Nick Holley as Director of CRF Learning has responsibility to provide development for HR teams and senior professionals. Prior to joining CRF, Nick spent 10 years at Henley Business School where he was a visiting professor and Director of the Centre for HR Excellence. He has developed and delivered HR capability programmes for organisations across the UK and Europe, and internationally.

Rob is Professor of Organizational Psychology at Queen Mary, University of London and Associate Research Director at CRF. He is also currently a Visiting Professor of Evidence-Based HRM at Birkbeck University of London and Professor at Oslo Nye Høyskole. He was previously co-founder and Scientific Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Management and has held positions at the Institute for Employment Studies, London School of Economics, Kings’s College (University of London), Bath University and University of Edinburgh. His publishing and research focus on topics including wellbeing, emotions, stress, motivation and everyday work behaviour.

Emma Lucas is a highly skilled coach, trainer, facilitator and consultant with over 25 years’ experience. Working across multiple sectors, Emma has held significant functional leadership roles in HR, Learning and Talent. She has managed local and global teams and has always had a passion for developing talent. Key roles include Group Head of Talent at Marks & Spencer, Head of OD and interim HRD at Connect Group, Global Head of Talent at Thales and various HRBP and L&D roles in Tech and Engineering organisations. She is passionate about developing HR professionals and enjoys delivering hands on practical advice.

Nick is a consultant, speaker, author, and advocate. Until end of 2020, he was Executive Vice President H.R. at Unilever.

After graduating with a degree in Politics and Economics from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and spending a year as a student politician (sabbatical secretary of the student Union), he joined Unilever in 1986. His first role was in Hull, UK, as an employee relations manager in a Bird’s Eye Walls
factory. He later became personnel manager for a bigger site covering Hull and Grimsby, where he managed large scale restructuring that became an ACAS case study of best practice.
After 15 years working in Bird’s Eye in various locations, he went off to Rotterdam, the Netherlands to work in Unilever’s ice cream and frozen food business in Europe. His role there was to scale and regionalise the business. Then he went to Switzerland to establish what is called the Unilever supply chain company, first on a European level than on a global level. Before becoming EVP HR for Business
Transformation, Nick was EVP HR for Europe and the Global Markets, having day to day responsibility for Unilever’s HR partnering globally.
The last 35 + years, has seen him covering all areas of H.R. ranging from introducing new HR information systems, recruitment, designing new reward systems for sales forces, working with marketing teams to speed up innovation times, through to setting up new Companies and troubleshooting industrial relations ‘crises’ across the globe.
His passion is for change management, Organisational development and industrial/ employee relations. He describes his ‘purpose’ as ‘ bringing creativity from conflict’. He is an H.R, professional because he believes that if ‘we change the workplace, we do change the world’. He has co-authored
the book HR (R) evolution, change the workplace, change the world (2019- Routledge), and has also co-authored an article for the Harvard Business Review (March/April 2022). His work on Unilever’s Future of Work programme has been captured in case studies currently used in programmes by the Harvard Business School and the London School of Economics.
Since 2020, Nick has worked as a consultant in the financial services sector, aviation sector, retail sector and software (AI development) sector, as well as for FMCG companies. Nick also speaks regularly at HR, business conferences and training events, advocating for the ‘Paradox wave’, by explaining the 7 Great Waves of people management. Starting from ‘Paternalism’ at the dawn of the industrial revolution, moving through the waves of ‘Power, Process, Profit, Purpose, Paradox and Planet’. Concepts explained fully in his co-authored book and manifesto for change –
‘H( R ) evolution, Change the workplace , change the world.’

Karen leads the member and partner experience for PARC. She has been instrumental in facilitating executive networking and collaboration for 15+ years. She has a focus on ensuring members get ongoing benefit and value from being part of the PARC community and engaging in PARC’s activities. Aligned with this focus she works closely with Partners, external subject matter experts and our associate advisers to ensure the ongoing relevance and evolution of PARC’s offering. Karen has a particular interest in the development of individual and team capability plus the opportunity for progressive, enjoyable careers. She is an EMCC qualified executive coach which supports her development work with our members. She is also a qualified solicitor and has an interest in the role of effective governance in support of sustainable performance and positive societal impact. Karen is a keen hiker and has a passion for the sustainability of the natural landscape and the value it can bring via enabling access and inclusion for all. She is a Board Trustee for the Surrey Hills Society.

Nick Kemsley has a wealth of experience in the HR and talent arena. His 30+ year career spans corporate, consulting and business school sectors and includes 10 years running talent functions at regional and global level and nearly 15 years working with C-suite teams and HR Leadership Teams around the world. Nick specialises in aligning people and organisation to business strategy and increasing HR functional and individual effectiveness in delivering real value to business in an ever more complex world.

Dr. Nigel Guenole is the Founder of MeasureCo.ai and is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association’s Division 14, the Society for Industrial Organisational Psychology, for outstanding contributions to HR analytics.

Dr. Guenole is internationally renowned for his expertise in leadership assessment, HR analytics and artificial intelligence in HR. His work focuses on enhancing the quality of psychological measurement in industry and promoting analytical approaches in HR. His work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, European CEO Magazine, and European Business Review. He co-authored The Power of People: Learn how Successful Organizations Use Workforce Analytics to Improve Business Performance, and recently co-edited a special issue of the Human Resource Management Journal on HR Analytics.

John Whelan is a Director at Corporate Research Forum. Formerly UK HR Director of BAE Systems, the FTSE 100 defence, security, and aerospace company, John’s experience and strengths lie in business and HR Transformation, Organisation Development and Employee Relations. Prior to joining BAE, he held a variety of HR roles in engineering, technology and manufacturing businesses across the telecommunications and semi-conductor industries including Matra-Marconi Space where he was HR Director for the UK and, latterly, Group HRD.

Clare is the Founder and Managing Partner of Conscious Consulting: Creating value for organisations through People, Culture, and Leadership. She works with organisations who want to function more effectively, create, or transform culture, and develop leaders.
Previously, Clare was the Global Head of Human Capital for Mubadala Capital. Clare worked as a member of the Leadership team and built a thriving Global organisation with offices in 6 countries and an AUM of $22BN. The Mubadala Capital HR strategy and EVP was founded on Culture, which was fundamental to the success of the organisation. Clare created and led executive retreats for several divisions within Mubadala, developed their Executive Coaching programme and was internal faculty for the Mubadala LAB.

Clare’s Qualifications include a Masters in Leading and Facilitating Transformative Change: Organisation Development (Metanoia Institute), and a B.Sc. (Hons) in Psychology. She is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development), and a Member of the ICF (International Coaching Federation). Clare is a certified Facilitator of Transformation (Gita Bellin & Associates), a certified Systems Coach, an accredited Meditation teacher, and a Barrett Analytics Practitioner.