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About Tom

In a 25 year career, both as a consultant and in-house senior exec, board -1 (HRD Big Four, Director of Communications and Engagement), I have gained diverse and rich experience, in all aspects of the Employee Experience, Diversity and Inclusion and specifically the Culture Change required to shape a workforce fit for the world we compete in. I mostly work with organisations on strategies to attract, retain and enthuse a more diverse workforce for business success. Often this means working with boards and leadership teams to identify the sort of culture and behaviours that will help them better fulfill their purpose and commercial goals; I then audit the current culture by involving colleagues, in order to map a journey.

 

Developing a culture and values should be a unifying experience with strong and inclusive leadership. From my time at BA in the 90’s I have a strong passion for the subject of brand and its relationship with employees: I truly believe that all cultural and environmental interventions inside organisations need to have line of sight back up to the customer and the business purpose.

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In seeking out the return on investment for Talent and Culture initiatives, I have spent many years helping diverse employees believe in their organisation and do their best for its brand. In the last 20 years I have worked all over the world with leading brands including Deloitte, Zurich, UBS, British Airways, Eon, GSK, Volvo Group, KPMG, AIG and many others. In the last few years my projects have been largely focused on partnering major brands to identify the changes in culture and Employee Experience required to help them meet their strategic and business goals through a diverse workforce.

 

Quite often I can be found coaching senior execs and their teams on their role in creating the appropriate culture for their business to thrive, be respected and respect others. Recently my coaching has focused on the behaviours required to shape an inclusive and respectful environment, factoring in things such as unconscious bias and personal values.

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I have lived in the UK, the US, Germany and India and worked all over the world. I am now based in France but travel globally for work. I have recently published a second novel and am currently working on a book on leadership with Dr Keith Schofield of Aston Business school.

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I am happiest driving around the French countryside in an old car, singing, with a dog at my side.

Why the name Brainminer?

As a senior exec, when I was hiring consultants, I really valued those who didn’t come in and tell me how to do my job. I appreciated those who combined my insight with theirs. Now, as a consultant, I passionately believe we can all produce great solutions; sometimes we just need help finding them, bringing them to the surface and turning them into shiny nuggets.

I am happiest when working alongside my clients, co-creating great results that make a difference to their business and to their people.

Values and beliefs

  • Leaders are like teachers, we all remember those who got us to do things we didn’t ever think we could. We also remember those who squashed our confidence and morale without seeing the potential in us.

  • Kindness everytime. Kindness can also mean doing what’s right, done right, and not only what makes a person feel good.

  • Words can wound and leave scars.

  • Most organisations struggle with honest conversations in real time. Performance management systems could be replaced with focused coaching on how to have difficult conversations well and telling the truth fast. Too many organisations focus on the administrative side of the PM cycle and not the underlying skills required.

  • The mind should be given equal status to the physical body – it should be treated with the same respect. Psychotherapy should be a welcome presence in the workplace.      Our minds need an office gym too.

  • An obsession with employee engagement surveys hinders honest performance conversations – which leader wants to lose their bonus because they told someone what they needed to hear?

  • People with real lives come to work; not robots shaped around a job description.

  • Employees shouldn’t have a sense of sickening ‘school tomorrow’ dread from Sunday lunchtime onwards.

  • Measuring intellectual and technical capability is a two legged stool. Understanding and factoring in a person’s emotional make up and how it plays out completes the picture. As long as you do it with an open mind.

  • Hierarchy kills innovation.

  • I am very drawn to people who like dogs.

  • I will always be honest and tell you what you need to hear not what you want to hear. I will however work with you to make sure they become one and the same thing.

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