Core Team

The Core Team provides light touch strategic direction and supporting infrastructure for the EFS movement with hands-on delivery co-ordinated through a network of volunteer hubs.

Hubs currently support internal and external communications, development of strategic partnerships and recruitment, development & engagement of volunteers, and Regional and Topic & Sector TAGs. The strategic direction of the latter is set by the TAG Steering Group.

Leadership to the Core Team is provided by co-Strategy Directors.

James has been involved in Engage For Success since contributing several case studies to the original MacLeod Report in 2009. He has been Senior Adviser to the movement since 2011 when he helped compile The Evidence Report. He personally completed the featured 4-year longitudinal study linking Employee Engagement to store-level KPIs at Marks & Spencer. In 2016 James wrote the movement’s Further Evidence report. He continues to be involved in several TAGs, serves as Chair of the Steering Group and as a member of the board.

Jo has worked with Engage for Success since September 2012 initially in a purely volunteer capacity and then as digital lead looking after the website and other digital infrastructure alongside her volunteering, including as co-host of the long running EFS Radio Show podcast.

She is an independent consultant specialising in employee engagement and wellbeing and she is a regular speaker, facilitator and chair at events.

As Managing Director of Woodreed, Jo‘s led the development of the specialist agency’s ‘inside out thinking for brands’ proposition. Passionate about brands and brand techniques as the catalyst for employee engagement, she takes a hands-on role leading projects for clients.  Jo delivers workshops, speaks and writes on the topic of employee engagement as well as being a regular host of Engage for Success radio for over four years.

Currently Head of Staff Engagement & Innovation for UNISON,  Katherine is an experienced organisational development practitioner, an EQA coach, Fellow of the CIPD and ILM.  She is a qualified Time to Think facilitator and specialises in leadership development, team and individual coaching.  Katherine is also non Executive Chair of Relate London South East and works closely with Engage for Success, Chairing the Thought and Action Group on Apprenticeships

As an occupational and business psychology student looking to help create optimal workplaces that people will thrive in, employee engagement, wellbeing and strong leadership are important to Hannah. She would like to believe that we work in a world that ultimately values its employees and understands that engaged and healthy employees are more productive and therefore beneficial to an organisation. She joined the EFS team to make a difference, not just for her but for everybody, today and in generations to come.

Gary joined the Core Team on secondment from HMRC as Knowledge Director and then subsequently also picked up the Communities Director role.

He is now focusing on innovation and engagement in the public sector in his role within HMRC and continues to work closely with Engage for Success.

Binu comes with over a decade of combined experience in agency and in-house roles, having previously worked in the Middle East and India. She currently works for BSI Group on the membership body’s standards and stakeholder engagement initiatives for the Commonwealth Standards Network. She is passionate about all things communications and is a strong advocate of giving back to the profession.

She was introduced to Engage for Success in early 2019 to join the movement’s marketing and communications team, leading on a range of assignments, supporting TAG projects and events, and producing regular content for the website.

Claire is a freelance HR/OD consultant and executive coach.

Over the years, her experience working across many sectors, in both large global matrix organisations and SMEs, has shown that the difference that makes the difference is … employee engagement.  She is passionate about enhancing working lives for the benefit of all. This led to her volunteering and joining the Engage for Success core team in 2019.

Claire is currently coordinating the topic and sector Thought and Action Groups.

Jonathan is a freelance Training Communication expert and Founder of a company called Embed the Learning Ltd, training Performance Management and Negotiation and Communication skills. Using forum theatre and roleplay and many other classroom based training techniques.

Jonathan has also worked for the sight loss charities RNIB and Guide Dogs for the Blind, training people about the issues surrounding sight loss, using accessible I.T and devising accessible e-learning and webinar programmes. Jonathan is CIPD qualified and also a trained actor and Jonathan is passionate about enhancing employee engagement.

Jonathan has been with Engage for Success since September 2019.

Jess Young is a Change Management Facilitator with over 15 years experience in a range of sectors leading on people system and process change projects.

Jess now works with Square Peg Round Hole using a strengths-based methodology to help Not for Profits find out of the box ideas to increase revenue and decrease costs.

Jess joined the Engage for Success Core Team in January 2020 to help inspire people and workplaces to thrive.

Stephanie is fascinated by communication and culture, and how it shapes our world.

She discovered Engage for Success in 2019, while conducting research for the Government of British Columbia. She helped the Public Safety sector identify employee engagement best practices and implement them into its long-term communication plan.

Stephanie is thrilled to be a part of the Engage for Success team and to contribute to the global employee engagement movement. She volunteers remotely from her home in Calgary, Alberta.

A communicator by trade, Emma is a real believer in the importance of effective internal communications and the invaluable contribution it makes to employee engagement.

In her role as Director of Internal Comms at Athene Communications, Emma supports organisations across industries and sectors to establish meaningful dialogue with their employees, helping leaders to listen, and giving employees a voice.

Emma joined the Engage for Success team in 2020 and plays a key role in running the movement’s social media platform to help us reach, engage and support as many members of our community as possible.

Rachel works as an Account Executive at Athene Communications, supporting her team to deliver effective and strategic internal communications advice and expertise to a wide variety of clients across sectors.

Rachel joined Engage for Success in 2020 and is helping to increase awareness of the power and importance of employee engagement through the movement’s social media.

Vlad specialises in Employee Engagement and Internal Communications. After starting his career journey in Canada, he has changed countries, continents, sectors and his professional focus from external customers to internal ones. With a career spent primarily at Head Offices of top global organisations in UK, such as AT&T, Barclays, Canon, Sony and Acco Brands, Vlad believes his background in marketing informs his approach to communications, stakeholder management, landing complex projects and colleague engagement.

Joining EfS in 2020 to co-lead the Volunteer Hub, he’s hit the ground running with design, strategy and implementation. The newly-formed hub supports volunteers throughout their journeys with EfS and helps to foster a sense of community.

Hagit has degrees in Psychology and Politics and Conflict Resolution and is currently completing her MSc in Organisational and Occupational Psychology.

She is also a certified mindfulness teacher who has practiced and trained internationally, including at Oxford and Bangor Universities. She is the founder of the Mindfulness Support Group during Covid-19, where she has been offering free daily mindfulness sessions online.

Hagit founded and developed a patented fashion accessories business, which is now growing internationally. Prior to that, she worked as a Strategic Partnerships Director at a leading mobile monetisation platform.

At Engage for Success Hagit is involved with the thought and action groups hub and the volunteer hub and is passionate about wellbeing, employee experience and what makes work meaningful.