CIPD11 the CIPD Annual Conference In Manchester approaches

Its October already, and time to start thinking about the UK's largest HR related conference and exhibition in Manchester in November 2011.

Topics

The CIPD have introduced 4 new conference streams focusing on what they consider are the key areas of HR. 

Streams:

• Creating High Performing Organisation
• Building HR Capability
• Future-Fit for business
• Models for progressive leadership

Covering key areas:

• Change management
• Organisation development
• Recruitment and resourcing
• Talent development and leadership 
• Learning and development
• Performance management
• Employee benefits and reward
• Employee engagement

As well as these premium sessions, there is a wonderful array of free seminars taking place in the exhibition hall over the three days.

HRD10 - this week at Olympia

With HRD 2010 returning to Olympia and only a few short days away have you planned your trip?

Listed below are the free seminars and workshops available for you to see on day 1.

Wednesday 21 April 2010
09:45-10:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone


Introducing 'My HR Map' - CIPD's new online self assessment tool
Discover CIPD's new online self-assessment tool - My HR Map. Learn how you can use it to assess your capability against the activities, knowledge and behaviors in the CIPD HR Profession Map. See how you can plan your professional development with access to recommendations for development. ...more

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

10:00-10:30 Stream: Topic Tasters
Could OD Make You a Better HR Practitioner?’
This session will discuss what is OD and what can it do for HR and the organisation? What makes OD difference from other change management solutions? And what skills do HR practitioners need to make sure they can support and deliver positive OD outcomes? ...more

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

10:00-10:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Communicate Effectively for Fun, For Free, For Forty-Five Minutes…..Fearlessly
Have you heard the one about the actor, the barrister and the magician? They're the team that will share their professional techniques to inspire you to communicate effectively with confidence and passion. ...more

Delivered by: Effective Communication Group,

10:45-11:15 Stream: Topic Tasters
Demonstrating the Non-tangible Benefit of Management Development Programmes
Quantifying the benefit of any management development programme is the hardest part of preparing a business case for the cost. Thames Water report the benefits accruing from an ongoing programme. ...more

Delivered by: Dove Nest Group

10:45-11:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Presenting your Case with Impact
Making sure your audience understand your message is key -helping them remember what you have said afterwards as they make decisions, accept your recommendations or change their behaviour is crucial. This session explores how to make an impact on your audience and make your message memorable. ...more

Delivered by: MOL
11:00-11:45 Stream: Learning Arena

How To Have A Difficult Conversation - a transactional analysis approach
Join our interactive session and learn how our mind set changes when we experience stress or pressure and how this may negatively impact our communication. Discover how Transactional Analysis can help you and your work colleagues manage this more effectively.
Delivered by: Learning Curve (TLC),

11:30-12:00 Stream: Topic Tasters
Creating 'Anywhere, Anytime' Learning
We will discuss how e-learning and video can help you reach more learners. We'll look at of how organisations, large and small, have reaped business benefits by creating a genuine 'anywhere, anytime' approach to learning. ...more

Delivered by: Video Arts

11:45-12:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
New Look Membership & Qualifications - what's in it for you?

Hear about the new look CIPD membership and qualifications. Find out how they'll help you demonstrate and build your professional competence based on the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to be a successful HR practitioner. ...more

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

12:00-12:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Lie to Me - reading emotions and deceit through facial expressions
The ability to read emotions in others through micro and subtle facial expressions can be learned. This session will show you how.

Delivered by: Development Processes Group Plc

12:15-12:45 Stream: Topic Tasters
Self-Leadership- taking the initiative!
Develop your people to make the transition from responsiveness to responsibility; to take the initiative in idea generation, innovation and problem solving; tackle assumed constraints; collaborate; and recognise their Points of Power. ...more

Delivered by: Ken Blanchard Companies

12:45-13:15 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Are There Enough Hours in the Day?
A familiar cry from busy people everywhere, so how can we make best use of our time, achieve what we need and even more. This session considers how we use our time and shares some approaches to self management that can be put into practice straight away. ...more

Delivered by: MOL

13:00-13:30 Stream: Topic Tasters
Brilliant Decision Making
Getting decisions right- the first time- is increasingly important in today's stretched organisational environment. This talk will give potent and practical information to anyone who wants to consistently make top class decisions at work, and to encourage others to do the same.
Venue: Brilliant Decision Making -
Delivered by: NLP School

