A Welcome from the Chair
I am delighted to be your new branch Chairman.
It is my intention to continue Barry’s strategies of ensuring maximum participation of branch members through attendance at events and regular communication via the newsletter and website. I know you would want me to thank Barry for all his hard work over the past two years. He has kindly agreed to stay on the branch committee acting as Secretary.
It is also my intention to establish a branch that is focused on helping it's members perform better as professionals, as well as equipping them to advance their careers. To that end we have events coming up in this season's calendar on maximising your personal impact, helping you develop your skills in having crucial conversations and on the changing HR function. We have also planned events to reflect the difficult and changing times in which we work. We have scheduled events on managing reorganisation and redundancy, and the sustainable workplace. As always I am indebted to our legal colleagues for hosting the law events. Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the Reward SIG.
Unfortunately the HR technology SIG has disbanded and so no meetings are planned this year. That does give me the opportunity to remind members that you can establish a Special Interest Group. I have received a request to establish a Learning and Development SIG. Anyone interested in attending an inaugural meeting to establish the group should contact Jennie Cochrane, our Branch Administrator.
I am delighted to announce that the London HR Connection have joined the branch as a SIG. The LHRC objective is to provide their members with challenging, inspiring and informative moments, and additionally for this year, to ensure that the HR community is nimble enough to deal with the impact of possible recession. They typically meet at lunchtime in the City. All members are invited to attend and attendance is free. For details of their Autumn programme along with further information, please refer to their website.
Lastly, I am mindful that at the Branch AGM concern was expressed on the amount of expenditure on events. As Barry explained we have, for some time, been carrying excessive reserves. As a branch we receive a per capita fee from the Chartered Institute every year in order to deliver branch activities. I believe we should put this money to use, hence our decision to abolish fees for attending events. This has significantly improved attendance at branch events. However, given the increased popularity of events, it is important you turn up to events if you have reserved a place. We work on a first come, first served basis and we frequently have to restrict the numbers due to the size of venue. Failure to attend means that someone who would have liked to be at the event is disappointed.
Currently one of the major expenditures for the branch is posting newsletters and events calendars to you. As a branch we would like to do this by email. There is a project underway within the CIPD to facilitate e communication at branch level and we will keep you posted as things progress. This would hopefully enable us to spend more money running events for you.
I very much welcome any comments or advice you may have. I can be contacted via the Contact Us page here on the website.
Michael Moran
Branch Chair 2008/09
CIPD Central London Branch