Charlie Duff with her highlights of the CIPD conference for Wednesday 18 November 2009
Yesterday and today have been extremely busy but it’s been a great experience for me to meet lots of people and members, plus potential members and contributors. I’m already looking forward to tomorrow but wanted to share with you the highlights from today.
Yesterday I asked on Twitter a question sparked by Andrea Cartwright of Nationwide. She claimed she referred to her CEO not as a chief executive officer but a chief engagement officer. Really? Apparently so. I asked on Twitter if you would do the same. The reaction was quick from @ChrisFerninandi: "No thanks. People are PART of the biz strategy – not the whole thing". I’m sure some of you might disagree – but why? Another person, Charlie Judy, @HRfishbowl, explained his point of view: "No. may be a responsibility, but not primary" – which I’m sure many relate to. Although there seems to be an acknowledgement that HR is becoming part of the mainstream agenda, there’s a feeling it has a long way to go yet – and perhaps HR is uncomfortable with other senior staff getting involved in traditional HR issues? What do you think?
This morning was full of insight from a masterclass in going beyond employee engagement. It highlighted the differences between definitions of engagement and Robert Browton of HayGroup packed a killer punch with his statistics: 68% feel unappreciated, claiming the additional effort they are putting in is ignored, plus 59% of people are considering leaving, are actively looking or have accepted a job offer. Worrying stuff. When putting in place change, as did Rentokil, it’s important to get buy-in at all levels. And when you do customer and employee surveys, you should compare them – they directly correlate as happy employees make customers happy.
Speaking of happiness, The Rough Guide to Happiness was gifted to us today. Dr Nick Baylis delivered an inspiring speech and highlighted what really HR already knows: people who have passions outside their work are better and more successful at what they do. Many of our fears have been fixed early on in life and are a result of ‘autopilot thinking’ which can be very dangerous and make us unhappy.
He finished by imploring us to ‘dance with life in the close hold embrace and don’t let anything get in the way of that’. The book is well worth checking out.
A guide to using social media was very popular this afternoon and made the point that it’s not just for Gen Y. Generation Y is almost a state of mind, many things are dependent on how you use technology and this is a greater definition of difference between people than when they were born.
Roger Steare’s talk about integrity in business was highly ethical and value-driven giving delegates the benefit of his knowledge. Richard Needham was highly amusing with his no-nonsense apprach to HR – he believes in the value of women in the workplace, older and younger workers, plus giving people a chance.
At our tweet up it was nice to see @rightwayCWS (Rob Woollen) and @joningham, and the official tweet
up was a small but dedicated bunch of tweeters sharing tips and ideas on micro-blogging.
Possibly the highlight of the day for HRzone was speaking with Stephanie Bird, the director of HR capability for the CIPD: keep your eyes peeled for the interview.
After the official tweetup I headed to Rob Woollen’s wellbeing event and was given a fabulous massage and met some very interesting people who are doing some great work for wellness – an issue which seems to be gathering momentum in the HR arena.
By the way – I did say we were busy – at the exhibition this afternoon I was presented with a
pedometer to monitor my walking. The aim is 10,000 a day, but I’ve covered more than 1100 steps already, and there’s lots more to come tomorrow
Stay tuned to HRzone for the CoveritLive box with the latest tweets and info from CIPD 09. The box pulls in all relevant tweets from the online HR community, and even if you don’t tweet you can comment.