13:00-13:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Bring Alive and Sustain Learning - naturally!
Dull, boring, predictable- Don't blame the topic, engage the learner. This fun packed informative session is designed for trainers and presenters who dare to be different and have a passion for transformational learning. ...more

Delivered by: Tetramap

13:45-14:15 Stream: Topic Tasters
OD - why bother?
This session will help you to get a clearer fix on what OD is, what it is not and the different ways in which it is practised. Using Roffey Park’s own research and insights from its successful MSc in People and Organisational Development we will help you recognise and articulate the value that OD can bring to your organisation ...more

Delivered by: Roffey Park Institute Limited

13:45-14:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Buying in Training - how to ensure you get the training you deserve
This lively and interactive session using example, case study and discussion identifies the key issues that need to be addressed and covers the common mistakes L&D departments make when outsourcing. ...more

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

14:00-14:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Putting the Customer First – achieving lasting relationships.
Knowing and understanding your customer helps give you the skills to serve them effectively. How can you build on that success to generate trusting, valued relationships and develop customer loyalty to your business?

Delivered by: Steps Drama Learning Development Limited

14:30-15:00 Stream: Topic Tasters
10 Great Ideas to Turn Classroom Training into Exciting E-learning
With pressure on training budgets, many organisations are looking to convert classroom training to online learning. This session will cover 10 practical tips to help make this transition a success. ...more

Delivered by: Sponge UK

14:45-15:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Training with Vision – how to enhance your training courses with video
The role of video as a training tool is changing. With content now available in bite-sized chunks focussing on skills rather than a drama, trainer’s need to gain a new skill set of their own to be able to use these resources effectively. Terry Gillen, the CIPD DVDs’ originator and Series Consultant, shows you how to gain maximum value from them. ...more

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

15:00-15:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Why Won't People Listen To Me?
Do your ideas sometimes get dismissed? You have great thoughts but they don't always get taken forward. This session gives you practical tips on influencing others for impact. ...more

Delivered by: Hemsley Fraser Group Ltd

15:15-15:45 Stream: Topic Tasters
Selecting Coaches for the Generation Y Era and Beyond
What will new era coaches need to be capable of to support your emerging young talent? ...more

Delivered by: Unlimited Potential

15:45-16:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
New Look Membership & Qualifications - what's in it for you?
Hear about the new look CIPD membership and qualifications. Find out how they'll help you demonstrate and build your professional competence based on the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to be a successful HR practitioner. ...more

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

16:00-16:30 Stream: Topic Tasters
Create, Load and Deliver Your Learning Content Using New Technologies
A look at how your organisation can begin to build a culture of collaborative and informal learning, engaging learners with your own content and utilising new technologies for learning and delivery. ...more

Delivered by: Working Manager,

The 16:00-16:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Short Activities can Initiate Change and Improve Performance. How?
Experience how short fun activities can, when well facilitated; introduce serious topics, stimulate personal thought, become a platform for personal and organisational change. ...more

Delivered by: MTa Learning

16:45-17:15 Stream: Topic Tasters
Leveraging Diversity for Competitive Advantage
Traditional approaches to diversity have focused on risk avoidance, today we will show you how to proactively create inclusive workplaces that get the best from your people and offer the best to your clients.

Delivered by: Impact International

17:00-17:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Experiential Learning at its Best
This session will facilitate a Teamscapes activity and a debriefing session that will demonstrate the power of Experiential Learning.

Delivered by: Sundial Group

17:30-18:00 Stream: Topic Tasters
The Challenge of the Digital Native Generation
Current and next generation learners will present major challenges to HR over the coming decade. This presentation will stimulate discussion about those challenges and their implications. ...more

Delivered by: Serious Games Institute

Around the exhibition

Throughout the conference I made several visits to the main exhibition area. The days of the mega stands have long gone, now its about business, not flash.

I noticed that many firms had freebies of varying types. Mostly  low cost sweets, mints etc. Some had stress balls, others stuffed toys - and then some had fresh juice, smoothies, coffee, massage and one a caricature artist.

I noticed that on day one there was a lot to have, however on the third and final day (morning) there was a lot less. So to those that had both planned well here is a photo montage of the stands and their offers...

SCALA and their free juice

DPG and their teddy bears

Tetramap & their wide range of stress balls

Imagine and their caricature drawing, ethical chocolate & beanie teddy bear

Blackrock and their black stress balls, mints and cakes - great brand colours - they stood out at this event

Simplyhealth & their massage

Other notable freebies included coaching sessions from Unlimited Potential

These providers made a focus of their 'give aways'. There were many more - but they were either 'uninspiring' such as the stands that had quality street or pens, some had gone to great effort to have things on the stand, but made it difficult for visitors to have them. here was a rumour that one stand had soft toy elephants - but there was little evidence that there were available as a 'general' give away.

