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.

Free seminars for HRD - day 2

Continuing form our previous post, listed below are the free seminars and workshops available for you to see on day 2 at HRD10.

Thursday 22 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
Creating a culture of improvement: Trainer assessment and development beyond the happy sheet

Delivered by: Reed Learning

10:00-10:45 Stream: Learning Arena
The Scapegoat, the Trickster and You: navigating organisational change
Working with different organisational characters to deliver an expected happy ending can be a challenge. Whatever your role, join us and ensure you’re the sage, not the scapegoat.

Delivered by: Irving Allan

10:45-11:15 Stream: Topic Tasters
Zen and the Art of Mindless Learning
A short journey of exploration- what kind of learning experiences will create the capacities our organisations will need to prosper in the kind of business "ecosystems" they encounter today?

Delivered by: Jigsaw@work

10:45-11:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Maximising Your Own Learning
Move beyond action plans to get the most out of development opportunities, whether formal or informal.
Delivered by: MOL

11:00-11:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Unleashing Energy for Change with Physical Intelligence
Can movement transform the way people learn and engage? Learn about the concept of "I", try our body/brain workout, and experience Physical Intelligence, a new high impact development tool.

Delivered by: Companies in Motion

11:30-12:00 Stream: Topic Tasters
Future-Proof Organisations: The changing face of OD
OD must take into account the emerging need for organisations to recognise and embrace social and environmental issues alongside economic ones. We explore ways of achieving sustainable OD through leadership, dialogue and engagement.

Delivered by: Impact International

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.

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

12:00-12:45 Stream: Learning Arena
The Great Debate- coaching versus mentoring
Join us for an interactive discussion on the differences between Coaching and Mentoring as strategic development tools. Are we using the right tool for the right job?

Delivered by: Centre for People Development

12:15-12:45 Stream: Topic Tasters
Closing the Knowing-Doing Gap
People often know what they should be doing, but still don't do it. Knowing what should be done is not enough! 'FIT Science' is the next evolution in people/business development.

Delivered by: Exemplas Ltd

12:45-13:45 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Feedback Skills
Using this vital skill to improve both your own performance and that of others. ...more

Delivered by: MOL

13:00-13:30 Stream: Topic Tasters
It's All About You
Discover your own communication style and improve your understanding of others during this interactive workshop.

Delivered by: Rada Enterprises

13:00-13:45 Stream: Learning Arena
How to Put Your Audience to Sleep in 45 Minutes!
All of us need a little help with our public speaking from time to time. This energetic session offers top tools, tips and techniques to start the session properly, structure and deliver your presentation with the audience in mind and maximise your personal presentation style. ...more

Delivered by: Blue Beetle Limited

13:45-14:15 Stream: Professional Development Zone
Using Your Head at Work; the Hard Case for Soft Skills
The showcase will introduce a range of recent approaches to soft skills highlight some evidence form surveys and review some key issues.

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

13:45-14:15 Stream: Topic Tasters
In Shape for Development?- The experiential component of OD
Representing current and future organisational structure and dynamics using experiential tools allows stakeholders to explore, discuss and understand both the need for change, and the vision that OD is offering.

Delivered by: RSVP Design

14:00-14:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Mediation and Dispute Resolution Training: a drama-based approach
This drama-based presentation brings alive some key approaches to workplace mediation and dispute resolution. Attendees can formulate and even try out a number of approaches to a dramatised dispute.

Delivered by: UK Mediation

14:30-15:00 Stream: Topic Tasters
Not Just a Pretty Interface; aligning e-learning with business goals
Using case studies this session will illustrate how companies are successfully driving business growth and supporting corporate values through strategic implementation of e-learning. Maximizing adoption through stakeholder engagement, learning content design and evaluation. ...more

Delivered by: Information Transfer


14:45-15:45 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.

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

15:00-15:30 Stream: Learning Arena
'I Want to Give You Some Feedback'
People won't accept feedback if they don't believe it to be credible or accurate. If they won't accept it then has it been effective? How do you therefore encourage acceptance?

Delivered by: Management Pocketbooks

15:15-15:45 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

15:45-16:45 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.

