbiology and Genetics and a postgraduate business management qualification.
Lou Manzi, GlaxoSmithKline
Lou Manzi is Vice President, GSK Talent Solutions and has responsibility for overseeing the strategy and delivery of the global talent sourcing and recruitment functions at GlaxoSmithKline. He originally joined SmithKline Beckman Consumer Products as Manager, Government and Public Affairs in 1985. Prior to his current position, he was responsible for managing the leadership and succession planning process at SmithKline Beecham. During his tenure he has authored a variety of articles on recruitment metrics and how measures can operationally improve the recruitment function. He has also chaired many presentations on customer care, recruitment efficiency and is known for his entrepreneurial and creative approach to talent acquisition.
Lou serves on a variety of Boards including: the US Army War College: the Best Practices Institute, Waltham, Massachusetts; the Executive Grapevine, an organization comprising professionals in talent management, London, England; and Robert Michael Communications, Voorhees, New Jersey. He is also a former trustee of the Wilkes University Board of Directors.
Lou received his BA from St Mary’s Seminary College and has done graduate work in the Executive Masters Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Mensink, Philips
Job is responsible for the worldwide marketing of Philips as an attractive employer for talented individuals. Before joining the global Human Resources Team he worked in a range of strategy, marketing and innovation roles for Philips consumer and B2B businesses. Achievements include the development of globally standardized ways of working for end-user-driven innovation. He studied Innovation Management at Delft University of Technology and Economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and is a passionate marketing teacher and guest lecturer at various institutes and universities.
Donna Miller, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Donna Miller oversees all aspects of people development for Enterprise in Europe, which includes more than 4,700 employees. In her 18 years with the company, she has been instrumental in the recruitment growth for Enterprise in the US, Canada and Europe, and now serves as one of the company’s officers.
Like the majority of Enterprise’s officers, Donna began her career at Enterprise in the company’s Management Training programme. Within one year of her start with the company, Donna was leading the human resources and recruitment efforts for one of the Southern California regions.
In 1997 Donna was promoted to Group Human Resources Manager in the New York/New Jersey area. In 1999 she was promoted to Corporate Human Resources Manager at Enterprise’s corporate headquarters in St Louis, Missouri, to provide support to operating groups in Canada. In 2002 she was promoted to the position of Assistant Vice President/HR Director of Enterprise’s human resources operations in Europe.
Jo Pieters, Philips
Currently Vice President Job Grading in Philips Electronics based in Amsterdam, Jo Pieters originally joined Philips as Recruitment Manager in 1989. In 1998 he joined Corporate HRM where he held various positions. In 2000 he was appointed Vice President eHRM and from 2001 to 2003 he was responsible for management development worldwide, including designing and rolling out an executive coaching programme for senior managers. From 2003 to 2007 he was responsible for creating a global recruitment function and establishing a strong employer brand worldwide.
Prior to Philips, Jo worked as a consultant in the Dutch government and was involved in management assessment, career counselling and executive search. He also worked for the University of Amsterdam and the Catholic University of Nijmegen, lecturing in statistics, research methodology, statistical computing and mathematical psychology.
Jo holds an MSc in Mathematical Psychology and a PhD in Social Sciences from the Catholic University of Nijmegen, as well as a certificate in organization design from the University of Southern California.
David Russell, William Hill
David Russell has worked within human resources for 30 years in the leisure, service and manufacturing sectors. The common theme throughout his working life has been highly people-intensive businesses, in which customer service has been paramount and the management of labour costs are a significant factor to the delivery of bottom-line profits. He is an HR generalist, always striving to work closely with line management to deliver pragmatic business solutions.
After an initial period in hotels and contract catering, he spent nine years within Alpha Airports Group, latterly as Human Resources Director for the airline catering division. Following a period as Divisional HR Director for Courtaulds Textiles, David joined William Hill, as Group Human Resources Director, in March 2001, just prior to the successful launch of the business on
the London Stock Exchange.
David was brought up in Edinburgh and educated at Strathclyde University, where he undertook a degree in Business Studies and a postgraduate diploma in Personnel Management. He is a fellow of the CIPD.
Jenny Strevens, Royal Bank of Scotland
Jenny Strevens is the Group Manager of Employer Branding at the RBS group. Having joined RBS on the HR graduate programme in 2001, Jenny has now spent over seven years with the Group in a variety of HR roles, latterly focusing on group roles in talent management, communications and engagement and now devising and progressing the employer brand strategy at Group and UK level. With a background in applied psychology, Jenny has recently completed an MSc in Occupational Psychology, specialising in the psychological contract.
Lorraine Taylor, Royal Bank of Scotland
Lorraine is Group Head of Employer Brand at The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. She is responsible not only for the creation and development of a distinct and compelling employer brand for over 170,000 people working in more than 50 countries, but also for ensuring that the employee experience delivers on that ‘brand promise’.
Lorraine has spent all her career within RBS, working largely within the retail businesses, creating and leading the service strategy for all RBS and NatWest branches and leading large-scale change programmes, as well as managing front-line business teams.
She has an MSc, is a Chartered Banker (FCIBS) and is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
