Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD headlined the event, speaking about the challenges and opportunities that HR professionals are facing with sickness absence, and the tumultuous geopolitical environment.
He said: “I remember saying at my very first speech up here on this platform that there's never been a more important time to be in HR. And I know people sometimes play buzzword bingo with me on that one and quote me, but I think it's absolutely true.”
Thrive in HR careers by mastering transitions
Pam Flynn, chief people officer at Manchester Metropolitan University, said she learned the power of knowing when to transition after taking a secondment into an operational role.
Speaking on a panel, she said: “It was a really different role and I did feel some imposter syndrome.
“But I learned that you don’t need to know everything about a functional area to lead it. It’s about how you lead and work closely with teams to get things done the way they need to be done. It also gave me an insight into what it's like to be on the receiving end of HR processes as a busy manager.
“That really worked out for me. But what didn’t work out was staying too long in some places and roles. Just go for it sometimes!”
Read more: Moving on up: Where next on the HR career ladder?
Mohammed Alwaibari, CHRO at fashion retailer Al Othaim Life, said that the key to a successful career is making sure all transitions are towards your desired goal. He gave the example of taking up a role that would facilitate more career development, instead of a counter offer that would pay a lot more.
“You need to know what you are interested in; is it shifting your capability or a financial goal? You will sometimes have to make a decision that sacrifices one of the two.”
Rachael Kneen, UK and Ireland reward and wellbeing director at business services company Experian, agreed: “You have to look at the experience you have now, where you want to get to and what opportunities will open doors.
“I look back at some roles and say I didn't enjoy them wholeheartedly but they were great career moves and opened up other opportunities.”
Trust, and context, is key to embedding organisational change
Change triggers a threat response in people from a psychological and neuroscientific perspective, explained Angela Ryan, CHRO for the Singaporean exchange business SGX Group. When delivering change, HR leaders must address that response by building psychological safety and trust.
Ask yourself, she urged: “‘Are we trusted, and trusting of, our people?’ Respond by building more trust into your change plan; and work at supporting people through change on an individual identity level.
“The approach to this can vary, depending on the context you’re working in. For example, deferential cultures may require you to get buy-in from the most senior leaders first, before approaching junior staff.”
Berna Öztınaz, president of the European Association of People Management, as well as also CHRO of Genel Energy, outlined how she assigned opinion leaders from outside of the C-suite, to help embed change, and empowered them to find new ways of doing things within the business.
“It’s important to trust your people, and to be sincere in your communications and intentions,” she said.
Behavioural science can level up your financial wellbeing strategy
Emily Trant, chief impact officer at financial wellbeing platform Wagestream, unveiled new research into the state of financial wellbeing in the UK in 2024.
Trant invited a panel to share how employers can use behavioural science to level up their financial wellbeing strategy.
Presenteeism costs UK employers £24 billion per year, according to research by Deloitte, published in May 2024. This equates to 2 hours 36 minutes of productivity per day during which employees are "showing up but not fully present", Trant explained.
Employees often know what they need to do to manage their financial wellbeing, according to Owain Service, CEO of behavioural scientist researcher CogCo. Employers should focus on providing easy solutions for employees to save money, he explained.
“It’s quite difficult for us to change the mindset of an individual but it is relatively straightforward to change the structure of the decision making by which an individual makes a choice,” he said.
Read more: Richer staff fail to spot the financial wellbeing action gap
The source of money employees choose to save makes a difference, Service said.
Employees can be reluctant to move money from their current account into a savings account, according to Rebecca Pearson, general manager of UK care services at healthcare provider Bupa.
Bupa offers all UK employees in its care homes business auto-enrolled savings, which they can opt out of at any time. However, more than 70% of employees have chosen to remain enrolled.
Increasing career fulfilment and mobility at the BBC
In 2020, as the result of an employee survey, the BBC discovered a significant number of its workers were feeling stuck, citing a lack of career progression opportunities, Lorna McDonald, head of operations in production capability, explained in a case study session.
“One of the senior stakeholders described the career picture as like ‘gated communities’. So you are in this huge world of opportunity, but for whatever reason we were confining people to divisional areas,” she said.
The HR team created a threefold approach to improving career progression throughout the organisation: “Empowering individuals, activating team leaders and creating an engaging culture,” Zoe Cullingworth, HR business partner in career development, said.
Its first step was creating a one-stop shop for career development tools and resources on its intranet. This pointed people in the direction of its career development toolkit, as well as a living library, which enabled employees to meet with any colleague from across the organisation and learn more about their job.
They also created two career development schemes: Hot Shoes, which allows employees to work for between two days and two weeks in different parts of the organisation; and 80-20, in which employees spend 20% of their time in different teams or departments for three months.
Simi Jolaoso, former West Africa correspondent at BBC News and now investigative reporter with the World Service, shared that the Hot Shoes scheme allowed her to get her job as correspondent.
“I had two months left on my contract and came across the placement for the senior journalist reporter role. The scheme enabled me to gain skills I wouldn’t have otherwise gained within my role; definitely take on schemes like this because it shows you care about personal development, it’s not all about the needs of the organisation but also the interests of the individual.”
