CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition 2024: Highlights from day two

Yesterday, on the final day of the CIPD’s annual conference and exhibition in Manchester (7 November), participants were inspired by powerful sessions on inclusion, wellbeing and people strategy.

The day began with a call to action to increase representation in fields such as STEM, highlighting the need for industries that truly reflect society. The conversation around employee wellbeing has challenged quick fixes, calling on companies to create environments where people feel truly supported and valued.

The sessions presented unique perspectives on creating workplaces that promote equity and adaptability, from developing a diverse talent pool to reshaping employee development.

People management summarized these key ideas, offering actionable ideas for creating more supportive and inclusive workplaces.

We need to make STEM more diverse.

“If only a small group of people are pursuing STEM, we are not serving humanity well,” Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a space scientist, told delegates as part of a keynote speech entitled “Reaching for the stars – inspiring the next generation of scientists”.

She highlighted that men from minority ethnic backgrounds are 28 per cent less likely to go into science, technology, engineering or mathematics, while the LGBTQ+ community are also less likely to pursue careers in these industries due to fear of discrimination. Additionally, only 22 percent of the core STEM workforce is women.

“We need to get over this hurdle, we need to make STEM more diverse,” Aderin-Pocock said. Since founding her own company, Science Innovation, in 2004, she has organized public engagement events and spoken to more than 550,000 people to confront STEM’s “image problem” and overcome the perception of those working in these professions as “other” and “not just like the rest of humanity.”

Aderin-Pocock also spoke about her own experiences growing up: “I felt like I didn’t really belong anywhere. I went to different schools and often people would say, “Why don’t you come home?” And I don’t think they meant ‘around the corner’, I think they meant Africa.”

However, despite her parents coming from Nigeria, Aderin-Pocock said she feels like a stranger here because she has never been here and does not speak the language. “One of the great things about space is when you look at our planet from space, you don’t see barriers, you don’t see boundaries, you just see our planet,” she said.

We cannot take no for an answer, breaking down barriers to inclusion.

The opening speech for Corinthians, a women’s football club formed during the FA’s ban on women’s participation in football, spoke of the power of overcoming adversity and breaking down barriers to inclusion.

Helen Teeter, producer and director of the new film, which aims to recognize a successful team, said she was inspired by the Corinthians’ determination to never take no for an answer. She highlighted the challenges of securing funding as she was told women’s sport was “a bit niche”.

In addition, she also emphasized the need for more representation, noting that only 25 percent of documentaries focus on women.

Despite being one of the most successful women’s football teams in history, the players were silenced by the ban and stigma associated with women playing football and are only now receiving the recognition they deserve.

The importance of employee wellbeing and engagement initiatives

“The relationship between the environment and wellbeing is significant,” said Ellie Tomlins, HR director at Britvic, at a panel discussion on thriving at work and improving employee wellbeing.

“It’s about creating spaces where people can feel good about where they work and giving them as much freedom as possible.”

She highlighted the danger of “buffet-style initiatives such as yoga in the office” overshadowing real wellbeing issues.

“Often you will see a health problem, but the root cause is somewhere else. You have to look at the whole picture, considering whether the team has enough resources.”

Laura Fink, Hi-Bob’s director of people and culture, also emphasized the importance of the environment, saying, “You can’t plant a plant in suspect soil and expect it to grow.”

“It’s about measuring how things are, understanding and taking targeted action.”

A “people-centred approach” was vital to Emma Illingworth, Head of People Transformation at OVO Energy. “It’s about being deeply human and understanding that people need different things at different times.”

Rachel Saff, senior advisor for industrial relations policy and practice at the CIPD, noted that “the main barrier to wellbeing initiatives is actually employee engagement.”

Both Tomlins and Illingworth emphasized the importance of employee-led initiatives, with Illingworth highlighting OVO’s “strong wellbeing networks, which are themselves led by our employees.”

Fink summarized: “If you invest in your culture and leadership and provide a healthy environment, that makes all the difference.”

If you treat your people well, they will put in more effort on their own.

In a case study on fair compensation, remuneration, recognition and the importance of pay transparency, David Keogh, Head of Remuneration at Bank of Ireland, briefed delegates on the steps the organization has taken to influence reward and recognition on employee motivation. , engagement and retention.

