Manchester Branch

We are a dedicated career partner for the people profession

We engage our area membership and the wider business community, as trusted advisors, role models and mentors, at every stage in their working lives.

We are an established voice for Greater Manchester

We are an essential partner in developing an inclusive and thriving community and the people professionals within it.

We are innovative and creative

We enable our members to adapt and evolve in a fast-changing world of work.

We are a dynamic connector

We offer diverse opportunities to network, and we convene groups of passionate people who want to make a difference, share learning and give back to the profession.

A group designed to foster a deeper awareness and understanding of the inclusion and diversity (I&D) agenda, supporting participants to take positive and practical steps towards encouraging and shaping I&D within their organisation. We want participants to feel equipped to create and champion cultures where everyone feels free to be their authentic self, regardless of their background, gender, race or orientation.

Our events will enable participants to share insights and best practice, debate current challenges and thought leadership pieces, and will offer inspirational talks from experts in the field, roundtable discussions along with guidance, support, and signposted CIPD resources.

In the press: Top tips to build a positive and inclusive workplace.

Welcome to our branch new special interest group, created specifically for HR practitioners.

Our group provides a support and knowledge network for all HR generalists, offering various sessions relevant to HR professionals as part of a wider workplace function.

We will explore the challenges faced by HR generalists in the new world post-COVID-19, including recruitment and retention, onboarding and induction, as well as day-to-day tasks in hybrid workplaces. We will be offering workshops with guest speakers, development sessions, and networking opportunities to discuss the issues affecting our profession and prepare for the future!

There's no requirement to sign-up for our group. Events are open to both CIPD members and non-members and will be promoted publicly through our Eventbrite page and other regular channels.

Careers advice, research, communication and dissertation skills

Whether you're a part or full-time student, looking to start or progress your career, it's beneficial to have somewhere to share your challenges, voice your opinions and debate with fellow students. We provide students with opportunities to learn and develop the skills essential to navigating the challenges associated with studying and working in HR.

We provide advice on research methods, guidance on planning and writing your dissertation, and preparing to launch your career. In a rapidly advancing online world, we facilitate the talking element of networking, and you never know who might be in the room!

Routes to membership, upgrading and benefits 

We are committed to supporting our members in successfully progressing their membership level and learning more about the extensive range of membership benefits – so much more than a monthly magazine.

We hold quarterly membership and upgrading sessions throughout the year. We advise on who can upgrade, CV screening, routes available and costs. We also run interactive workshops focused on building CVs and approaching experience assessments.

Contributing to government consultations, policy-making and people management practice guides 

Our public policy group offers experienced HR professionals, interested in policy issues such as employment law, skills, immigration and gender balance, the opportunity to share their frontline experience whilst learning and networking. We regularly contribute to the formation of CIPD policy. We welcome new people, and all meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule so that participants can express their views freely. 

View our early contribution to the GM Good Employment Charter

A creative hub for leadership, group dynamics and work design

Our OD group focuses on bringing you the knowledge to diagnose underlying issues, challenges, opportunities; and advising you on understanding and selecting the best approaches to align organisational strategy, people, processes and systems. We explore coaching, mentoring, training, group work, facilitation, action learning, business process re-engineering, performance management, reward and motivation, cultural change and transformation programmes. 

Read our Leading through a pandemic key takeaways

Pioneering new ways of learning

We offer two types of event for trainers and L&D professionals: 

Building L&D skills:  a series of events designed to develop new and refresh key skills for modern trainers and L&D professionals.

Cake camps: regular themed knowledge-sharing and networking sessions for trainers and L&D and OD professionals. Facilitated by guest contributors, our cake camps enable you to learn from, share, ideas and experience with peers.

Watch our session on creativity and agility

Support for standalone HR professionals (private group)

Our standalone HR practitioners’ group caters for employees who provide a single source of HR expertise within an organisation, without the day-to-day support of a corporate HR department. We provide you with an opportunity to explore challenges and share solutions to common problems. Besides offering a knowledge-sharing forum, we also run practical workshops exploring key workplace issues and solutions, facilitated by expert speakers.

If you would like to join our member-only group, please drop us an email to request an expression of interest form.

Facilitating discussion and practical debate around organisational wellbeing programmes

Our events enable participants to share experiences and discuss current working practices, success measures, and learnings from some of the issues created.

We also provide guidance and support to CIPD members, signposting resources and support to maximise membership benefit. We examine and critique practical tools and successful frameworks used across different sectors. We're keen to involve trade bodies, local universities and business schools interested in research in this area to contribute knowledge and learnings for all.

In collaboration with Manchester's finest legal experts, our flagship Annual Employment Law Masterclass provides insightful sessions on new and forthcoming legislative changes together with the latest case law developments, plus focused deep-dive sessions on areas of particular interest to people professionals. We include lots of interactivity to help stimulate thinking and deepen understanding of the ever-changing legal landscape. 

Employment law showcase 2020 

Our mock Employment Tribunals help you mitigate risk by enabling you to experience first-hand the full trial process (albeit staged). From the 'public gallery', you'll learn why cases go to Tribunal, the importance of choosing witnesses, the judge and panel's role, and the necessity of presenting your case with clarity. You'll learn what it's like to give evidence, be cross-examined and re-examined with frequent pauses to ask questions and deliberate ahead of the judgement.

Mock Employment Tribunal collection 2020

Debate on strategic topics

Providing senior-level people professionals with a forum to gather and debate on a range of strategic subjects, we encourage Chartered Fellows, executives and senior level in human resources, talent management, learning and development and leadership development to join us for themed roundtable discussions.

View our navigating flexibility forum