Bio

Serena is the head of Talent Management for SoftwareONE, a Learning & Development leader, on the board of the Learning & Development Accelerator, a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute, & currently also a doctoral candidate at Middlesex university, researching into the future of learning & the L&D function in technology accelerating organisations. Her current role includes Performance Management, Succession Planning, Talent Identification, Workforce Planning, and leadership of the SoftwareOne Academy - the firm's corporate university and education philanthropy. The research looks at new, emerging and evolving organisations to establish at if and at what point they should introduce a managed learning function, and what the role, structure and remit of that function should be. This means that Serena keeps up to date with the latest in learning technology, theory, thought leadership and the digital transformation of the L&D field. In her previous role as Head of Learning for Cloudreach, a technology consulting firm in hyper-growth, Serena's role included setting the learning strategy, implementing the LMS, managing talent and career development and predictive learning solutions to future-proof the firm's highly skilled tech workforce. Serena then took over the overall Talent function which included L&D, Recruitment, and Organisation Design, in support of the firm's transition to a new structure and operating model. Having worked for organisations including Spencer Stuart, KPMG, Thomson Reuters and IBM, Serena has a wealth of experience in leading learning functions for internal departments, external clients as a management consultant & as a service line lead with client/ revenue responsibility. Experience includes creating an L&D function’s business facing strategy, the learning operating model, vendor, budget & LMS management. This has been across several sectors including Financial Services, Oil&Gas, Telecomms, Supply Chain & Public Sector departments. As head of KPMG’s Cyber Academy, Serena was often featured in the press, published articles & blogs, & spoke at various industry seminars on how companies can address the cyber skills gap, & on setting up skills frameworks & curriculum in information security. The Cyber Academy was a finalist at the 2015 SC Awards for Best Professional Training Programme. Serena is also experienced in organisational development, change management, roll-out of systems relating to Performance & Talent Management, & Leadership Development & Learning curriculum management – blend, governance & measurement.