Delivered by: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

16:00-16:45 Stream: Learning Arena
Green HRD: steps towards a green footprint
HRD now has to play a key role in improving the environmental performance of organisations. This session draws from a recent CIPD award winning paper for Best New Ideas and CETL award for Green Mentoring. Discuss, learn and develop individual and organisational steps to achieving a greener HRD culture.

Delivered by: Middlesex University Business School

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

Workshop w10 Building Innovation Capability

Building Innovation Capability


Facilitated by Ian Plover http://www.businessofchange.com/ & Cris Beswick http://www.letsthinkbeyond.com/

22 people in the workshop where there were spaces for 32, strange as innovation is a key theme for many at the moment, I would have thought the session would have been full (31 people were expected)



Cris works in Innovation, Ian in Change management

Notes, flipcharts and other materials that are developed on the day will be sent to us later.



Ian gave the story of a former MD at Anglian Water that was your typical MD – unassuming, then took some time out & went to Harvard. When he returned he was gushing with ideas and drove change through involvement and participation.

Innovation as a tool – the challenge is to create an org that can thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Who feels that they work in an innovative org? many feel that they have innovation IN their org but not as a whole

Innovation is often seen as product or service and it is often seen to have covert teams at the top level that are innovative.

How do we increase or capacity for innovation?

To use innovation – we need to understand it.

1) innovation is not the sole domain of R&D, high tech industries or specialists

2) is not about being first

3) not about being the biggest and best



Innovation is about diversity – about people. Innovation comes from how we mix stuff together.

GM spent $8B on innovation/ R&D and they went bust – that is $1/4M per employee – but they did not innovate internally.

Strategy-people-community-physical environment-creativity-risk-leadership

Strategy – it has to be core of what we do. The word “innovation” has been bastardised by marketing teams which no longer add value. What we need to do is to pump people some value into innovation

Do you have a HR strategy? A business strategy – are they aligned?



People – as an MD I want great people – if we have poor people I want them out-quickly

Community – I want people thinking of the community in the org – doing things for other teams, not just their own – its about more than “culture” – Jim Collins – how can you be a help to others

Environment – Tom Peter – “cultivate great talent by creating great places to work-eliminate cubical slavery” look at Google, they have done things to make the workspace a place people want to be

Creativity – creativity is not about designers & wacky stuff – its about thinking differently – 20% time in Google – 20% of their time to work on ‘stuff’ they feel is the next….. this is Google giving people “white space” in their diaries. How can we give people time to help think differently? Create the environment and the time to use it.

RISK – the big one…. Risk is all relative – if we want people to be creative, if we want – mark Twain ”if you always do what you have always done..” If you don’t risk anything you risk everything. Risk is about what R&D do and call prototyping – they rarely get it right first time – they take risks, they have time for risks – but the final output is proven. Google “to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible & useful” leadership is key to drive the vision.

Customers need to put the label “innovation” on something – not the creators…



Ian

The “Human Beings” department – rarely have I heard of HR & innovation mentioned in the same sentence

Thers is something about HR – we get on with the job and hide our lights under a bush. That is a shame as HR people are more innovative and we need to tell our businesses what we have done. If we want to be a real “business partner” we cannot wait for people to ask us – we need to take the imitative. You often see a FD on the right hand side of the MD – you rarely see HR on the left hand side.

12 yrs ago Ulrich said HR needs to be in 4 areas, HR are no good at selling ourselves – we need to learn the language of finance and marketing. David’s (Ulrich) message has never really be understood – HR has focused on T&C of work, it should be T&C of the work place. The only people that can make HR a business partner is for us to invite ourselves to the table – lead by doing and using business language.
HR is often seen as transactional, and until we change this we will never be a real “BP”
Interesting session – innovation in the org and political commentary about our role – innovation is a reason to be invited to the org

HR & Strategy

HR & People

HR & Community

HR & Environment – physical & psychological

HR & Creativity – how often are people allowed & told they are creative

HR & Risk – not about putting people lives at risk

HR & Leadership

Ulrick change agent is about changing the org in the area of human capital

Change through people not through gantt charts. No-one else in an org has the ability to change people like HR have.
Group task – brainstorm innovative areas – what great innovations have your done yourself, come across of heard of - nominate someone to feedback not to us but to everyone else in the room. – the ideas will be sent to us later.

