HR Professionals stock up on free pens, and debate their future

Today is the final day of this year’s annual HR Conference and general knees-up, held for the first time in Manchester, having relocated there from its former home in Harrogate.

The CIPD Conference is the opportunity for HR professionals to keep in touch with current developments and trends in HR best practice as well as stock up on free pens, paper-clip dispensers and other marketing freebies.

So what’s been exercising the minds of the nation’s HR Managers this week?

Speakers from the widest possible spectrum of international organisations (including Royal Bank of Scotland, Starbucks, McDonalds, Oxfam, Marks and Spencer, Microsoft and British Airways) have been covering 10 key streams of subjects, deliberately focused on the 10 key areas of the recently developed HR Profession Map (note to self: must finish off the last couple of subjects on this for the esteemed readers of tutor2u)

Here’s a list of some of the most popular seminar sessions, which should give you a good impression as to the issues which are uppermost in the minds of today’s senior HR Professionals:

Developing Meaningful Partnerships with Unions
Addressing Dysfunctional Leadership Behaviours
Getting the Outcomes You Want from the Conversations You Don’t
Developing Your Talent Strategy
Demonstrating How Performance Management Drives Organisational Improvement
Turning Appraisal into a Vital Management Tool
The Death of Performance Related Pay and the Bonus Culture?
Harnessing the Power of Social Media in the Workplace
Using HR Metrics to Demonstrate Improved Efficiency

For further information on the CIPD Conference, here are a few links:

CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition 2009 website

Jackie Orme speech to the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition Manchester, 17 November 2009