13 May 2008
The conference
The country’s largest management gathering will take place early next week when the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD Ireland) holds its annual conference in Kilkenny.
Over the past decade, personnel management has been the fastest growing segment of management in the economy and over 370 people will participate in the CIPD gathering centred on the theme of building competitive organisations on May 19th and 20th.
CIPD Ireland director, Michael McDonnell said: ‘This year we are concentrating on the four complimentary themes of organisation development, leadership, people development and team building. During a slowing in economic growth the issue of productivity and innovation will become more stark and will make the difference between organisations which will prosper and those facing decline.’
There are now over 12,000 people working in human resource management and administration throughout the country. Increasingly women are playing a senior role in human resource strategies and in aligning people management with overall organisational goals with 64% of all personnel manager positions held by female managers.
Last year CIPD Ireland changed its conference format to Monday and Tuesday rather than the previous weekend event. This has facilitated greater participation by those with family commitments who can also be back at work on Wednesday morning.
This year’s event will attract over 370 participants making it the largest management gathering in the state. Bookings for the event, on May 19th and 20th at the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny, are in high demand and details can be found on the conference webpages.
The annual CIPD conference has become the premier management event reflecting the growing importance of effective people management in Irish organisations. This year’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD Ireland) gathering, on next Monday and Tuesday, will cover the four key areas of: organisation development; people development; leadership; and team building.
Conference sessions
Talent management
Talent management such as recruiting and retaining the best people is the main concern of most human resource directors. Larry Hochman will tell the 370 participants that there is never a shortage of talent but only a shortage of great organisation which the best people want to work for. He will bring his audience through steps to ensuring that they become a magnet for talent and that can be achieved by encouraging a culture of cooperation and allowing talented people to experiment by removing fears of failure and bureaucratic barriers in Irish workplaces.
It is not easy for managers to adapt to change by becoming free from either nostalgia for the way things worked in the 1980s or 1990s or being arrogant that they have all the answers, according to Mr Hochman.
Employer brands
Noel Keeley, HR Director with the Musgrave food retail group, will focus on developing an employer brand and how to ensure that he whole company concentrates on securing a reputation for having well-developed employees. Like a product brand, an employer brand ‘is a central organising principle, often symbolised in a trade mark which, if properly managed, creates influence and generates value’.
He will explain succinctly that your employment brand is what people say about you as an employer when you are not in the room.. For Mr Keeley a strong employer brand has key traits including a distinctive reputation as an employer; company actions are consistently communicated to staff; and the brand evokes both emotional and tangible benefits to the organisation and its people.
Pandemics
Dr Martina Dempsey from GlaxoSmithKline will give a detailed briefing on the risks of a major pandemic and the business case for being prepared for an outbreak of a major infectious disease. Many organisations have business continuity management plans for technological or infrastructure crises but not for the loss of very large numbers of employees.
Companies need to have plans about arranging for teleworking, vaccination, provision of hygiene packs and identify key people needs in the event of a pandemic and they also would need to address the issue of protecting employees’ families and dependants.
Coaching
Dr John McGurk will provide an update on how coaching is developing in work situations and how its benefits might be measured. ‘We know that coaching is a powerful learning and development tool and that it energises people but we don’t know exactly what makes it work or how exactly it takes place in individual cases’, he will explain.
Management styles
HP has been developing its 2,500 employees at its Lucan production, administration and sales centre since 1996. Its general manager Lionel Alexander will provide a detailed insight into the management styles adopted in ensuring high employee productivity and satisfaction.
'Corporate bats'
One of the world’s most dynamic business speakers, Nigel Barlow will present his concept of ‘corporate bats’ who engage in ‘upside-down thinking as HR professionals’ and having the courage to think differently from the herm of managers. They are the sort of people who are prepared to question why we seem to do the same things everyday and why we are so ready to stereotype customers, bosses or employees rather than be prepared to learn more about people we interact with.