While going around there were a couple of stands worthy of special mention:

The team at HR Recruitment Solutions for pro-actively fund raising for Guide dogs for the blind

TwitterJobSearch for being the first exhibitor to book a stand by twitter! @twitjobsearch

CIPD annual conference 2009 - Manchester

As this years CIPD annual conference and exhibition gets closer - have you booked yet?

This is the first year that the CIPD is moving its conference from Harrogate to Manchester on the 17-19 November. It will be interesting to see how this move works. certainly moving from Harrogate - when it was the only conference in town, to Manchester where there will be other events on at the same time will be a cultural change for the event in many ways.

In days gone by, the CIPD 'main event' was surrounded by a number of unofficial fringe events - will the move to Manchester spark that same level of entrepreneurship?

Are you planning to go?

If you are into twitter check out hash-code #cipd09

Learning Technologies 2009

Are you going to this learning based conference and exhibition?

Mike will be blogging from here at http://rapidbi.wordpress.com/ see you there.

MyEvent - is it or isn't it...?

Having returned from the conference I was keen to look at the presentation promised in the comprehensive session handouts. On Friday one representative from the CIPD sales team returned my call and left a message. When I spoke to the member of the team he told me that due to circumstances beyond their control the presentations from Harrogate would not be up until mid week at the earliest... not what was suggested in the notes from the conference session suggest that they were available immediately... but that is one the joys of being an early adopter.

It is a shame as the promised networking from this facility appears to be a bit of a pipe dream... at least at this stage. This may well be down to too few early adopters registering on the system and more down to the users than the system itself.

Some of the facilities are 'restricted by administrator'...maybe someone has forgotten to throw the 'switch' and I am sure it will all work wonderfully when this is corrected....

Update -
Having spoken to the Conference Producer, it appears that some of the functionality is available only to users with certain profiles - this was a challenge the CIPD community had last year - so looks like it is just teething problems.

The expectation of the presentations being available 'instantly' was an expectations management difficulty - the wording on the handouts saying one thing but realistically the conference organisers needing time to confirm changes with speakers - so with the reassurance that content will be available in a couple of days all is well in MyEvent land.

User Error
With any new system there are two types of error - errors in software.. and user errors.

When I experienced errors when searching I was searching from the wrong page - so the results I obtained were not what I expected - at the right page it was working fine... DOH!


The future
It looks like the CIPD are continuing to invest in this platform and it will provide members and event attendees with some very useful facilities in the future... Next test HRD 2009

When the teething difficulties have been sorted (common with all new IT systems) and users educated (it is very different from traditional forums) and integrated with the existing CIPD community forums, this will be a tremendous facility for all members - taking membership facilities to a new level.

MyEvent... is it or isn't it....
Well that is not a CIPD decision, this is down to users to make use of the excellent facility made available to event delegates. I would encourage CIPD branches to consider educating members in the use of this technology so that when members attend events they can make the most out of it.

Welcome to my CIPD conference blog

After the success of the CIPD annual conference blog (www.cipd2008.blogspot.com) I have decided to blog my attendance at all of these and future events.

This page will be a generic page for all future posts on CIPD conferences and exhibitions. There won't be much here for a while but watch this space...

Reflections on the CIPD annual conference and exhibition

What were your reflections on the CIPD annual conference and exhibition? Were you attending as:

• Delegate
• visitor
• Exhibitor
• CIPD Staff
• or the Press

Will you attend Manchester next year? Why?

Final round in the exhibition halls

The sessions had finished for the conference and the final keynote delivered.. what else was an HR professional to do but take one last walk around the exhibition stands. Many had started packing up early, but as homage to those that 'went the distance' and smiled as us weary 'punters' paced the halls, here are a few that caught my eye...


Management Pocket Books


Dove Nest Group (DNG)

Training Foundation & TAP













DPG and MAP (Goldilocks with the three bears?)

Success-Stories

CMS

People Management

On your feet and ready for action... ever ready?

Being on an exhibition stand is one of the hardest roles and times.. your feet are killing you, you are attempting to engage with people that do not believe they want to talk to you, the relentless rejection - unless you have lots of freebies to give away.

