This joint ACAS and CIPD event in June 2009 was well attended despite the difficulties delegates had in getting to Westminster thanks to industrial action on the Underground. Indeed, I suspect there might have been one or two more ACAS conciliators there if they were not otherwise engaged...
There were a number of learning points emerging from the day. These came not only from the presentations but also from discussions with other delegates during breaks.
In no particular order:
- recent surveys suggest those organisations that maintain commitment to training and development are more likely to emerge from the recession in a healthy state. (A similar survey 12 years ago was not mentioned, but perhaps it takes one every decade or so to catch the attention of a new generation of managers!)
- Government and related agency presenters were unrealistically upbeat about early recovery and had a misunderstanding about falling unemployment: most commentators believe this will continue to rise after a recovery starts, and the post-election UK debt reduction process must surely slow the extent of a recovery as investment is constrained.
- There were some powerful data about higher education levels directly lowering unemployment risks to individuals.
- The engagement of staff (aka commitment) is essential to help success, and communication and information flow even in bad times are critical.
- Managers' responsibility for coaching their people was highlighted
- There were some good examples of internal mediation processes in organisations to limit disputes, though these seemed to be only in the public sector such as the Police and a large hospital. All mediators had been accredited by ACAS.
- One large and successful educational establishment had abandoned the formal appraisal process to no ill effect and to the delight of its people. Managers were of course trained and empowered to have regular chats with people about performance.
- The willingness of employers and union representatives to work together to solve problems is now perhaps greater than ever
- In the breaks, I asked senior delegates from successful and profitable enterprises about business plans: there was still marked reluctance by their banks to lend for investment which was causing real concern
- The Investors in People quality process was being talked about openly in a positive way, with less scepticism than in the past. (That's taken over 15 years of hard work...)
- The HR heads attending were confident about their abilities to influence their colleagues and help keep their organisations resilient.