Blogs

Tonight I went to Engineers House, Bristol for the CIPD meeting which featured Susie Kennedy (who runs acclaimed leadership programmes for KBA) leading with an interactive presentation with her Top Ten Tips for Engagement in Tough Times.The event was well attended and as we were divided into 9 groups, each group was able to spend a few minutes discussing the importance of one of the key points and 3 ways to deliver it, then report back to the group with Susie supporting each tip with feedback and a few slides of her own.I won't go through all ten tips as the slides are apparently available on the CIPD website - I haven't checked yet, but will add link when I do.A golden nugget extra tip from Susie was that if you are a decision maker for a major change programme, make sure you have at least 6 months salary in the bank - this helps you to be sure your decisions are being made for the right reasons. Another was that to help a change programme work you need a robust framework. She recommended her own approach (3D)which blends the psychology of change with project management.Susie was followed by 3 reps of the Engage for Success programme who gave a very interesting overview of the initiative, which is run by volunteers and secondees, supported by, amongst others, CIPD. The programme is designed to raise the profile of employee engagement and to share best practice. There are a number of sub groups and events are being held for practitioners, where best practice is to be shared and for " gurus" where topics will be debated. The Wales and West area are looking to get traction for the movement and invited anyone who might be interested to join them.There is a website which contains a lot of useful resources we were told (www.engageforsuccess.org) as well as social media pages on all key social media fora. There is the BIS sponsored videoclip which i have seen before during one of my course workshops.They left us with a reminder of what they call "the four enablers" to ensure employee engagement works, namely- visible empowering leadership providing strong strategic narrative about the organisation, where it came from, and where it's going- Engaging managers who focus, treat people as individuals and coach and stretch their staff- Employee voice - whereby staff can reinforce and challenge views, internally and externally, and recognition that employees are key- Organisational integrity - where leaders demonstrably live the values.This was all followed by the annual meeting, which included a brief summary of the last 12 month's events by each of the local groups, as well as voting for the committee for next year, the treasurers report and a few well deserved awards and accolades.At the close of the meeting there was an opportunity to enjoy drinks and nibbles and network.I had a very nice chat with a lady who happened to be doing the second year of the L7 HRM course part time at the local uni and then headed back home in time to see the end of the England vs Uruguay match.