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Executive Grapevine 2010 conference for talent management professionals

Sally Brand discusses this year's event.

I attended the EG2010 conference last week and was lucky enough to meet, and listen to, a number of senior international HR professionals from a wide variety of sectors and organisations talking about current HR issues and strategy within their organisations.

The day was split into three key sessions with a number of speakers taking part in each session. At the end of each session there was the opportunity for questions and debate.

Here is a breakdown and some of the key learning that I took away:

• After a tough eighteen months for the economy it is vital that organisations are continually measuring and improving employee engagement strategies to ensure that they are taking appropriate action. The organisations that do this will be much more likely to succeed going forwards and retain their people.

• Employers need to be innovative and responsive to change and must not become complacent with their talent management strategies. If you believe that your employees will stay with you because they have fewer options then you could be sorely disappointed- there is always a demand for good, commercial people.

• Honesty is important- budgets were cut and remain an issue for many organisations; there’s no point in denying this. However, in order to succeed HR strategies need be revamped and HR professionals need to be innovative- there are cost-effective ways round these issues. This was stressed by Andy Doyle, Group HR Director for ITV, who commented that throughout the recession ITV provided complimentary Starbucks for their employees. He said that whilst there were cutbacks across the board, this small gesture really helped to motivate people and show them that the corporation cared. In the grand scheme of things the cost of this was relatively small but the impact was large and far reaching.

• “Keep things simple” and “natural”; these are two of Innocent’s key values. Karen Callaghan, Head of People at Innocent, stressed that motivating your people does not have to be complicated. Above all it is vital to be honest and transparent. They put a big emphasis “on quality conversations” taking place at all levels to keep communication at the heart of their operation and to keep people motivated.

• Ask your people what they think- carry out regular employee engagement surveys and encourage people to be honest. Show them that you’ve acted on the feedback too.

• Hire and develop strong leaders- they are key to success.

• Be prepared to be flexible and make adjustments. David Taylor-Smith, Regional President and CEO of G4S, highlighted that sometimes an organisation might be at fault for putting the right person into the wrong role (the law of averages dictates that even the most experienced recruitment/HR professionals cannot get recruitment right 100% of the time!). As such it is important to be prepared to ask questions and to keep monitoring your people to ensure that you do not lose a talented team member who might have flourished in another position.

• Say it, do it and remind people that you’ve done it; it’s a great way to increase Return on Investment in terms of HR strategy.

• Offer a development strategy which is as diverse as the people you employ. Sarah Myer, Director of Talent Management at BskyB, highlighted that they offer a wide range of initiatives to meet their people’s varying needs including coaching, mentoring, a drop-in coaching clinic, emotional intelligence courses and a structured leadership development programme. They firmly believe that coaching and mentoring cascades belief through an organisation.

• Women’s networking committees - this caused some controversy on the panel! Some organisations had successfully implemented such groups which they claim have created a greater understanding of women’s issues and enabled greater diversity within the workplace. Others felt that such groups or committees could have a negative impact and that women should not be made an example of and that all employees deserve equal opportunities.

• “Truth and transparency are the base of human trust” Peter Bedford, Head of Talent, ABB.

• Discretionary effort is a key measure of a truly engaged employee.

• Whilst employee retention is vital, attracting external candidates to refresh and supplement your talent pool is important too. Alan Cairnes, HR Director at Money Supermarket.com, suggests “painting a picture” of the type of opportunity your company will create for the prospective employee to whet their appetite.

• Use your marketing department to your HR team’s advantage when attracting new talent. (e.g. refer to ad campaigns and relevant PR events to create a buzz and common ground).

• Individuality- small gestures can have a big impact. At Moneysupermarket.com guests receive complimentary fresh fruit whilst they’re waiting in reception. This creates a great first impression and really helps with small talk when interviewing prospective employees!

• Use head hunters and recruitment consultancies to help you bench mark candidates and market information.

If you'd like to discuss any of this please email me at sally@learnpurple.com.

If you'd like to attend next year see www.executive-grapevine.co.uk though we'll summarise again for you.

25 March 2010