I hope that all the exhibitors obtained the amount of business they deserve based upon the amount of effort each person on each stand delivered... go home.. put your feet up and soak in the bath..... World of learning, HRD and learning technologies are just around the corner.. hope to see you again in 2009 in Manchester.

The Apprentices & other celebrity's in Harrogate - Raising the bar

The Apprentice at the CIPD

Kristina Grimes and Jennifer Celerier

The Apprentice at the CIPD

Did you meet Alan Sugar's former apprentices Kristina Grimes and Jennifer Celerier?

They have been in the exhibition representing their company kgjcp, meeting people and promoting their event "Raising the bar" a performance excellence event featuring Jack Black.

What other celebrity's did you meet?

Who else was among us but did not have a stream of press following ?

CIPD celebrity's

Other celebrity's I met included many of the CIPD staff who were quietly ensuring that the event went well and delegates and visitors found their way around - I won't mention everyone by name - but you know who you are - well done and thank you.

Yes you are HR heroes too.

;)

Talking talent (in turbulent times)

Closing Keynote

The Panel

Vicky Wright - President CIPD

Liane Hornsey - Google

Satish Pradhan - Tata Sons

David Smith - ASDA

Alex Wilson - BT

This panel session was introduced by Vicky Wright , President of the CIPD. Wright in her introduction directed us to the fact that all four of these organisations had one thing in common - they have all experienced and are experiencing transition currently.

Jon Snow facilitated the session featuring;

• David Smith - ASDA
• Liane Hornsey - Google
• Alex Wilson - BT
• Satish Pradhan - Tata Sons

Snow's opening words were "in the 20 years of Channel 4 news I can only think of two major events that have impacted all of us. One was 9/11 the other is our current economic challenge "

Snow posed a number of question to the panel and this was followed by the opportunity to ask questions. Below is a summary of key messages from each of the panel:

David Smith -

"you have to have an employer brand.. and mean it"

"it (business) is not just about making money, we must make money ethically and stability"

"one of the roles of HR is to say the unpopular messages/ news to the CEO"

"HR & Business strategy are the same thing"

"we recruit to the culture more than skills - all staff including hourly paid staff have to complete a 1/2 day assessment centre as part of the recruitment process. If they are gregarious, we will hire them, if they are shy or difficult we don't want them."

"we set out to befriend our people, managers are expected to know their people at an individual level"

Alex Wilson

"The further staff are away from the front line the more we (and other organisations) need to remember that customers are important."

"This is our (HR) time, now we need to shine in the tough times"

"our first choice in tough times is always redeployment rather than redundancy" - The alumni of people that have left the organisation is bigger than that employed - we do what we can for the majority to remain advocates"

Liane Hornsey

"HR is about picking the right people for the job. Google will not compromise - we only hire people that will add value to Google". Hornsey mentioned one example of this where she has a vacant head of HR post for over 18 months as she has yest to find a suitable candidate.

In answer to a question about retention strategy for Google...

"We make the environment a place people want to be

We develop people relentlessly

We give then the work (and challenge) they enjoy"

Google also recruit to the culture not the job - often recruiting people without offering a particular role and then work with the individuals to find the right role for them.

At Google they use people and their hobbies and encourage people to run workshops and short training sessions on their hobby - this helps to create a culture of learning and people are free to attend anytime - they do not need to ask permission to attend - the business trusts that this action will encourage loyalty and a drive to work harder.

Satish Pradhan

"always use the best people to solve the biggest challenges"

"communicate what you are doing.. why you are doing it and most importantly in an authentic way. You must do what is right for that business, not just for the stakeholders."

Diversity is not a universal formula, and what is relevant for one organisation and context. Successfully businesses cannot work to a mathematical formula to diversity. What is right for one is not necessarily right for another.

Tata is an organisation that is run more like a federation rather than a traditional hierarchy, so they enable and empower people. Tata believe governance and culture is critical. Often staff that were employed under previous owners can do and deliver given the right context.

You cannot and must not see unions as adversaries... you must see them as advocates, if you don't take this approach you lose before you start.

The Close

Wright summarised the week and reminded us that this week is the changing face of business. Wright reminded us that Orme had earlier said in the week that the CIPD is changing to provide "relevant help to you".. just in time.

