The woman who played a key role in navigating Enero through the wreckage of the Photon dot com crash has potentially jumped from the frying pan into the fire as she grabs the leash of embattled Seven West Media’s misbehaving executives.
The announcement comes hot on the heels of yesterday’s news of McGrath’s predecessor’s departure.
McGrath was crucial in the revival of Enero following its legendary fall from grace during the dot comm crash. The business went from an unwieldy loss-making conglomerate of more than 100 companies to a profitable, tightly aligned group of ten companies under group CEO Matt Melhuish’s stewardship who regarded McGrath as his key adviser.
Seven West Media reported a significant loss for the first six months of the 2016/2017 financial year and has been dogged by allegations of running a boys club after one of its two female board members resigned following its handling of the ongoing Amber Harrison affair.
The announcement from Seven follows:
Seven West Media today announced the appointment of Katie McGrath as Group Executive, Human Resources. Ms McGrath will join the senior executive team and report to CEO, Seven West Media, Tim Worner.
Ms McGrath joins Seven West Media from ASX listed Enero Group, where she has been Global Human Resources Director for the past seven years. Prior to joining Enero, Ms McGrath was National Head of Staffing for Bain & Company; Company and has held senior human resources roles for two decades.
Ms McGrath holds a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW and a Post Graduate degree in Psychology from the University of Sydney.
Ms McGrath will lead human resources across Seven West Media’s businesses, including the Seven Network, Pacific Magazines, the company’s expanding portfolio of digital businesses and ventures, and Seven West Media WA which includes The West Australian and The Sunday Times.
Commenting on her appointment, Tim Worner, CEO, Seven West Media, said: “Katie has an exceptional track record in all aspects of people strategy and leadership. She will lead the development of the most valuable resource we have at Seven West Media, our people.”
