Chair’s reflections - Northern Annual Conference 2021

Chair’s reflections (Northern Annual Conference, NAC) 6 May 2021

Our first online CIPD Northern Annual Conference proved a huge hit, with close to 400 delegates joining us, along with a range of inspirational speakers from the public and private sectors.

Driving the Good Work agenda

I’m proud to say the focus of the conference – driving the Good Work agenda – was reflective of the important work that CIPD North have been leading, alongside key stakeholders in the region (including Metro Mayors and Combined Authorities) to raise good employment standards across all business sectors in Northern England. To this end, all the content on the day looked to engage and inspire delegates to connect with the Good Work agenda and learn how it will impact the future of the profession and future workforces, as well as support the CIPD in championing better work and working lives. Regional employers and experts including Kellogg’s, Talk Talk, Northumbrian Water Group, and ACAS provided the valuable insights and best practice around a variety of essential workplace topics including ‘Building your Young Talent Pipeline’; ‘Managing Conflict in the Workplace’; ‘Engagement and Employee Voice’; and ‘Developing Future Skills.’ Our headline sponsor, Phase 3, also delivered a great presentation on the 12 steps to People Technology.

Putting people first: rebalancing the North

I was delighted that our CEO, Peter Cheese could join us to reflect on the exceptional year we’ve had and emphasize that the profession has a unique position to drive the Good Work agenda forward by putting people first and calling out that work should be fair, meaningful, and productive for the benefit of people, organisations, and society. This was very much echoed from Sarah Longlands, Director of IPPR North, who delivered a keynote on the impact of COVID on the Northern Economy: “We need to rebalance job opportunities in the north and focus on future skills and the role in the levelling up agenda, said Sarah.”

Wellbeing & Investing in People Management

CIPD President, Professor Cary Cooper, a well-known psychologist from Manchester Business School gave a compelling close to our conference, asking us to think more strategically about workforce mental health. My key reflection from the conference is that Wellbeing is rising the workplace agenda, having formed part of most of the discussions and presentations throughout the day. The critical role that line managers play in enabling many aspects of ‘good work’ also reinforced the importance of employers investing in good people management skills as the behaviour of managers often has the biggest impact on staff motivation, wellbeing, and inclusion . Driving good work requires a fundamental shift in the role we play in organisations. We need to effectively influence organisations to create meaningful opportunities, embed ethical practices and cherish people while meeting business objectives.

Find out more & join us next year: #cipdNAC22

You can find out more about the CIPD Northern Conference 2021 and what delegates thought of the day on social media, by using the hashtag #cipdNAC21

Next year we will deliver the CIPD North Conference in Manchester on 2 March, so we hope to see you there.

You can register your interest to book an early bird ticket or enquire about sponsor opportunities by emailing [email protected]

If you want to connect, share, and meet any members of the CIPD North, you can connect here and find out more of what we are doing here.