Wright had the belief that the conference had provided delegates with "relevant things you can take away... something new that you can do... HR and the role of HR is changing"

• Wright reminded us that Harrogate had been the home of the annual conference for 60 years (IPM, IPD etc..) and that they needs to change. The move to Manchester in 2009 would provide:
• Better exhibition space on one level
• The conference would be different - more relevant and provide more opportunities
• Smaller groups
• Select master classes
• More events within the exhibition space (this has worked well for the last two years)
• A more intimate environment

Wright also reminded us that the CIPD annual conference and exhibition 2009 would take place in NOVEMBER 2009... see you there...

Comment

This was an engaging and fitting end to the conference, we have had the Academics, the CEO's and finished with the HR directors. It was a shame that the audience by this session was somewhat depleted, many traveling back home and not fully engaged with the whole event. There were so many messages that would benefit many HR team members.

Now to travel home, to reflect on the weeks events and the overall impact of the exhibition and conference.. but that I will leave for another day.

Be a hero - a HR hero

The theme of this years event has been HR individuals as organisational heroes. Each session has commencement with a short, yet punchy video showing HR professionals doing a wide range of activities. Key messages were:

• Challenge
• Drive performance
• Predicting the future
• Leading change

All around the exhibition have been references and activities promoting the "individual practitioner" as a hero.

Delegates have had the opportunity of video blogging their thoughts, have their photo taken in a seaside style cut-out and several other fun and lighthearted activities. I suspect much of this will make its way into People Management and the CIPD site in the coming months.

At the begining of each session a short video was played - this was based on the theme of the HR hero... No version of this appear on Youtube or the CIPD site - so appologies for the quality.

What's driving the business context

Bob Morton from Ciba introduced the session and Liam Fahey

Bob Morton from Ciba speciality chemicals opened the session and during his opening he reminded us that while many other speakers at the event had highlighted the current financial situation we should look beyond what is happening in the financial sector and look at the wider picture. His implication being that if you only look at the end of your nose you miss the real issues and more importantly the opportunities.

Liam Fahey (from the leadership forum) 'launched' himself on an unsuspecting audience with the opening line "good afternoon (it was 0935), those of us not in HR are used to an earlier start." - not a ripple from the some what small audience in the large auditorium. Fahey carried on regardless.

Fahey started to set the scene of what is happening in the world and how this impacts on our future strategy development - not just for hr but HR and business. He asked the rhetorical question "what COULD happen in the future that can screw your organisation?..." "what are humanities greatest needs" Indeed big questions for early on a Thursday morning.

Fahey drew our attention to what he calls the 10 needs of humanity (foci of change):

1. Energy
2. Water
3. Environment
4. Education
5. Poverty
6. Food
7. Disease
8. Terrorism/ war
9. Democracy
10. Population

And asked us how many of us applied this to our organisation when looking at strategy? In conjunction with this he highlighted a range of change domains: Products/ Services, Plans/Strategies, Region/ Global etc.. all of which interact with the global drivers of change. These can create and destroy significant business opportunities. To put these factors into context he pointed out that it did not matter how big or small our organisations were, nor what products or services we offer - regionally or globally, these factors would impact us and our decision making.

We were taken on a whistle stop tour of data and impacts of these ten factors, and shown that it is not difficult to get data on these factors - indeed many of the governmental agencies around the world provide this data for free - all we need to do is use it! This started to make the whole proposition real. No longer were these factors that would impact big and international organisations but each and every one of us.

As an example of using this data Fahey gave a brief case study looking at the mobile phone sector, he showed how the first 1/2 billion users are now changing their phone on average every 12 months, that the second 1/2 billion users have different requirements - and that the further down the user population you go the challenges faces - to the extent that the business model that works for the first 1/2 billion users is completely inappropriate for the second billion users etc... so as organisations we need to adapt to market needs greater than anything we have done before.

Lehey outlined the 10 factors and the potential impacts. He stated that 15% of the worlds population live with an abundance of water - that leave 85% with a water shortage - so their needs will be different, both in terms of services and application of technology and products. In this context he discussed two US based organisations that are pulling their manufacturing out of India and China and relocating them to the US on the basis that the water situation in the two countries will have a significant impact on production capability. So these 10 factors are being used by organisations for strategic decision making.

Food - demand is outpacing supply, and this is an area that needs to be looked at - both use and waste if we are to have a sustainable business model.

