Guest Conversations and Highlights

Podcast Episode 42: What does the CEO really want from HR? Featuring CEO Craig Marshall from OrganOx

17th February 2020

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This Episode: What does the CEO really want from HR? Featuring CEO Craig Marshall from OrganOx

In this HR Uprising episode, we begin the first in a new series on “What does the CEO really want from HR?”Joining Lucinda to discuss this hot topic, is Craig Marshall CEO of OrganOx. Above all, he advocates the value that HR can bring.

Craig discusses the requirements he expects of his HR divisions, and the business journey that has led him to recognise how invaluable HR is to the beating heart of any business.

Key Takeaways

Spending twenty years being managed, before becoming a line manager, gave Craig a rare insight into how it felt to be managed both badly and effectively.
Originating from an engineering background, Craig admits he was slow to realise the true value of HR and people skills. Certainly, this appears to be a common occurrence in this particular field.
Distilling HR theory or presenting it as more evidence-based will help to attract a broader church of people. Consequently reaching those who can see this as woolly and dumbed down.
The ideal HR candidate, according to Craig, is the kind of person who has come from a larger organisation. Certainly, someone who has managed the evolution of people. Someone who can recognise the types of people and departments in any business, and also help them to achieve their maximum potential in the future.
HR helps Craig to understand the individuals in his business, but further than that, it allows him to find the most effective team dynamic.
A good HR director will not be afraid to contribute and speak up when necessary. Above all, it’s important to be engaged, and unafraid to challenge.
Furthermore, Craig would like to see more innovation in HR. The business world is rapidly changing, and the way in which we are learning is incredibly transitional. Consequently, HR need to be much closer to the action in the ways in which we are choosing to learn.
When it comes to legacy, HR can be incredibly useful in explaining an executives negative impact from a business point of view, so long as it is done in a constructive, logical way.

Best Moments

‘Why work here? Why work harder?’
’There’s every reason to provide a sophisticated education to sophisticated people’
‘What does the team need?’
’They need to understand the people and know where to take them’
‘We need to make sure we’re tapping into contemporary resources’
‘Have the courage to have the conversation’

Valuable Resources

Join the HR Uprising LinkedIn Group
Host of The HR Uprising Podcast, Lucinda Carney, is also the founder and CEO of Actus Software, where you can find additional free HR Resources: https://actus.co.uk/free-performance-management-resources/

About The Guest

Craig Marshall became CEO of OrganOx in January 2017. Consequently, he is leading the commercialization of this exciting business, a game-changing within organ transplantation. OrganOx was founded in 2008 to exploit the normothermic organ preservation technology invented by Professor Peter Friend and Professor Constantin Coussios, the company’s Chief Medical Officer and Chief Technology Officer respectively. Additionally, OrganOx continues to benefit from strong ties with the University of Oxford. Peter is also Director of the Oxford University Transplant Centre and Constantin is Director of Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

Prior to joining OrganOx Craig was Managing Director of a £200m, 450 employee business, Siemens Magnet Technology, from 2010. During the period from 2010 to 2016, Craig was also an executive member of the £2bn Siemens Healthcare MRI business unit, the undisputed market leader. During his time in these roles, Siemens Magnet Technology was awarded UK Factory of the Year in 2015 and developed a revolutionary new magnet contained within the world’s strongest clinical MRI system, the Siemens 7 Tesla MAGNETOM Terra.

In addition, Craig is a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, he has a first degree from the University of Liverpool in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA with distinction from the University of Warwick Business School.

Earlier in his career, Craig worked at Oxford Instruments, Amersham Healthcare plc as well as GE Healthcare in a variety of management and leadership roles.

Craig Marshall on LinkedIn
OrganOx – https://www.organox.com/about-us/meet-the-team

About The Host

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. It was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“When we look up we rise up”