oven-ready hr logo
Episode 6

Organisational Culture Isn’t Just For Christmas, It’s For Life!

As the co-founder of Thomsons Online Benefits and its award-winning software named Darwin, Michael Whitfield was the CEO of a global business that at the time of its sale to Mercer in 2016, employed some 650 people in offices around the globe. That was Michael Whitfield 1.0.

Today, Michael Whitfield 2.0, far from spending time on the golf course, is a passionate and hands-on investor and adviser to a diverse portfolio of disruptive HR tech businesses. His passion for tech, HR and disruption remains undimmed and this wide-ranging and fascinating interview gives valuable insights from both his former and current business experience.

We discuss:

How good organisational culture needs far more than just lip-service and how responsibility for culture starts and ends with the firm’s leadership;

Diversity and Inclusion will occur naturally if your culture allows it;

His passion for social-mobility and his thoughts on the government’s levelling up agenda;

His concern and worries surrounding youth unemployment in the UK;

His scepticism surrounding the suitability of some University degrees;

His strong belief in UK tech entrepreneurs and in particular disruptive HR technology.

A captivating interview from a true HR disruptor and visionary.

Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Podcasts
Listen on Amazon Music
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple Podcasts
Listen on Google Podcasts

About my guest

Michael Whitfield is a true market disruptor. His pioneering approach to business revolutionised the stuffy and staid world of employee benefits, building a business that today counts 9 of the world’s top 10 technology firms and 8 of the world’s biggest financial services groups as customers.

As the co-founder of Thomsons Online Benefits and its award-winning software named Darwin, Michael Whitfield was the CEO of a global business that at the time of its sale to Mercer in 2016, employed some 650 people in offices around the globe.

Transcript

Share this podcast

Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

Recent episodes

Episode 9
Season 2

Speedy Onboarding! How A Nuclear Power Expert Is Heating Up The Hiring Process!

Guest(s)

Mike Seidle

“The candidate experiences is a very, very underrated way to improve your brand. If you, if you treat your candidates well, that does have an effect at the cash register, if you will. It really does. And nothing will make somebody less likely to buy from you faster than treating them poorly when they apply for a job.”
Listen
Episode 8
Season 2

Next Slide Please – It’s All About The Data!

Guest(s)

Daniel Dore

“Data is the oil of the 21st century. It’s how companies fundamentally use that data and unleash that data to understand their clients, their business, and the direction they’re going to be taking going forward. , ultimately, companies that aren’t leveraging that data are going to get left behind.”
Listen
Episode 7
Season 2

Back To The Office Of The Future

Guest(s)

Francesca Peters

“Having corporate space for employees to come into a couple of days a week, which is incredibly important for culture, for a sense of identity and pride. “
Listen
Episode 5
Season 2

Shooting The Breeze With Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt MP

Guest(s)

Jeremy Hunt MP

“I opened five new medical schools and increased the number of doctors, nurses, and midwives. We trained by 25%, which is one of the biggest ever single increases, but I always felt we need to be much more strategic and you know, we, we need to recognise that it’s not just pandemics with an ageing population we’re going to need more capacity in our health provision, much more capacity and that means we’ve got to be very strategic and say, look, how many doctors are we going to need in 10 years time in 20 years time, because it takes 7 years to train one. So we need to get cracking”
Listen
Episode 4
Season 2

Are Some of HR’s Favourite Gurus and Management Thinkers Just A Load Of Old Hype?

Guest(s)

Michael F Schein

Michael Schein questions our slavish devotion to individuals such as Simon Sinek. As Michael says: “… he’s not a social scientist. He’s not a scientist of any sort. He worked in ad agencies before he became a professional guru. So, his best talent is selling stuff. “
Listen
Episode 3
Season 2

Defence Against Workplace Bullying

Guest(s)

Dr Sam Farley

“So, if you’ve got two colleagues on the same level who don’t like each other and they’re sending each other nasty emails. We wouldn’t really call that bullying because there’s no apparent power disparity there it’s just a kind of conflict. But when you get a differential such as maybe a boss is doing it to their subordinate, then you have a bit of a powered disparity at play. That’s when something can become workplace bullying. “
Listen

Be the first to get the latest episode of my podcast

Contact

To keep Oven-Ready HR relevant to you, I’d love to hear your feedback whether positive or negative. Are there topics you would like me cover or guests you’d like me to interview? Or perhaps, you’d like to be interviewed? 

Whatever you want to say to me, you can say it here: chris.taylor@accelerator-hr.co.uk

chris@ovenreadyhr.com
+44(0)7387 116 435
Add me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Twitter

© 2021 All Rights Reserved | Accelerator-HR | Company Registration Number – 128 053 35 | Privacy Policy