Terrorism - this was an interesting one, he asked us on a scale of one to ten of impact on us as a world population and economy where terrorism would be.... then he asked the same of human based viruses...... his answer was that terrorism was -10 and human virus was +100 in terms of impact. he cites SARS which only lasted for a few months and to all intents and purposes only really hit one region - he then asked us to imagine what would happen if a disease really spread and to thing about the impact..... He then asked what sort of effort and priority our governments were putting into protecting us from these factors - he mentioned that the UK only has enough vaccine for 5% of its population for a flu pandemic....

In Disease he looked at the increasing cost and impact of diabetes, both to the health of a population, health care implications and on product R and D. fascinating stuff.

Fahey skirted at a rapid pace on so many areas that I could not do them justice here.

Closing

He closed with challenging HR. HR needs to drive these things (the 10 factors) to influence senior management. We (HR) need to be both overt and subversive, we are potentially hold the key for success for our organisations... no one else is doing it...

Where ideology meets human circumstances ideology always loses.... this is as true in business as it is in politics... so values are all very well but just how far will the organisation go to support them? ( what would you do/ not do for £10m ?).

In the Q&A section in response to a question... You must remember the following two rules:

• Rule #1 you cannot predict the future
• Rule #2 ... remember rule #1

He said it was not about predicting the future - but running scenarios based on the information he has shared to forcast possible situations, he said that incidents like 9/11, the financial crash have been identified by scenario planning and some organisations are better position BECAUSE they had CONSIDERED the possibility... not because the 'predicted it'

He intimated that people are THE strategic asset and as managers we need to ensure that this asset and resources is utilised effectively - whatever that means in a given context.

Summary thoughts

It was a shame that there was a small audience and a a 'reluctant' applause. For me this was one of the most powerful and enlightening session of the conference. For an HR manager or director to be truly strategic we need to look beyond the policy and procedures and develop contingency and strategy to deal with the possible future scenarios. One colleague Fahey mentioned said that in an exercise looking at 'worst possible situation' - over 90% of them had already occurred - so strategic and scenario planning is of critical performance.

Fahey did not 'sell' his own books in fact they were not mentioned in the presentation - I for one will be buying some of them - a highly recommended speaker - in fact I would say mandatory reading/ listening for all CPP and other HR 'students'. I hope the MP3 of this session will be widely available.

Surviving and thriving through turbulence

After showing two high energy videos (one showing HR hero's which has started every session of the conference) the keynote for day two was introduced by Linda Holbeche, Director of Research and policy at the CIPD.

The theme of surviving and thriving through turbulence was 'split' into people and change focus and leadership focus.

Carolyn McCall, CEO from the Guardian media group started the session looking at people and change. After outlining the changes that her company had faced through the emergence of the digital age he positioned here experience of leading an organisation through significant and unpredictable turbulence.

McCall said that in challenging time like we are experience requires challenging people. McCall highlighted the challenges that the print media had faced, in that for the past 200 years the business model has hardly changed, however the past 10 years has changed everything. In the past you knew where your competitors were coming from... but who would have predicted that a technology (software) company would be the greatest competitor... Google.

To survive we need to keep our 'experts', however they need to be able to be adaptable and work collaboratively.

In times of change and turmoil McCall says that we need training, coaching and mentoring more than ever, and this is the time to increase this activity - not cut it back.

McCall has a clear view on HR, and that is that HR must not work in a silo or be purely functional. HR needs to be a true business partner. As strategic partners they need to be strong enough, work transparently and be honest to the CEO. It is the responsibility of HR to tell the CEO the truth, not to hide the facts. This can prove to be the key information source to the CEO providing information that cannot be obtained other ways.

We were then show a video showing the views of HR people from the GMG company. This clearly showed the commitment the HR people get and give.

The key seven factors for success.

• Make people strategy an integral part of business strategy
• Make change early to set the tone
• Never compromise on getting the best
• Foster networks, coaching and mentoring
• Plan for succession (needs to be live not just a document kept in a draw)
• Keeping investing for the upturn (training, development marketing etc)
• You can never communicate enough

David Robinson - CEO of richersounds.

Robinson started with the statement that when under stress it is easy for leaders to revert to command and control , but that it is important to keep an eye on the people involvement.

The key five leadership qualities that make the difference Robinson's believes are:

1. Communicate - richersounds do weekly and detailed updates to all staff
2. Integrity - better to tell the truth early and if belts need tightening - tighten at the top first (and not just bonuses)
3. Accessibility - not just platitudes during induction but to really be accessible
4. Bravery under pressure
5. Single mindednesses

Robinson said that it is important to admit to mistakes and show that you learn from the mistakes. Honesty and integrity.

