Our Movers and Shakers articles highlight who’s moving up, out or across in the rapidly evolving world of workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing. Here is a selection of “movers and shakers” that have grabbed my attention over the last few weeks.
Turning talk into action
Top of the list is the inimitable Simon Blake OBE, who, on 23rd September 2024, will be starting his new role as Chief Executive of Stonewall – the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe. Simon brings to Stonewall a wealth of leadership experience in the charity and social justice space.
Many in our Make A Difference network will have encountered Simon in his current role as Chief Executive at Mental Health First Aid England, a post he has held since October 2018. I for one am eternally grateful to Simon for his support over the years; his clarity of thinking, his fairness and for never being afraid to embrace challenging conversations that help to turn talk into action. Simon, we wish you well.
You can get a sense of Simon’s thought-provoking perspective in this “Workforce State of Mind 2024” webinar which Make A Difference ran together with Headspace.
Flying high
Next is Dr Richard Caddis. Richard has moved from his role as Director of Health, Safety and Wellbeing & Chief Medical Officer with BT, to Chief Medical Officer at British multinational aerospace company Rolls Royce.
Commenting on his move on LinkedIn Richard wrote: “Absolutely thrilled to be joining Rolls-Royce as Global Chief Medical Officer. The work across Civil, Defence and Power Systems is so inspiring and the dedication, expertise and innovation across the divisions in the air, sea and land has been so energising”.
“Keep an eye out for the new roles on the flight plan to join my team and in the wellbeing team – working on the journey to embed health as safety across our global operations”.
Since he started with Rolls Royce in July 2024, Richard has already announced several job openings in the Rolls Royce wellbeing team. If you’re in the market for a new role, you might want to follow him on LinkedIn.
It’s great to see that forward-thinking organisations such as Rolls Royce appear to be powering up their commitment to employee health and wellbeing.
Building a culture of wellbeing
Another stalwart of employee health and wellbeing who has changed role is Paul Hendry. Paul has moved from American engineering company Jacobs to Danish architecture, engineering and consulting group Ramboll, where he is now Group HSEQ Director. Whilst he was at Jacobs, Paul spearheaded the One Million Lives initiative.
Ramboll recently secured a The Times and Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2024 award. Posting about the award on LinkedIn Ramboll wrote: “We’re incredibly proud that our foundation-ownership, supportive culture and commitment to delivering sustainable change, are helping us create a workplace where our people feel happy, inspired and cared for”.
Sounds like a great company to work for Paul.
Powering up
Illustrating the breadth of job titles that our Make A Difference network covers – and that to be truly embedded in organisations, employee health and wellbeing need a multi-stakeholder approach – next in my list is Amanda Moore.
In August 2024, Amanda left her old role as Head of Reward with energy supply company OVO Energy to take up her new position as Global Head of Reward, Performance & Analytics, with digital service provider Beyond ONE.
At OVO, Amanda was leading a progressive reward and wellbeing offering balancing value to people and the company. We look forward to seeing what you are planning for Beyond ONE Amanda.
Shifting scenes
Last but certainly not least is Katherine Beard, whose route into employee health and wellbeing demonstrates the many different ways that people access careers in this space. Over the twelve years that Katherine was with ITV, she developed her skills from being an Executive Assistant to HR project management and then on to Wellbeing Manager with TV network ITV.
Katherine, we hope that as organisations such as the the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) seek to evolve career paths into employee health and wellbeing, you and others in a similar position, will find the tips helpful that Suzy Bashford has put together in this article on navigating the quickly evolving landscape of employee health and wellbeing, and this article on professionalising the wellbeing role through qualifications.
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