The future of work: IES HR Directors’ Retreat 2017

Network News Issue 10

The Retreat is an annual opportunity for HR Directors from among our member network to reflect on and debate some of the pressing strategic issues facing organisations today and tomorrow. IES has been running these events for nine years and they provide a forum for hearing stimulating presentations from business leaders or experts from beyond the world of HR, and the chance to challenge oneself and others in discussion and facilitated interactive sessions.

This year, the event focused on the broad topic of ‘The Future of Work’. To start, we had a thought-provoking contribution from Marc Meryon, a partner at Eversheds Sutherland. Marc talked about the implications for employment relations and employment law of the growth of ‘precarious’ or ‘contingent’ work in some sectors of the UK economy. This was followed by an assessment of labour market trends in the UK by Ian Brinkley, acting chief economist at the CIPD, who discussed the implications of wage stagnation and low productivity on UK workplaces. Stephen Bevan, head of HR research development at IES, looked at future trends such as the changing face of ‘work space’, and the use of wearable devices and so-called ‘smart’ drugs. He also explored some of the cultural reasons that so few organisations had fully embraced the transformative potential of technology at work.

In the interactive and discussion sessions, delegates then shared experiences which focused on both positive and negative examples of introducing and embracing changes to culture, technology, demographics and working practices. They then had opportunities to reflect on how to improve the ‘change-readiness’ of their own organisations. As the event drew to a close, delegates expressed a strong desire to keep exchanging experiences on these themes and to build a community of Retreat participants who can keep in touch during the year between events. As a result, IES will be setting up a LinkedIn group, to facilitate this.