Motivating staff is vital in times of challenge Robinson's 'magic' includes:

1. Fun
2. Recognition (just in time)
3. Flexibility
4. Rewards (reward the behaviours that you want)
5. Loyalty (inc long service)

Finally Robinson outlined that to have a winning team we need to look at the successes of the Olympic team GB. To create a team he believes the following is required:

1. Clear objectives
2. Manage failure
3. Have the best ingredients (people and resources, products etc)
4. Work harder (and smarter) than your competition
5. User trigger words or phrases to engage with your people
6. Lead by example
7. Value rest - pausing can make a big difference - take a break.
8. Celebrate success.

Summary

All of the three speakers were coherent and very listenable. Messages were blindingly simple, it was down to the belief, trust and integrity of the people at the very top of the organisation - total commitment to a leadership approach. It was about CEO's starting to spend as much or more time with the HR professionals than they do with the Finance Officer.

A wonderful and engaging close to the second day of the 2008 CIPD annual conference.

Networking.. networking.. networking

Lunch time
Having not seen the labels identifying what sandwiches were what in yesterdays 'crush', today I was more careful, and then went to meet with other CIPD community regulars in the CIPD lounge in Hall M, After an enjoyable informal set of discussions and solving the world problems I had a short meeting with Martin Sloman about L&D and future opportunities.

Not having a session to attend after lunch I met up with fellow CIPD and TrainerBase members in hall Q in the 'breakout area. Eight of us made it so thanks to Christine for organising this - a good opportunity to meet informally, swap business cards and exchange thoughts about the conference and exhibition. generally people were happy with their experience.

Equality?
While walking around I was 'accosted' by a topless young man carrying a tray of chocolates, a short while after I was talking to some lady exhibitors and asked what they thought of this - they said it almost put them off the chocolates!! Now I am all for getting attention, but if a woman was in a swimsuit at this event what would people have said? Is all fair in marketing?

Strategic talent management

The session was started by Emily Lawson of McKinsey who started by saying that the company had been engaged with talent management for over 10 years and that approaches to talent management are very different now and will be different in the future. Lawson drew our attention to a raft of research that they had been undertaking, looking into what would make talent management more effective, she then followed this by asking us not to be disappointed in that they do not yet have any definitive answers... yet.

Through an array of diagrams Lawson showed us models of talent management programmes and highlighted that many of the most successful approaches did not limit talent management to senior levels, but to strategically important parts of the organisation. She also drew our attention to the importance to looking at talent in the 'indirect workforce' rather than just in the traditional hierarchy.

When organisations do have talent management strategies she said that in a significant percentage of firms, HR was not involved in the development of talent management strategies - a scary thought. Lawson showed that no single model would work for all organisations, but that using diagnostics and OD a unique strategy should be developed for each organisation. One area she did highlight that is often overlooked or misunderstood is that of EVP - Employee value proposition and how this was identified, managed and communicated to relevant populations.

At this Point Lawson handed over to McKinsey colleague Matthew Guthridge.

Gutheridge indicated that the EVP was particularly important as more and more generation y employees hold key positions. Many organisations in the past 20-24 months were starting to wake up to the fact that they need to have a different proposition for this population and the strategies that did work simply do not function effectively for this population.

After highlighting a number of research based graphs he highlighted one key point and that is about accountability for talent management - research shows that HR think they are responsible - yes Operations also think they are - this is an area for organisations to explore and develop clarity and ownership.

Scott Hobbs from Amey

After a brief overview and introduction to the Amey company, Hobbs took us through the steps and programme they undertook in the recognition, identification and implementation of the need and application of a talent programme. He demonstrated how they achieved senior commitment from the beginning.

Summary

The management of this session was not good, at the allotted starting time we were not even allowed into the room. then when the front of the cabaret style room was full the session started, it was a full 10 minutes into the session before everyone was seated - most unfortunate. The slides from all of the presenters contained way too much data (I think the presenters need a presentation skills 101 course) and the house lights were so low that we were unable to follow the detail on the small handouts. Why the session started late I do not know, but participants should have had the opportunity of taking their seat before the session started. Matt clearly overrun leaving little time for Scott. A case of attempting to get three presentations into one session - it doesn't work!

Scott was the most engaging of the presenters but the others were of an average quality and clarity, not what would be expected at an event like this.

The session contained a lot of research with little tangible application, I did speak with another person after the session and while they disliked the challenges of the presentation (they were near the front) they found the content valuable.

