New Chief People Officer to deliver change in Croydon’s NHS
An accomplished senior leader from the Royal Mail has been appointed as the new Chief People Officer at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, after a competitive national recruitment drive draws applications from a diverse range of industries and backgrounds.
Simon Haben brings a wealth of experience in transforming organisations serving their local population at the very heart of their community. Simon has held a number of senior roles in both the public and private sectors. His appointment in the NHS also brings him back to the London Borough of Croydon, where his career first began more than 30 years ago.
Simon was most recently the Human Resources Director of Strategy and Services at Royal Mail, where he has helped lead the organisation through the COVID-19 pandemic and support its extensive workforce delivering letters and parcels to 29 million households.
He has also led large-scale people and business transformation across a wide variety of organisational, culture and system changes, including creating a people strategy covering all aspects of HR to support more than 135,000 staff.
Commenting on his appointment, Simon said:
“I am delighted to be joining the team in Croydon, and especially at such a crucial time for the NHS. Helping healthcare workers care for rising numbers of people, whilst they themselves heal from the impact of the pandemic is something that I care passionately about. There is a huge opportunity to empower staff and truly listen to their experiences to improve the workplace culture and together find ways to adapt to the wide challenges facing health services.
“I am keen to get started and am looking forward to working with the thousands of dedicated NHS staff in Croydon who tirelessly strive to improve the lives of those who live and work in one of London’s biggest and most vibrant boroughs.”
Matthew Kershaw, Trust Chief Executive and Place-Based Leader for Health, added:
“Simon overcame fierce competition from a strong field of candidates, both in and out of the NHS. His work on embracing diversity in all its forms also set him clearly apart as the right appointment. Simon has a proven commitment and the progressive approach that we need to help us continue to transform our Trust and place equality and inclusion at the heart of everything we do.
“I am looking forward to welcoming Simon to the team and know that he will make a significant and positive contribution to our staff, and ultimately our patients, as we strive to make Croydon the place of choice to work and be cared for in the NHS.”
Trust Chair, Yemisi Gibbons added:
“Simon showed a real understanding of the importance of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and how we truly need to listen and involve the people in our care and within our workforce to ensure there is equality across the Trust for our patients, public and staff.”
Simon will join Croydon Health Services NHS Trust on 30 May 2023.
Profile of Simon Haben:
Simon Haben brings more than three decades of experience in both the public and private sectors. Simon has held a number of executive positions in both human resources and operations functions where he has used his particular strengths to identify strategic but practical solutions to issues and deliver transformation. Simon was most recently the Human Resources Director of Strategy and Services at the Royal Mail.
His career began in the London Borough of Croydon, working in the Council’s Chief Executive Offices during the 1990’s in a variety of roles focused on productivity improvement, organisational change, research and policy creation.
In addition to his executive career, Simon has been a Governor of the City of Westminster College, during which time the Ofsted rating was raised to ‘good’. He is also a non-executive director of Magnox Ltd, which is responsible for the safe decommissioning of nuclear sites.
Notes to editors:
- For more information, please contact the Trust’s communications team on chs.comms@nhs.net. For media enquiries outside of normal office hours and weekends, please call the Trust’s main switchboard on 020 8401 3000 and ask for the Press Officer On-Call.