Megan Wiseman
3 min read
Next month, we're excited to welcome more than 350 HR rebels and leaders to our inaugural Engagement Excellence Summit. We'll take over the Brewery with 30+ amazing speakers on topics such as the changing face of leadership, lessons on truth and honesty and using values to fuel a fast-growth business strategy.
Even though it's sold out (we're sorry!), you can still join the waitlist for your chance at a spot. Plus, we'll be sure to release some of the featured content here on Reward Gateway after the event is behind us.
To get you singing the tunes of rebels around you, we're counting down to the summit with a Speaker Spotlight on just a few of the rebels we're welcoming to the stage. We've got some of our speakers to answer a few questions so we can get to know them a little better.
Don't miss our other interviews with Ben Waterfield and Rachel Clifford as we count down to the Summit in February.
This week, we've got a double feature as we're lucky enough to hear from two of the leaders at communications consultancy Masgroves, the Director Tony Cosgrove, and co-founder and Doer Stuart Rhys Thomas. They'll both be sharing inspiring stories about how to capitalise on making comms the secret sauce behind employee engagement.
Hi, Tony and Stuart!
As a communications specialist, Tony has worked in India, the US and across the UK for clients ranging from inter-continental giants to national charities. Previously Head of Internal Communications for Natural England, he led a team responsible for communicating with 2,500 scientists and staff working across 30 offices, so a leap from science to working solely on communications was a big career change. Since 2014, Tony has been a Director of communications consultancy Masgroves helping make work better through brilliant communications.
Stuart’s background is in Human Resources where he worked for leading companies including Tesco, Mitsubishi and HomeServe. It was at HomeServe where he fell in love with the emerging art of internal communication, with the aim of improving employee engagement and has since embarked on helping companies create bespoke, quirky and impactful solutions to their communications challenges.
So Tony and Stuart ...Who are your favourite rebels?
Tony: Florence Nightingale. She challenged the status quo, refused to let the system get in the way of vital improvements and used evidence and numbers to make a difference. Her work saved literally millions of lives.
Stuart:The first rebel I recall hearing about was the CEO of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher. The stories of him, and his company, are legendary. Like the customer that complained after every flight. His reply? "Dear Mrs. Crabapple, We will miss you. Love, Herb.” Don’t be fooled, Southwest is a raging success story, too. They’ve been profitable for 44 years in a row.
And your best moment on your engagement journey so far?
I love that lightbulb moment when senior leaders 'get' that they can change their workplace for the better. That’s what gets me out of bed everyday.
-Tony
Stuart: We support our clients to be successful – so every time we help them to deliver their goals, that is our "new" best moment! It's all about them, not us.
If you were climbing a mountain with a stranger, what could they rely on you for?
Tony: A stream of irrelevant facts. I'm a bit of a (okay, a total) nerd. Did you know the top of Everest is made of 400 million year old sea fossils? Our highest point is made of long-dead marine critters. See, the time would fly by!
Stuart: Regular stops. Endless (sarcastic) humour. And the party to end all parties when we get to the top!
Stay tuned for the next Speaker Spotlight...