Ciphr names new director of people

HR, benefits, and payroll software provider Ciphr has promoted Karen Lough to the new role of director of people.

Karen, who joined the Reading-based tech group in 2023 as head of learning and development, has been instrumental in advancing Ciphr’s people strategy. Earlier this year, she was promoted to head of people experience, where she led initiatives to enhance employee performance and cultivate a strong workplace culture.

Reporting to Claire Williams, Ciphr’s chief people and operations officer, Karen will oversee the delivery of the company’s people and culture strategy. 

Karen said: “Since joining Ciphr I've had the opportunity to lead on several significant projects that have really helped to amplify the performance of our people and our wider employee value proposition.

“We’ve transformed our learning culture by fully capitalising on the internal use of our own LMS platform. 

“We also spent a lot of time reframing our company goals and introducing a performance management framework. 

“Our top-down approach to objective setting means each of our employees has meaningful performance goals linked to our company strategy. 

“So, they have complete transparency of what they need to do and how that impacts the success of our business.

“I'm looking forward to building on this in my new role as director of people, as we grow and thrive as a company.”

Claire added: “I would like to recognise Karen’s dedication, contribution, and success in being promoted to director of people. 

“Over the past 20 months, she’s made a big impact at Ciphr. She’s a highly motivated HR leader, with great integrity and a passion for developing Ciphr’s people and culture and helping to cultivate a great place to work. 

“I have no doubt she will do a fantastic job in her new role.”

Ciphr also announced the permanent appointment of Katie Chowns as compliance manager and confirmed Gwenan West will continue as head of people operations, reporting to Karen.

Ciphr supports over 1,000 organisations, including Volkswagen Group UK, Crisis UK and the University of Oxford, with its integrated HR software solutions designed to empower HR teams and drive business success.

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