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Engage Group announces senior appointments

Engage Group has boosted its position as the UK's leading employee engagement firm with the appointment of John Smythe and Jerome Reback as partners. Smythe and Reback, founder partners of Engage for Change, (EfC) are world authorities in leadership engagement.

The appointments are another step in the implementation of the Engage Group strategy to create a world class firm whose core purpose is to help organisations improve their performance through effective engagement, according to managing partner Peter Agertoft.

"EfC will not only bring additional clients to the enlarged group but will also provide unique thought leadership from the work done in partnership with McKinsey & Company to establish current approaches to engaging leaders and employees, as well as their award-winning new book: 'The CEO – The Chief Engagement Officer, Turning the hierarchy upside down to drive performance', published by Gower in June 2007.

John Smythe is a founding partner of Engage for Change.

After leaving Smythe Dorward Lambert in 2003, a consultancy which was acknowledged to be the thought leader in organisational communication, John was invited by McKinsey & Company to take a short term role as a visiting Organisational Fellow, undertaking research among sixty corporations and institutions in Europe and North America into current approaches to engaging leaders and employees to driving strategy and change. The results of the research, together with the findings of the experience of working with clients, are recorded in his award winning new book: 'The CEO – The Chief Engagement Officer, Turning the hierarchy upside down to drive performance', published by Gower in June 2007.

Prior to consulting, John saw service in corporate communication positions with three US corporations: Occidental Petroleum, the Bechtel Corporation and Marathon Oil. He spent a year as special advisor to Neil Kinnock during the latter's tenure with the European Commission.

Jerome Reback is an accomplished consultant in communication and change management, having provided guidance and advice to many of Europe's leading organisations over the last 18 years.

His experience spans the development of approaches to support corporate change, leadership mentoring and coaching, the creation of communication and engagement strategies and the development of programmes to support alignment with the brand promise and internal capability to deliver.

As a founding partner of Smythe Dorward Lambert, he co-authored 'Corporate Reputation: Managing the new strategic asset', published by Random House in 1993, has a degree in economics and an MBA from the London Business School.