Event writeup: Strategic HR at the Annual Conference 2014
An honest insight into two high-profile organisations. The IES conference took place on 16th October and was well attended, with approximately 65 people participating on the day, which was expertly chaired by David Smith, chair of the IES board. Penny Tamkin offers a brief roundup of the day.
With an honest insight into two high-profile organisations
Written by Penny Tamkin, Associate Director, IES
The IES conference took place on 16th October and was well attended, with approximately 65 people participating on the day, which was expertly chaired by David Smith, chair of the IES board.
The day began with Peter Reilly, IES Principle Associate, outlining HR’s role in supporting organisational change. Peter’s thoughtful presentation explored some of the big questions the HR community needs to ask itself. He suggested that strategy consider what might be the risks to the organisation in the future as well as the opportunities and challenges that the organisation faces, debunked a few of the popular myths around HR strategy, and focused on seeing through normal conceptions of strategy to arrive at a pragmatic contribution to the future of the organisation through distinct choices.
The conference then heard from two ‘warts and all’ case studies of strategic change in both a public and private sector organisation both facing significant change and challenge, with that challenge coming as much from inside the organisations in terms of culture and engagement, as from outside. In both cases the need for resilience in HR at both an individual and functional level was vital and understanding that HR is in there for the long game. Professor David Guest then provided an insightful perspective on each case study in terms of how the coal-face experience compared with a more academic understanding.
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