Day 2

Thursday 25th June 2009

09:00 Chairman’s opening address

Richard Mosley, Managing Director, People in Business

Evaluation, Efficiency and Effectiveness

09:20 Case study

The downside of downsizing: how do you ensure that you don’t do long term damage to the talent in your organisation when restructuring

§     Rethinking development programmes when development budgets are significantly reduced

§     How can you support your talent in the bigger challenges they are now facing?

§     Justifying sensible long term decisions: why we chose to maintain our junior management programme

§     How can you duly reward and engage the people driving your organisation through tough times

§     Looking ahead and avoiding snap cost cutting decisions that may jeopardise our talent pipeline in recovery

Andy Doyle, Acting Group HR Director, ITV

09:45 Questions from the floor

09:50 One-to-one meetings

10:10 Case study

Tales of the unexpected: managing uncertainty and retaining talent during periods of change

§     What are the immediate challenges the talent management strategy faces during a merger and how can you make sure it remains a key focus even when going through reorganisation?

§     Duplicate structures: how did we ensure that we identified the key talent we wanted to retain during and post-merger?

§     Engaging and retaining talent in the interim period between the merger announcement and reality

§     Tough times call for a different demonstration of leadership skills – monitoring and redeploying key talent throughout the business

Jacky Simmonds, HR Director UK and Ireland, Tui Travel

10:35 Questions from the floor

10:40 Research session

Engaging times UK research: the competitive advantage in a recession

In challenging times, the need for a clear view of corporate talent and tools to encourage employee productivity, morale and motivation becomes imperative. This research based session will take you through current UK findings 'Engaging Times', focusing on how HR carries out talent management in the current recession: 

§     Talent challenges now emerging as a direct result of the economic climate

§     Levels of engagement amongst workforces at a time when business objectives are being realigned

§     The causes of reduced workforce engagement and how technology can help address these issues

§     Best-practice talent strategies to ensure your organisation is well placed to come out ahead of the competition when the economy begins its recovery

Chris Phillips, Vice President International Marketing, Taleo

11:05 Questions from the floor

11:10 Morning refreshments and networking

User-defined session

11:40 User-defined session

During the user-defined session you will have the opportunity to choose and move between expert workshops and themed discussion pods that address the key challenges your business is facing. This is an excellent chance to make valuable connections with your peers, to maximise the value of the time you spend at the event and bring your questions to the table.

Workshop 1: Innovative ways to use coaching to reengage and reenergize your talent

§     Where does coaching fit into the talent agenda now?

§     Examples of innovative best practice

§     Exchange of ideas and opinions

Facilitated by: Simon Coops, Chief Executive, Acuity Coaching

Workshop 2: Survive and thrive: balancing the demands of cost and talent management requirements

§     Its not just about downsizing or incremental cost reductions

§     Its also about maintaining and improving employee engagement and organisational performance

§     How can organisations satisfy these seemingly opposing demands?

Facilitated by: Nick Tatchell, Principal, Towers Perrin

Workshop 3: Build ‘Talented Teams’ not individual heroes!

In the current downturn, talent management requires a strong focus on leveraging internal teams of talent to support recovery and at the same time be ready to deliver success when this curve begins to turn up

§     How to unleash talent through teams and double your returns

§     7 habits of highly talented teams

§     The fundamental formula for unlocking Team Potential

§     Tools to build resilient teams who are ready to deliver when the economy swings back up

Facilitated by: Rhea Duttagupta, Founder and MD, CorporateDNA Consulting limited

Discussion Pod 1: Career management and mapping

§     Is it feasible to marry business needs with the career aspirations of the individual in the current climate?

§     How can you inspire individuals to take more responsibility for their own career paths?

§     Creative development: with budgets limited, how can you continue to challenge and stretch high potentials in their careers?

Discussion Pod 2: Line managers

§     How can we ensure managers withstand the responsibility for the identification, retention and development of talent?

§     How can we equip line managers with the tools to manage talent effectively?

§     Should we be rewarding line managers for good talent management practices?

Discussion Pod 3: Senior leadership team

§     How can we engage and develop the top tier sufficiently in our organisation?

§     Do our senior leadership team embody the values of the brand and organisations?

§     Will our senior executive model survive in the current climate?

12:40 Networking lunch

Retention, Engagement and Development

13:40 Case study

Thinking outside the box: drawing inspiration and life lessons from the pioneering Watford Football Academy

§     Identifying the talent of tomorrow: nurturing Watford and England’s football future

§     Managing expectations: on-going performance management, assessment and feedback

§     Generating talent pools and high potentials

§     The importance of internal development: how have we built 50% of Watford’s first team from our academy?

§     Proving the ROI: are our investments providing positive results and savings?

§     Success stories: creating the football careers of tomorrow

Nick Cox, Assistant Academy Manager, Watford Football Academy

14:05 Panel discussion

Reengaging and reconnecting with your talent: reviewing your fundamental retention strategies at a time when high performance is key to business survival

§     Addressing and overcoming employee engagement and performance dips in a head-cutting environment

§     Working with other HR components to understand how HR’s work as a whole impacts upon the workforce and how it is viewed by staff

§     Communication is key: maintaining the visibility of the CEO and leadership team in the current climate

§     Tailoring retention: how can you differentiate between key talent pools, understand what each pool requires and create strategies to retain specific talent?

§     Rewards, recognition and remuneration: utilising financial and non-financial reward mechanisms to drive performance and engagement

Panellists include:

Tanith Dodge, HR Director, Marks and Spencer

Julius James, HR Executive Director, UBS

Rhea Duttagupta, Founder and MD, CorporateDNA Consulting Limited

14:45 One-to-one meetings

15:05 Afternoon refreshments and networking

15:35 Panel discussion

To develop or not to develop…could cut backs in development programmes during the recession stunt the growth of our talent and high potential pools for years to come? 

§     Creating the case and guaranteeing commitment across the business for talent development: why is development still crucial to talent management and how can it act as a retention tool?

§     As external recruitment processes slow, how can you develop employees internally to meet all your skill requirements? What are the tools and vehicles to develop staff for a range of roles?

§     Utilising development programmes to communicate the organisation’s values, objectives and vision during the recession

§     Can you harness the potential of mature talent by using customised development plans to optimise their skills and experience?

Panellists include:

Lou Barran, Global Head of Talent, Thomson Reuters

Sean Sinfield, European Learning and Development Director, Canon

Robert Kovach, Director, Talent Strategy & Executive Development, European & Emerging Markets, Cisco

16:15 Closing panel discussion

Mind the gap: are your succession plans adequate enough to future-proof the organisation for every eventuality in such an uncertain and fast moving business environment?

§     Mission-critical role analysis: how are you identifying and developing the leaders of tomorrow in accordance with business strategy when it is hard to know what tomorrow will bring?

§     Compatibility index: how can you ensure that the right skills have been deployed in the right areas with minimal risk?

§     Are you confident you are building clear and measurable links between your succession plan, talent strategy and learning and development options?

§     How is your diversity agenda being affected in the current climate? Are you choosing to address the business culture and attitudes that may restrict a diverse talent pool?

§     Are you ensuring your employees have the best and deepest range of experience to make them flexible and adaptable to deal with the demands of your business?

Panellists include:

Saudagar Singh, Group HR Director, RWE nPower

Steve Jones, Global Head Organisation Effectiveness, Novartis

Dianne Hughes, Deputy Director, HR, Big Lottery Fund

17:00 Close of conference