Event reviews

Citation

Moss, B. (2014), "Event reviews", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-02-2014-0013

Event reviews

Article Type: Resources From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 3

Robertson Cooper Good Day at Work Conference 2013, London, UK, 13 November 2013

As Sally Gunnell said in her keynote, it was great to be in the room with so many like-minded people at the Good Day at Work Conference 2013. And we came away with a feeling of great positivity and progress, that amongst all the preoccupations of business and society we have reached a real tipping point for health and well-being.

Progressive and sophisticated approaches

Peter Cheese (CIPD) opened the conference with a keynote that continued to resonate throughout the day. He called for HR to refocus on the science of people and drive agile organizations that are not obsessed by "process". We have come a long way from the photo Peter showed of Rowntree Factory employees doing star jumps in 1913 – but we must not forget the human side of HR and the need for businesses to retain that crucial trust of its people.

Paul Farmer (Mind) continued the progressive feel when he spoke about an "alignment of the stars" for mental health awareness. Public attitudes are changing, and Paul’s stats about the cost of mental ill health were echoed by Santander and other practitioners on the day, confirming that organizations are prioritizing the issue and becoming more sophisticated in their approach.

Practitioners share creative, data-driven strategies

It was the sophisticated approach that united our practitioner sessions, all of which presented data-driven strategies with a creative, people-first ethos at their heart. Alistair Fraser from Shell talked about delivering resilience training with a focus on personal stories and the team environment – with a real impact for engaged, thriving employees. Adele Tipton amazed everyone in the room with the lengths to which first direct goes in making its employees feel appreciated and part of the fd family. Santander, too, is making health and positivity a part of its culture and David Moore talked about a clear move from its previous health and safety focus.

Fred Payne from the Bank Workers Charity (BWC) gave an insightful talk on the different ways in which it supports bank workers, including providing expert assistance for relationship, financial and health issues. For BWC it is not about "reinventing the wheel" but connecting diverse charity expertise to those who need it.

Understanding non-work issues is vital too and TheFreeHelpGuy and Jules Evans both gave their take on this. Whether it is Greek philosophy and remaining "Stoic" or helping a group of unemployed people deliver roses for free in Soho … both tell us a lot about the human instinct, need for creativity and motivation.

Small changes make a big difference

But we are not just at a tipping point in terms of feeling good about our working lives. Well-being is about performance too, and talks from Kelvin Giles, Amanda Stickland (Atkins) and our keynote Sally Gunnell emphasized just how much of a difference small changes can make. Getting the right team around you, learning what affects your performance and having control were all key themes – and hearing how Sally’s force of will drove her to gold in Barcelona (as well as getting our hands on the medal itself!) was an awe-inspiring way to sign off her speech.

Throughout the day we had some great questions from delegates and the panel discussion on flexible working provided more of the same. The influence of gender, culture, class, and geography showed just how complex a topic flexible working is – but it is here to stay, as our panel agreed, and there were some great examples of initiatives from Jacqueline Rosenberg (Novartis) and Julia Ingall (Ogilvy and Mather), and insights on the latest research from Matt Smeed (Robertson Cooper) and Jules Evans.

Maintaining the momentum

By the end of the day, the sum of all the new, statistical approaches and an appreciation of the creative and human side of work, gave a real sense of positivity – and, we feel, it was the best conference in our six years putting them on. Alexander Kjerulf finished the day by harnessing that positivity with a very entertaining presentation that went from plug sockets to Danish and Japanese lexicon, and "level 5 good mornings" – with a real message about the importance of results and relationships, again echoing many of the themes in the practitioner sessions.

We hope that, more than just recognizing the tipping point for well-being, the day has provided plenty of inspiration to continue that momentum back in the workplace – making well-being part of everyday life, for everyone.

Ben Moss
Ben Moss, managing director of Robertson Cooper