Registrations are now open for the award-winning Ibec HR Leadership Summit 2021, which is taking place virtually on October 21st, emceed by broadcaster Anton Savage. Now in its 21st year, the number one conference in Ireland for HR leaders is expected to attract over 500 delegates from businesses across all sectors including technology, financial services, food & drink, pharma, med-tech, property and more.
This year's Summit is themed 'The evolving workplace: Achieving a sustainable balance' and will address the defining issues facing business, and their employees, at this pivotal moment in the world of work. Framed through the lens of three key topic areas, the Summit will explore how HR leaders can reshape their organisational design, their workplace culture and find the sustainable balance in new ways of working for them to thrive and succeed.
Maeve McElwee, director of Employer Relations at Ibec said: "We're really excited about this year's Summit. We're hearing more and more questions from our members around what a responsible business culture of the future looks like, and how do we get there? Concerns also exist around how to achieve a sustainable balance in new ways of working. This year's summit will provide the insights and big ideas to support them in redefining their culture, organisational design, and the resources for new ways of working so that their people and organisations can thrive."
Maintaining connections in the remote working world
In the context of remote working and distributed workforces, INSEAD’s Noah Askin will examine the ways in which we can use networks effectively to build social capital in teams and bolster workplace connections to enable sustainable innovation and creativity.
Loss of connectivity between the individual and the wider organisation is one major disadvantage associated with remote or hybrid working. Employees are more likely to solely interact with their own team when working remotely, rather than engaging with colleagues from other teams and departments. This loss of connection can have a negative effect not only on camaraderie, but also on career paths – particularly for more junior members of staff. Serendipitous encounters with individuals from other areas of the business in the corridor or while grabbing a coffee are lost in the remote and hybrid working world, leading often to a feeling of isolation, decreased creativity and jeopardising employee retention.
On October 21st, Noah Askin will look at ways in which businesses can create serendipity and maintain connectivity between people and teams in a remote environment.
Joanne Morrissey, HR director at Microsoft Ireland (strategic partner for this year’s Ibec HR Leadership Summit), will share some insights and perspectives on Microsoft’s global research and outline how Microsoft’s culture of a growth mindset is helping the organisation to navigate the transition to hybrid working. According to Morrissey; “Companies in Ireland are busy drawing up their post-pandemic working policies, and most are expected to offer hybrid working models to their staff going forward. Most Irish organisations are facing almost an existential challenge over the coming months, and how they approach the return to work is crucial as it will impact how they will attract and retain talent in the years ahead. A successful shift to hybrid work will depend on embracing the “hybrid paradox,” in which people want the flexibility to work from anywhere, but simultaneously crave more in-person connection.”
Speakers
Other speakers include: Tsedal Neeley, Naylor Fitzhugh, professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School; Paul Reid, director-general, Health Service Executive; and Tim Good, Talent & Organisation/Human Potential, Accenture.
Strategic partners
Alongside Microsoft, strategic partners for this year’s Ibec HR Leadership Summit also include global leaders in professional services, Accenture and one of Ireland’s leading health insurance providers, Irish Life Health.
“We are delighted to be involved in this year’s Summit, which comes at a truly exciting time for business leaders as they navigate the new world of working,” says Audrey O’Mahony, managing director, Talent & Organisation at Accenture in Ireland. “It’s a great opportunity for leaders to explore how they can create a workforce for the future by building an inclusive culture and environment that is sustainable for their organisation and we look forward to being part of that discussion.”
Damian Fadden, commercial director, Irish Life Health said: “Irish Life Health is delighted to once again sponsor the IBEC HR Leadership Summit. We are longstanding partners of the event, which addresses themes of strategic importance to us and our clients. This year, a key focus for many of our clients is redefining workplace culture as we emerge from the pandemic. We're working closely with them to deliver health and wellbeing solutions that enhance employee experience, foster an improved company culture and drive business success.”
The Ibec HR Leadership Summit 2021 will take place virtually on October 21st, 2021.