David Smith is a decorated HR professional, best known for his work as the former People and IT Director of Asda. Having honed his skills in industrial relations as part of the Crucible of the Miners Strikes, David has since forged a reputation as a distinguished expert on the human resources problems that are facing not only the leaders of today, but also the problems that will face the leaders of the future. A Companion of the Chartered Institute of People and Development, David is now highly sought after as an HR speaker for corporate clients, sharing his wisdom on improving workplace culture and people performance.
Back in 1994, David joined Asda, excelling as the People and IT Director of the supermarket giant since 2000. During his tenure at Asda, David was renowned for being a pivotal member of the team that revolutionised Asda from being the fourth rank food retailer, to being named the Number 1 Best Place to Work by The Sunday Times. He was also the orchestrator of countless revolutionary schemes at Asda, including the All Colleague Bonus Scheme, the IVF Leave scheme, the Basic Skills Programme and the Benidorm and Grandparents Leave schemes. Such dedication to helping people achieve a greater work-life balance and improve corporate cultures saw David awarded the Sam Walton Award for Driving Excellence in People Policies.
Other prominent roles of David’s have included being the Commissioner of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Employment Studies and the Vice President of the CIPD. To share the decorated story of his career, David has authored several books. His bestselling books include the titles ASDA Magic, Culture Trumps Strategy, Performance Management for the 21st Century and Bad Bosses. Today, David can be found sharing his expertise and best practices with colleagues at Wal-Mart, especially his detailed expertise on strategy formulation and plan execution.
With such a decorated career in HR to his name, David Smith is now hired as a specialist HR speaker for a range of corporate clients – proudly represented by Champions Speakers as an official booking agent of David Smith's. Focussed on people performance and workplace cultures, David is hired to share his expertise on all aspects of employee engagement, performance management, cultural change, business growth and restructuring. Delivering masterclasses on the 7 Principles of Building a High Performance Culture, don’t miss your opportunity to reap the benefits of David Smith’s decorated expertise in human resources today!
As a testament to the impact he had as the People and IT Director of Asda, David Smith was recently named as one of the Official Best HR Speakers Ranked on Popularity!
Books
ASDA Magic: The 7 Principles Of Building A High Performance Culture
Culture Trumps Strategy: Achieving High Performance Through People
Performance Management For The 21st Century: The Seismic Shift To Regular Performance Coaching
Bad Bosses - The Top 10 Leadership Pitfalls Which Most Irritate Followers
Reviews
David Smith received a 4.5 star rating across 11 events in 2023
Agent Recommendation
"David Smith, a celebrated HR expert and former Asda People and IT Director, is a beacon for enhancing workplace culture and people performance. His acclaimed contributions, from leading revolutionary schemes at Asda to authoring bestsellers on HR practices, make him an invaluable speaker for any corporate event seeking to inspire and transform their human resources approach."
How to hire David Smith
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring David Smith for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
David Smith's official speaking topics are listed below:
- The Seven Principles of Building a High-Performance Culture
- Performance Management
- Style of Leadership for Effective Change
- Powerful Business Communication
- Leadership in Tough Times
- Effective Execution
- World Class Customer Service
- People Management
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"We really enjoyed David's session last week! The feedback from the participants has been really positive and one of the stand-out sessions that we had. He was very personable and spoke very well. We had around 97% of participants who do not speak English as a first language but David ensured he spoke at a good pace. The content was great and he kept the audience engaged throughout, with people carrying on the conversations well into the afternoon. Please send him a big thank you from myself and Khuong." - Laura, Executive Assistant, BioMérieux
"The Team were really impressed and inspired. We learned a lot. Your contribution exceeded my expectations, and to be honest, I had pretty high expectations already. Great stuff." - Marketing Director, Liverpool Victoria
"Thank you for a truly inspirational and very enjoyable Masterclass. I don't think I have ever been to such a practical and relevant session." - HRD Red Bull
"I heard Jim Collins opening Keynote, but you were better. You spoke from the heart." - Small Business CEO
"David was excellent and provided a very good speech – we are already receiving lots of questions about when the next event will be." - RAF Wyton
- 2024 - Recognised as one of the Official Best HR Speakers Ranked on Popularity to Hire by Champions Speakers
- 2019 - Author of "Bad Bosses: The 10 Leadership Pitfalls Followers Most Resent"
- 2018 - Author of "Performance Management for the 21st Century: The Seismic Shift to Regular Performance Coaching
- 2016 - Author of "Culture Trumps Strategy: Achieving High Performance Through People"
- 2012 - Author of "ASDA Magic: The 7 Principles of Building a High Performance Culture"
- 2011 - Chairman of the Institute for Employment Studies
- 2003 - Vice President of the CIPD
- 2002 - Commissioner of the Equal Opportunities Commission
- 1999 - People Director of Asda Stores Ltd
- 1994 - People & IT Director of Asda