Some innovative ideas –

1 + 3 = 5 one person carried 2 roles CEO & ops director (mat cover) devolved her roles to 3 managers where they did 5 months each, and the OPPs mgr on maternity was available to each of the managers. At the end of the period the company had significantly increased its Human capital
Confidence and competency

Keep-in-touch – diverse locations where people don’t meet, use of touch screen tech to allow people more access to intranets and social networks for people that are IT resistant

Proudly received – proudly given – a drive to share ideas openly

People want to be involved more – dialogue or monologue?

Incremental or radical innovation

If you put in the reward system people are more inclined to participate (but what is reward – we need to look at this) – In Qatar they pay managers extra to coach employees and the reward suggestion schemes with high value rewards – multiples of salary!

Tesco – where managers go “back to the floor” on a regular basis

We are about to go for a break – when you come back – leave your ‘HR’ hat outside and come back with a line manager hat on, without all the limitations of HR policy, regulations etc.


As managers – tell me what I can do – not what I cannot do

Exercise to build a culture where people want to work for and your customers want to spend money for.
We were given a scenario and asked to explore that in the context of the 7 steps from a business perspective – the what not the how at this stage.
Groups shared their thinking and ideas. This material will be “codified” and sent to us – I’ll add it here when we get it.
One concept that came up was based on the concept that Jim Collins mentioned which was to have a “not to do list” and from an L&D perspective and talent management perspectives what about having a “do not develop” list
----------------------------
DRAFT post

Social media come of age at CIPD conference 2009

It’s the start of day three of the annual CIPD conference 2009 - the premier conference and exhibition for Human Resources in the UK.




Last night there was a small but important informal meeting of like minded people... a tweetup, more than 10 influential members of the institute met informally for the first time face to face

those that met included:

@joningham

@HRrecSolutions

@NAlexandrou

@stevebridger

@HRZone

@CIPD_Events

@HRPUK - a fellow lead of a (competing) HR group on LinkedIn

and of course yours truly... @rapidbi



we met @thenorthpolebar in Manchester



Also throughout the day there were meet up of : the CIPD communities group, the opportunity to meet some of the regular faces, the CIPDmembers group on LinkedIn met for lunch. People that have 'met' online start to meet and build alliances in the real world.



Why is this significant? In the press we often hear of HR functions blocking or barring social networking sites - well here is a group of professionals that met online, communicated, learnt from each other and then yesterday took the leap from virtual connections to real connections.



In a rapidly changing world HR and everyone in business need to think about communication, decision making and innovation in a different way. the future is very much about collabouation, and not just internal collaboration - but collaboration with anyone, anywhere that has the expertise and passion to contribute. The future of organisations is changing and it is likely that what is currently called "social networking" will be at the vanguard of change.



What is in a name?

Social networking as a label sounds like it is informal and an option - ell this is not so for the business world. We need to communicate and learn faster than we have ever done before, these online networks are the only technology available which can link and respond fast enough. So what should it be called?

• Business collaboration network

• business innovation networks

• business learning networks

• Human capital network

• competitive advantage network

Ok the last thing we as HR need is more jargon, however when the current name does not work for us, much like "Cif" or "Marathon" a re-brand is required.



The amount of Tweeting from this event is significant, and not from just one player - from many, most providing added value about key messages (some about marketing messages only), however most of those were exhibiting and this was 'fair game'.



This year marks more content published on blogs and twitter from 'peers' than from the HR press. I also believe that even in the coming weeks the word count from this event will outweigh that from the 'professional journalists' 3:1



There is also a difference in content. That published by many of the journalists seems to focus on political decisions and report outcomes - the 'bloggers' seem to be focused on content to help other learn from the event. This shift is an important one, and one that will grow- peer based content.



The future

The future of HR conferences in the UK will never be the same again. Organisers need to consider the needs of social networkers by providing:

• Event wide wifi - free and not timing out every 15 mins

• Power sockets to charge laptops/ smartphones

• Seating with tables for netbooks to allow bloggers to work more effectively

• Stop messages telling delegates to turn off mobile devices!

• Provide twitter streams to allow audiences to communicate with speakers

• Start to stream presentations on the web (if speakers refuse then do not use them!

