Duncan Brown, a former partner at management consultancy Towers Perrin and
author on reward issues, has joined the CIPD as assistant director general.
Brown, who started his career as a personnel officer at Vauxhall Motors, has
long-standing ties with the CIPD as chairman of its reward forum.
He will lead the institute’s research and policy unit as well as raising its
general profile. "I’ll be part of the CIPD’s management team responsible
for our professional knowledge and information activities, covering academic
research and other knowledge development," he says.
Brown, who holds an MA from Cambridge, relishes being more central in the
organisation and helping to push the HR agenda to the forefront: "I enjoy
the broad nature and variety of the role, the potential to really make a
difference in HR and the opportunity to cycle to work more often," he
says.
He aims to provide CIPD members with knowledge and information to help make
a demonstrable impact on people management within organisations: "We need
to demonstrate to the wider public the critical nature of people management to
individual, corporate and national wellbeing and success, and thereby also to
influence the public policy agenda."
Brown also plans to exploit the CIPD’s ‘huge potential’ and loves working in
the HR sphere. He says: "It’s complex and difficult, with no easy,
universal solutions, but every day you get the chance in some way to make
people’s experiences at work more enjoyable and fulfilling."
CV
2002 Assistant director general, CIPD
1985 Various positions with Towers Perrin
1984 Full-time MBA London Business School
1981 Personnel officer, Vauxhall Motors
On the move
Toby Thompson has joined Praxis – The Centre for Personal Effectiveness – as
manager of business development. Praxis, part of Cranfield School of
Management, delivers managerial and executive open programmes, as well as
developing bespoke in-company management training. Previously, Thompson was a
member of the corporate university global strategy team of US IT services firm
EDS. Prior to that he was a Zen Buddhist monk.
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Preston Road New Deal for Communities has recruited Paul Bennett as its
first HR manager. Based in Hull, Bennett, who was previously a freelance
consultant, is responsible for the company’s 150 employees. The group was
formed two years ago after the East Hull estate was awarded £55m in government
aid over 10 years.
The Profectus Group has appointed Jane Bell as director of training. She
joins from the British Institute of Facilities Management. She is a regular
lecturer at the College of Estate Management, and joint co-ordinator of the
Facilities Management module on the MSc Intelligent Buildings course at Reading
University. She is responsible for developing the company’s training programme,
open to property and support services managers from both the public and private
sector, as well as existing Profectus employees.