These include changes to benefits through the introduction of a group performance scheme and fixed share awards, which under the structure generate quarterly shares for the company’s senior employees. The organization has also established a rewards project that puts colleagues first. Keogh said, “We wanted to make sure that colleagues were at the center of this decision.”

Since implementing the system, which has been running for a year, 99.9 percent of colleagues have accessed it, with 105,000 unique logins recorded.

Lucy Carter, senior employee experience manager at Seasalt Cornwall, spoke about her organisation’s holistic approach to benefits packages, investing in the employee experience and embarking on a transformational journey to turn “employee engagement into employee experience”.

She said: “It’s not rocket science. If you treat your people well, they will put in more effort on their own and are not going to leave your business,” highlighting how it is transforming from “rocket science to rocket fuel.”

Moreover, Steve Dickinson, senior manager of leadership and development at Seasalt Cornwall, told delegates that “Rome was not built in a day”, so the organization needed to convince the executive team that it was appropriate.

The Seasalt team has made a number of changes, including becoming a national living wage employer, increasing pension contributions and partnering with Reward Gateway to offer wellbeing benefits.

Many employees face barriers to career growth

Panelists on career development discussed innovative approaches to developing and retaining talent in large organizations, even when they face budgetary and structural constraints.

The discussion, moderated by Lizzie Crowley, Senior Skills Policy Advisor at the CIPD, focused on evolving issues and practical solutions organizations can take to drive development at all levels of employees. Crowley addressed the audience’s concerns by asking about effective methods to ensure investments reach the right people.

JC Townend, President of Adecco UK and Ireland, suggested a targeted approach and shared that some of his clients prefer to have volunteers participate in career navigator programs rather than rely on management selection as this may miss out on the “quiet, quiet, quiet life” ” ambitious people you don’t even know will be interested until you discover it and offer it to them.”

Sophie Holmes, head of future skills development at Sky, stressed the need to balance resources between high-performing employees and those at more vulnerable levels.

She presented her concept of a “gold, silver and bronze” development path: “Think about what your gold, silver and bronze goals are? The gold is those (employees) in whom you are fully invested. Silver may require a little more investment, but it is still significant. But as you mentioned, there are a large number of vulnerable people who may not benefit as much. So, think about your bronze goals – they are less expensive but effective within your limitations. How can you give them something, even if it’s done yourself?

“For example, this could involve pointing them to five useful resources and setting up a conversation with their manager, asking specific questions such as, ‘What low-cost strategies can still make an impact even if they don’t reach the gold or silver level?’ standard?”

Later, an audience member raised the question of how HR teams can support high-potential employees who lack immediate revenue-generating results but have the necessary leadership skills.

Holmes emphasized the importance of identifying leadership pathways for technical professionals who don’t fit into traditional management roles. “For example, an area we are exploring in our engineering space is the ability to perform a distinguished engineering role where there is no need to copy others.

“Instead, you will be recognized as a deep expert whose value to the business is so significant that we want to keep you within the organization rather than risk losing you externally. This role will allow you to remain in a leadership role without feeling obligated to move into a management position.”

Raza expanded the conversation by emphasizing the critical role of “cultural intelligence, CQ” for today’s leaders. He argued that “adaptability is critical” to an agile workforce. “CQ, like most others such as emotional intelligence or IQ, is one of those key skills that you need to be able to implement.”

Context is key to writing AI tips that work

Mike Chatterton, founder of the AI Accelerator, told delegates that using AI is “like having Einstein with you”, but one of the fundamental problems with it is that “it has no idea why you need that help”.

“The reality of how this technology works is that it’s not really a chat, but what you’re actually doing is creating a document together to collaborate,” he explained during a workshop on writing prompts for generative AI. Chatterton added that AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude will analyze everything you enter, and as you enter more and more context, up to a certain point you’ll see a “significant increase” in its performance.

So he advised HR professionals to introduce “reusable context,” such as their company values, customer personalities, and information about key products. “It’s like teaching an AI why you do what you do,” he explained.

But, Chatterton warned, when you start using context blocks, the AI will naturally respond by creating a lot more information. So, he says, “the world’s most powerful prompt” for generative AI tools is “read the following and just say OK.” You can then “inject” the context and the tool will simply respond with “OK” instead, rather than adding extra text to the “collaborative document” and degrading its performance.

If you missed it, you can also read the highlights from the first day of this year’s conference.