BT Group has appointed Athalie Williams (pictured) as chief human resources officer, to start on 1 December.
Williams, who has more than 30 years of experience, will be a member of the group executive committee.
She joins from mining and resource business BHP, which employs more than 80,000 people worldwide. She became part of its group human resources team in 2007, where she led talent management, leadership development and succession planning activities for the BHP Billiton Group. As BHP’s chief people officer, she was a member of the executive leadership team and was responsible for all aspects of its people, culture and capability strategies.
Williams then held the role of vice president of human resources, followed by overseeing BHP Billiton’s global marketing function based in Singapore. This included responsibility for its China, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore sites and the delivery of HR solutions and services to employees in 17 locations globally.
Before this, she spent 14 years leading complex business transformation, technology and change programmes as an organisation strategy and change management consultant at Accenture.
Philip Jansen, group chief executive at BT, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Athalie to BT. We have a very significant people, culture and transformation agenda ahead of us, and I’m delighted that someone of her undoubted leadership experience will be joining us. She will be an excellent addition to my executive team.
“I’d like to use this opportunity to thank Debbie White who has led the HR team for the past year. Debbie has brought great experience to my leadership team, helping us make real progress across some key programmes. She will leave a lasting impact on BT.”