Accounting professor Robert H Ashton has been appointed dean of the Fuqua
School of Business Europe. Ashton will assume his position in Frankfurt on 1
July and is replacing Thomas F Keller, who founded the school in October 1999.
Currently, Ashton is the Martin L Black Jr Professor of Business
Administration and the KPMG research scholar at Fuqua. He received a degree
from Middle Tennessee State University, his MBA from Florida State University
and his PhD from the University of Minnesota and is a certified public
accountant.
Education Secretary David Blunkett has appointed Garry Hawkes to the board
of Investors in People as a director. Hawkes holds four other positions:
chairman of EdExcel, the awarding body for England, Wales and Northern Ireland;
chairman of the National Training Council; director of Accord; and
non-executive chairman of Aramark UK.
Andy Daniels has been appointed HR leader at packaging company Omni-Pak’s
plant in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Daniels said his aim would be to create an
employee-focused company culture there. Although Omni-Pak is owned by the US
packaging giant Pactiv, the company was previously family-owned and Daniels
hopes to create a culture to reflect this. He said, "I also hope to
introduce a performance management initiative and hope to get an understanding
of any issues that arise on the factory floor." He will be responsible for
HR services to 200 staff and will report to the company’s European director.
Top Job
Alison Crombie is the new HR director at the National Autistic Society.
Crombie will refocus the charity’s personnel strategies as it celebrates its
40th anniversary.
Her brief will be to motivate staff and develop best practice in all
operations and services.
Crombie’s experience includes organisational design, change management,
communications, compensation and benefits, employee relations, employment law
and policy development.
She has worked in a range of organisations, including the Scottish and
English Tourist Boards, and has also worked as a consultant.
Crombie said, "I look forward to working with the HR team to develop
best practice and new ways of working which reflect the diverse needs of all
who contribute to the organisation’s success.
"I have been greatly impressed by the commitment and dedication of the
employees and volunteers that I have met and will focus on ensuring that our HR
practice is relevant to their needs.
"My aim will be to have the NAS as an employer of choice within the
charitable sector."
Personal Profile
Di Barber is equal opportunities adviser for the Construction Industry
Training Board (CITB). She has held equal opportunities roles at Greater
Nottingham Training and Enterprise Council and East Midlands Arts.
What is the most important lesson you have learnt in your career?
Patience is the hardest but the most important virtue.
If your house was on fire and you could save one object, what would it
be?
If everyone was safe I would not bother – unless it was to get a pair of
pants!
If you had three wishes to change your company, what would they be?
Not just this company but in general – communication, communication,
communication.
What is the best thing about working in HR?
You get to deal with real life all the time.
What is the worst?
See above.
You have stumbled upon a time machine hidden in the vaults of your
company building. What time period would you visit and why?
London and Nottingham in the 1960s – the Mod scene – I like the music and
the style.
If you could adopt the management style of a historical character, whose
would you adopt and why?
Can I have every single one of the female characters from the comic Love
& Rockets instead? Then I can choose one depending on what the
circumstances require.
How do you get to work?
I drive from Nottingham to Norfolk and back each week, staying at the
National Construction College.
If you were to write a book, which subject would you choose to write
about?
It would have to be a comic about the people of Nottingham. I’ll need
someone else to do the drawing though.
What is your greatest strength?
I am very, very persistent.
What is your least appealing characteristic?
Impatience (see first question)
What is the greatest risk you ever took?
Giving up my job as a waitress to go back to college and take my A-levels –
without knowing about grants, further education or overdrafts. But I did know
how to work for a living.
CV – Di Barker
2001 Equal opportunities advisor, Construction Industry Training Board
1998-2001 Opportunities executive, Greater Nottingham Training and Enterprise
Council (GNTEC)
1997-1998 Contracts and purchasing executive, GNTEC
1992-1997 Combined arts and training officer, East Midlands Arts
1990-1992 Contracts technician, arts and leisure department, Nottingham City
Council
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
