People

Peter Wallum, formerly managing director of Strategic People, has joined
consultancy William M Mercer as a European partner. Based in London, he will
work with a portfolio of major companies as client manager. His role will
involve coordinating Mercer’s range of services for clients, including its
integrated service for organisations in mergers and acquisitions.

Recruitment consultancy Beament Leslie Thomas has appointed Sarah Smith to its
HR recruitment division. She joins from BNP Paribas Investment Bank’s HR team,
where she was graduate recruitment manager.

Steve Vale, currently deputy director at South East Employers, with local
government and personnel experience at a senior level, is joining GWT Rothwell
in July as a consultant. GWT Rothwell is the public-sector and local government
HR consultancy arm of the GWT group. Vale will expand the company’s capacity to
undertake work on HR issues for local authorities and other public and voluntary
sector organisations throughout the UK.

Joan Munro has been appointed assistant director of the people, skills and
development section of the Employers’ Organisation. The organisation will in
effect be running the local government National Training Organisation after it
was transferred from the Improvement and Development Agency to the Employers’
Organisation.

Top Job

Arriva,
the transport services organisation, has announced the appointment of Julie
Adams to the new position of HR director, Arriva trains.

Adams, 33 previously held the post of HR director for rail operator Northern
Spirit, which, as part of holding company MTL, was acquired by Arriva in
February 2000.

Prior to joining Northern Spirit, Julie spent 12 years with the Halifax,
where she worked in change management and HR roles.

Her new role at Arriva Trains will be to set strategic human resource
direction to enable the business to develop and move forward.

Arriva is currently short-listed for the Wales and Borders and the
Trans-Pennine Express franchises and is bidding for the Thameslink franchise.
It has also stated its intention to bid for Northern and Merseyrail Electrics
when the Strategic Rail Authority announces the start of the bid process for
these franchises.

Adams studied for her BA Hons degree in business studies at Manchester
University, and is currently studying for an MBA in business administration at
Bradford University. She is also a member of the CIPD.

Personal Profile

Martyn Sloman is a training and development adviser at the CIPD. His new
book, The E-learning Revolution, was published by the institute in April. He
has worked in the public and private sectors and as a management consultant.

What is the most important lesson you have learnt in your career?
Maintain your contacts and help them when asked. Power relationships
change, and you never know when you will need a favour

What is the strangest situation you have had to deal with at work?
On the last working day at the Coal Board headquarters, my boss and I found
a paralytically drunk woman in one of the offices. We managed to locate her
husband, who said that as far as he was concerned, she could stay there until
the new year.

If your house was on fire and you could save one object, what would it
be?
Assuming my wife, sons and cat were safe, I would try to rescue my
favourite piece from my collection of rugby sculptures. It’s called Dive Pass.

If you had three wishes to change your organisation, what would they be?
I wish some of our work had greater recognition.

What is the best thing about HR?
You work with a lot of committed, professional people who genuinely want to
help individuals in the organisation cope with transition.

You have stumbled upon a time machine hidden in the vaults of your
company building. What time period would you visit and why?
I’d go back to 1905 for the Wales-New Zealand game, which was the defining
moment in Welsh rugby.

If you could adopt the management style of a historical character, whose
would you adopt and why?
US president Franklin D Roosevelt, who implemented the New Deal. I admire
his commitment and his ability to build coalitions to help the disadvantaged.
His phrase, "We’ll try something, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll try
something else", should be adopted by all change managers.

How do you get to work?
I get the train to Wimbledon and enjoy a half-hour walk to CIPD House. The
only downside is the delays caused by colleagues stopping and offering me a
lift.

What is your least appealing characteristic?
Impatience. Next question please.

What is your greatest strength?
Adaptability and a love of the challenge of change.

CV: Martyn Sloman

2000 to date Adviser, training and development, CIPD
1994-2000 Director of management education and training, Ernst & Young
1995-1997 Founded own management consultancy business
1989-1995 Head of HR development, NatWest Markets/County NatWest
1986-1989 Management consultant, Deloitte Haskins & Sells
1968-1986 Economist, then HR manager, National Coal Board