• Provide more time in between session for networking - i.e. at least 1/2 hr between sessions

• Ensure there is always a Q&A session with the audience and speakers

CIPD09 and beyond

Are you attending this years annual CIPD exhibition and conference?

Remember the http://myevent.cipd.co.uk/ event site containing blogs, discussions and networking opportunities.

If you are a user of the CIPD communities then this link will prove invaluable - Latest posts

For those that want to network "outside" the CIPD systems there is always the CIPDmembers group on LinkedIn and the conference networking group

You can also follow the action on Twitter 

Hope to see you there

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

Experience the annual conference and exhibition

Throughout the event the CIPD had its roving camera crew. This caught up with a large number of people and this clearly shows that it was a stimulating event for them.

Unfortunately they appear to have missed:

• The community regulars...
• The community moderator...
• CIPD staff...
• The Apprentices
• Yours truly

... maybe that was not a bad thing....

But I am sure YOU are there - have a look.... watch the vox pops video
What do you think of the video - does it inspire you to attend Manchester 2009?

For those that want to know more about vox pops at wikipedia, vox pops can be powerful tools for employee engagement, measuring staff satisfaction etc as well as for event promotion.

Presentations from the CIPD annual conference

The MyEvent secure social networking facility that the CIPD have been trialing throughout the conference now has some of the presentations used in the seminars. The ability to access and discuss handouts and presentations is a wonderful value added facility.

It appears that some presenters have not given permission... a shame as people have seen them and versions of the presentations were given out in a handout form (small & black and white). If the presenters did not want people copying them they could have been made available as a secure PDF. This is particularly true for some of the presenters who had far too much data on a slide to be visible in the conference session itself. A/V skills (the use of visual aids) of presenters is another topic for another day....

Towards the future
I would urge the CIPD in the furure not to engage with speakers for events that are not willing to share resources (be it PPT or PDF format). We are now firmly in the knowledge age and we should only be engaging with people that are prepared to share. The conference circuit is a wonderful sales opportunity for many of these individuals (they get paid to speak and they get the opportunity to 'sell' their services to many other potential purchasers) and the cost of sharing knowledge should be one they are prepared to pay...

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.

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.

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?

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”

Administration and joining instructions for the CIPD annual conference 2008

Have you booked to attend this years CIPD annual conference and exhibition in Harrogate?

What were your experiences of the administration of booking onto the CIPD 2008 annual conference or exhibition? easy... hard... problematic... simple?

What are your reactions to receiving the joining instructions? clear?... concise?... short on detail... too much...?

Joining Instructions for CIPD annual conference delegates

Having arrived home from being away at the NFEA 2008 annual conference waiting for me was my CIPD joining instructions. In the envelope was:

• A welcome letter
• Personalised Conference badge
• An event guide
• A voucher for a free CIPD 2009 diary (to be collected from the CIPD stand)
• A preview of the exhibition and
• Two invitations - one to Carringtons and one to Platinum ABBA

The social activity

The voucher included provides access to two of the seven social events. Carringtons is a night club and free entry is provided to allow delegates to party to their hearts content, Thank you for the music (Platinum ABBA) is a music entertainment evening taking place after the gala dinner. The Dinner is a formal event which required prior booking - I wont be attending as my booking was too late :(

Other social activities include two free delegate lunches, a delegate drinks reception and a Jazz dining event. This event is designed for people attending the conference on their own so that they do not have to dine alone - seems reasonable at £35.

The Exhibition

In the preview guide sent was a timetable of the free seminars taking place. These are being run under three themes:

• Exhibitor exchange showcases
• Employee benefits and rewards showcases
• Recruitment and talent management showcases

The programme looks excellent - and indeed I may well 'escape' from the main event to attend one or two of these. So if you are attending the CIPD exhibition, but not the conference, have a look at this programme .

Also in the pack

There was quite a lot of useful information in the 'pack' including a map of the various venues:

Just a little shame that it was not also colour coded as finding one of 15 venues all as little yellow boxes could have been so much easier... but I trust this will prove to be a useful item to carry in a pocket or bag throughout the event!

At Manchester 2009 (yes the CIPD event is moving) this will be much simpler as the main venue is much larger.. time will tell.