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.

A self-described people geek with a curious interest in why people behave as they do in the corporate environment. Dave came into HR from the Talent Acquisition specialism and has spent seven years learning and refining what he would now call an ‘evidence-based approach to HR’. Dave works in an environment of mega size infrastructure programmes that combine the innovation and low build numbers of F1 with the size and scale of the Millennium Dome.

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.

Dr. Thomas Rasmussen is Vice President Organisational Development and Learning at Shell. Thomas was previously Senior Vice President, Digital & Automation, People & Culture for sustainable energy company Vestas, Executive General Manager Employee Experience, Digital & Analytics at National Australia Bank, and VP HR Data & Analytics at Shell. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, still does research for fun – his papers on HR Analytics with Dave Ulrich (2015, 2023), and his main interest is bridging management science with practical application, showing the importance of people in value chains.

Siobhán joined the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in March 2021 as Chief People Officer where she works with the Board, Executive Committee and colleagues across the organisation to ensure that the FCA has the strategies, frameworks, technology and workforce insight to enable long term sustainable organisational performance through people.

Prior to the FCA Siobhán held a range of senior HR roles in Civil Service including serving in the Ministry of Defence as Civilian HR Director where she was responsible for the workforce of 57,000 Civil Servants, as well as HR Director roles in DWP and Defra. She worked in the charity sector as the Director of People and Organisational Development for the NSPCC. And her private sector experience spans 20 years in Finance, starting at the age of 16 with NatWest before moving on to work both in the UK and internationally with Capital One.

Siobhán was awarded a CBE for services to Defence in 2020 and is a Chartered Companion of the CIPD (CCIPD). A lifelong learner she holds a Master’s in Coaching and Mentoring and a Masters in Organisational Change. She learns a significant amount from her voluntary roles having been a Trustee for the Mental Health Foundation and Build Africa as well as a committed volunteer with Crisis. She has regularly featured on HR Magazine’s ‘Most Influential’ list including topping the practitioners list in 2017. She is currently a NED with the CIPD where she chairs the People, Culture and Remuneration Committee.

Irene Uwejeyah is the Programme Manager for the Financial Conduct Authority’s diversity, equity and inclusion programme and has overseen the implementation of its evidence-based DEI programme. Prior to working at the FCA, Irene worked in Corporate Responsibility and community engagement roles across the private and not-for-profit sectors.

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.