By: Radha Lekshman
Edited By: Mahmoud Mansi
In 2019 CIPD launched its first international conference outside of the UK and Ireland, which took place in Dubai. This year the second round of the CIPD Middle East People Conference and Awards will take place on the 25-26 of March 2020 in Sofitel The Palm, Dubai.
To know more about this year’s conference please download the brochure from the following link: https://www.cipdconference.com/b-17-lightbox.html
CIPD Middle East Conference 2019 Recap:
The conference took place on April 10th and 11th 2019. It had senior HR professionals and business leaders flying in from all parts of the world including Australia and New Zealand. Future of the Human Resources profession was discussed and common good practices were shared. This conference paves the way to better the work and working lives in the region.
Ramy Bayyour, General Manager for the Middle East at CIPD started with the welcome note for the CIPD conference held on April 10 and 11, 2019 at Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He highlighted that this was the first time an all crew CIPD Middle Eastern conference was held. Ramy added that, HCT students while graduating from Bachelors in HR become CIPD members. At least a thousand students become charted members every year.
Some of 2019 Speech Insights:
Peter Cheese, the CEO of CIPD began his speech with the emphasis on redefining good work and putting human back in Human resources. Peter said that the changing context of work is contributed by many factors such as social, political, environmental and economic changes. Growing Technology is a major contributor. He further posted the question of educating people for future jobs which are yet to develop. Fourth industrial revolution is changing the nature of work to a great extent and being agile is very important. Learning and development should be reinvented to cope with the future. There is a need to empower employees where generational shift also plays a major role. Finally, Peter stressed on the importance of moving towards people and not just processes and standardisation where people are treated as individuals and not resources or assets. HR needs to develop knowledge base to connect more with the business to have enough data to make decisions.
Amy Crawford, the COO of Avado spoke about how organisations are failing to understand and support people and use it to competitive advantage. Technology is outpacing human capability and HR needs to find ways to help this. Building digital confidence, fostering collaboration and networking globally will enable to deploy flexibility and cost effectively. Finally, Amy stressed on the importance of creating high profile resume, ensuring line manager engagement, effective nomination process and amplifying impact with learners becoming mentors.
Michaela Alexis, the Millennial LinkedIn Master spoke about how Millennials are one fourth of world’s population. Recruiting the next Millennial stars is an area to be deeply looked at. She spoke about what Millennials want. Some of the top highlights were immediate feedback, where they are a “we” generation focused on connecting with people and to a purpose. Ways of attracting Millennials would involve a huge focus on reputation of an organisation. Being impolite or unprofessional when responding to reviews should be avoided. She added that focusing on flexibility and not just compensation is important. Being overly rigid with policies is not a great idea when it comes to attracting Millennials. Showcasing what the role can provide to the right candidate is very crucial and that includes an understanding of work space, culture and the work life balance. She advised not to make hiring an Olympic sport.
Emma Seymour, VP of worker welfare Expo 2020 spoke about mindfulness for life, work and leadership. She also spoke about how being aware of self with attention to body using breathing techniques make a difference. Importance of mental health in an organisation is often under looked. There was a panel discussion held about mental health and well being in workplace. Some highlights include getting insurance coverage for mental health. Derv Rao, Co-founder of duplay spoke about how team building activities which involve physical training like training for a marathon together creates a great bond. Depression, anxiety and stress are most common mental health issues in the Middle East. The panel discussion concluded with throwing light into aligning personal values with core values to be successful. Encouraging sports and bringing awareness of well being within the company bring in high engagement.
Christine Belanger, Senior Vice President at Mubadala presented a case study from her experience of merging two companies. Communication and support from leadership are the most important factors. Being transparent is very essential to avoid rumours getting spread. These were her major learning. She finally added that while merging, there has to be very minimal performance management. All employees worked very hard stretching themselves day and night for quite a few weeks and communication and support were the pillars that made it possible.
Craig Austin, Head of Talent Management and Learning and Development, RAK bank demonstrated a change management case study where they L&D clinics were launched. Talking to everyone to find out how they are and what their state of work will help identify the level of motivation. Training should be as agile as workforce. The team was motivated to leave behind legacy when they leave.
In Summary, the CIPD Middle East Conference 2019 enabled HR professionals and senior leaders to network and exchange best practices in the industry. The UAE has a growing HR hub and this helps HR professionals in the region to stay advanced and build the necessary capabilities for today’s workforce.
To know more about options attending the 2020 CIPD ME Conference kindle refer to the following link: https://cipd-me.myshopify.com/