Leading through turbulence

Masterclass - The power of courageous leaders,

Noel Hadden from Deusche Bank opened the session and set the scene, I almost wished Noel had the session to himself.. he was engaging and humorous in his positioning of the session, it was a particularly difficult introduction for him as his very sector is under the worlds spotlights in terms of what is happening in the investment banking sector. By far the bets and most engaging introduction of any session so far.

This session was led by creator of Ming Gym Octavius Black.

Black started the session again by putting into context the challenges that are being faced by our organisations on an almost daily basis. He posed the statement - "we know the economy is in a mess, that is not the question.. what is the question is How bad is it?"

This is very much a theme running throughout all of the sessions I have attended, an indicator of just how quick and deep we are being affected by current changes.

Black did a quick poll of the audience and of the 400 people in the room only 19 had been managers in 1980 - the last time we were managing a time when it was not consistent growth. This clearly demonstrated that we do not have the experience or resilience within management or HR and need to learn to adapt quickly.

After a flurry of examples of how psychology at a micro level can impact individual and organisation performance. Black cited research and activities that he and his associates and colleagues in the world of psychology have been doing to look at effective leadership, particularly through turbulent times. He highlighted a model he uses which is called the seven heads model. This looks at seven factors:

• Authenticity
• Bravery
• Hope
• Vitality
• Humility
• Curiosity
• Persistence

Black then went through each of these giving some details as to what each of these factors meant.

Summary

Throughout the session Black attempted several interactive exercises, sure these were of some value but each could have been provided in the handouts to undertake later - this was a masterclass not a workshop after all. Throughout the pair work (and a simple psychometric style instrument) Black paced the environment 'checking' that individuals understood the task and were making progress. This would have been fine for 30-40 people - but in my opinion was not particularly effective for a group of this size. Black quoted lots of names of psychologists and books, however often too fast for people to take note and not referenced in the presentation notes in context - although to be fair there is a list of books Black has provided for recommend reading.

I have seen Black before and this was not his best performance, I had the feeling he was attempting to cover too much for the allocated time. However some interesting points for delegates, including references to the 'leaders behaviour' 'hope' has been a regular feature of other presenters this week.

Attended a workshop or seminar that is not listed here?

A number of people have approached me and asked if they can contribute about sessions I am not blogging about - well here you can. If you have attended a workshop and want to share your experiences and key learning please do so here.
Thanks for reading (and commenting)
Mike

Delegate Drinks Reception

An audience with L Vaughan

We arrived for the ‘delegates drinks reception where red and white wine and orange juice. The session started calmly with networking tables with subject topics on stands on the tables. I met up with one professional who is now based in Frankfurt in the banking world, He described the whole event as a “HR love fest” – bizarrely I knew exactly what he meant”. Then the music filled the room and this ‘man’ in a yellow suit come out singing and clapping, he ran around the room shaking hands and giving hi-fives. This character turned out to be a cheesy motivational speaker – a good act – but I am not so sure that the ‘three victims’ enjoyed the show as much as others – and Tracey. if you are reading this were you his ‘fox’?

Entertaining yes… easy networking…no….

Keynote - Jackie Orme

Jackie Orme
Jackie Orme is the new CEO for the CIPD and opened the session. She shared some of her views and goals for the years ahead. In the context of the breaking news about the financial markets Orme highlighted that we (the HR function) now have the best access to boards and CEOs for many years, that CEOs are starting to be proactive and approach HR for advice and guidance. She called for CIPD members to stop navel gazing and to focus on delivering results for the business.

Orme said that she was changing the priorities for the institute. Much of the research completed by the CIPD is academic and pure research based. Orme’s vision is for 50% of all CIPD research within the next 12 months to be topical and relevant to the ‘practitioner in the street’.

Changes are to be expected in the delivery of qualifications for HR too.. in that the people coming into HR are changing, HR needs to adapt and to be more relevant to the practitioner. She said that changes to the CIPD qualification structure and method of achieving would be announced by the end of the year. The new CIPD pathways would focus not only on qualification but application of skills and knowledge.

The future of HR is changing due to organisation leadership being more values based than ever. She said that we need to move from being staff advocates to being more of a business and customer service advocate, that is building an organisation that has talented people fighting to join.

Orme has a vision for change and did not appear to be shy of announcing it. Orme then introduced the main Keynote speakers.

It was disappointing that there was little time to ask any questions, however I am sure we are likely to see a more responsive institute in the coming months….but it may not be what we are expecting”