Northern England Annual Highlights 2023
cipd.co.uk/north
Review of 2023
30 Independent Consultants Network members
136 Northern Policy Forum members
Over 440 senior connections
140 Northern Branch Volunteers
28,000 CIPD North members
400 Steps Ahead Mentors
We are delighted to bring you our Annual Highlights which showcases our work and impact in the region to fulfil our purpose of creating a better future world of work. I want to personally thank all our supporters and partners who have worked with us this year - including our region’s HR leaders, employers, combined authorities, and policymakers - to help us drive lasting positive workplace change. Special recognition must also go to our growing community of vibrant volunteers - across our ten CIPD Branches - who do a wonderful job at delivering a range of quality activities and networking sessions to support their local HR community. I would also like to congratulate the 12 northern winners and highly commendations at this year’s CIPD People Management Awards 2023! They were recognised for their outstanding people talent and teams. View the winners here . I have been delighted to see that our regional networks and forums have continued to develop and attract new members with their varied programme of events on hot topics such as AI, Menopause at Work and Hybrid Working. Many of these sessions have helped to inform or shape our guidance, research, or policy recommendations. Our programme of activities for senior HR leaders has stepped up this year too, to help support them professionally and advance their HR team’s capability.
Looking ahead, we will be partnering with more northern organisations to support the professional development of their people teams and strengthen their skills and capabilities. We will continue to support each of the northern Metro Mayors with their Good or Fair Work Charters in each of their respective regions. As part of this, we are looking forward to hosting a collaborative event in the New Year which will explore how these Charters are helping employers improve their working practices and address regional inequalities. We have also planned an exciting range of activities to continue to meet and support the needs of our members’ and stakeholders in 2024. To subscribe to our mailing list, or to find out more about any of our regional networks see here or e: cipdnorth@cipd.co.uk
Daphne Doody-Green Head of CIPD in Northern England
January
Supporting women’s health at work As a trusted advisor to the government, we held an exclusive ‘Menstrual Health Matters’ roundtable to help shape our recommendations for the government – and employers - to better support employees in the workplace that are struggling with their menstrual health. During the roundtable people professionals – including senior leaders and managers - tackled the stigma and taboos around periods and whether paid period leave would work in their organisation.
Championing northern talent We hosted some exclusive
regional launch events for the 2023 CIPD People Management Awards (PMAs) to inspire northern people professionals to champion their successes and achievements by making a stand-out entry to the PMAs. Held virtually and in Newcastle - in collaboration with the CIPD North East Branch – a strong turn- out of delegates heard inspiring stories from former shortlisted entrants and winners about their exemplary entries and the benefits of entering the prestigious awards. The sessions proved a great success with twenty northern HR and people development teams shortlisted for the 2023 PMAs.
This inspiring insight has helped to strengthen our suite of wellbeing
guidance to support women’s health at work. Catch-up on the session – hosted by our Northern Policy Forum – here .
February
Yorkshire’s young rising stars We were delighted to support the Insider’s inaugural Yorkshire Young Professionals Awards, which recognise the region’s young rising stars – across a range of sectors - aged 35 and under. As the sponsor of the Young HR/Recruitment Professional of the Year accolade, Daphne Doody- Green, Head of CIPD in Northern England presented the award to the winner, Navdeep Walker, an in-house recruiter at Hydrock. She was credited for personally saving the business £300,000 in recruitment costs, by recruiting 77 people with only seven identified through an agency. The black-tie ceremony also provided a great opportunity to showcase the new awards to our Yorkshire-based HR Leader network. Find out more about the
The hybrid boost An online Hybrid working - where are we now session gave people professionals and managers
an opportunity to learn about our policy influencing work and guidance to support businesses with the move to hybrid ways of working. Guest speaker, Stuart Price FCIPD, Chief People Officer at Zenith Vehicles spoke passionately about
how hybrid working is benefiting the business and its people, with 75% of internal promotions going to female talent since implementing more flexible ways of working. Catch-up on the session – hosted by our Northern Policy Forum – here .
“We’ve got some phenomenal female leaders who are
now running significant operations within the business because we’ve enabled them to successfully balance family and work, said Stuart.”
winners here and the shortlist for the 2024 Yorkshire Young Professionals Awards here .
March
Strengthening our services and impact We are delighted to have strengthened our support and services for northern employers and people professionals by appointing Louisa Haberstroh as Senior Employer Solutions Manager. Louisa’s extensive HR management
Setting students up for success Over 900 students and early career professionals joined us for our annual Student Conference to gain valuable insight from experienced professionals and learn about CIPD resources, tools and communities that will set them up for success in their studies and career. The online event included a range of inspiring northern speakers – such as Lynn Ridsdale, Chief Executive at Bury Council and Gemma Berrington, L&D Team Leader at Softcat in Manchester – who spoke about all the big and emerging workplace themes. Register for the free 2024 CIPD Student Conference here and access our Student Hub here .
experience - across multiple sectors – is helping northern
businesses to identify solutions to improve workplace productivity and create and inspire future focused, high performing teams and leaders.
Explore our services and products for organisations here and connect with Louisa e: Louisa.Haberstroh@cipd.co.uk
April
Celebrating good work in Manchester As a proud partner to the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, we were delighted to support its annual Good Employment Awards, which recognise good and fair employment practice amongst Greater Manchester employers. Peter Cheese, Chief Executive, CIPD joined
Uniting with Metro Mayors to improve working lives
Over 450 people professionals and business leaders from the North of England registered to join our online Good Employment Summit – in collaboration with Acas - to hear how local good and fair work charters can help businesses make work better and more productive for all. The Metro Mayors of Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire, along with the Deputy Leader of Newcastle City Council joined us to highlight how their local charters – which the CIPD helped develop - are helping employers make work fairer and more secure for workers. Read more about the session and watch it here . “These charters give employers a tangible way of
us as a special guest to congratulate the winners. These included Howarth Air Technology, Ingeus, Southway
Housing Trust, and Wigan and Leigh College.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester’s esteemed
demonstrating social value, improving productivity and reducing costs. They are also giving employees a say in how their workplaces are run.” said Andy Burnham , Mayor of Greater Manchester
‘Employer of the Year’ accolade was awarded to Anchor Removals, a small family run firm credited for their work to champion the benefits of the Real Living Wage. Find out more about the winners and how to become a member of the Charter here .
May
Supporting black and ethnic minority women at work Too many women from an ethnic minority background still face discrimination and disadvantage when trying to get into, and progress, at work. A unique collaboration between our Senior People Professionals Network (SPPN) and She Leads for Legacy tackled this issue, and the role people professionals
Collaborating with northern employers As organisations continue to adapt to new ways of working, we enjoyed connecting with forward- thinking employers - including Leeds City Council, Damart, Mersey Care, Manchester University Trust, PPG, and Vet Partners – to deliver sessions on professional development, membership, and
The people profession must be able to recognise workplace bias and
should play in ensuring all staff have equal opportunities to develop and progress at work. Watch the session here .
discrimination in order to help stamp it out so that all individuals, and particularly black women, can reach their potential at work.” Sharon Amesu, Co-Founder of She Leads for Legacy
It was helpful for our people team to understand the development and
insights on the future of work.
support resources available from the CIPD and also how the profession map aligns with our values as a business.” Rob Williams, Head of Talent at VetPartners
June
Calls for better quality jobs The launch of our first North of England Good Work Index report calls for employers, and the government, to take action to improve the quality of jobs in the North. This comes after findings in the research report revealed a negative shift in how employees think about work, with only one-third (34%) of respondents feeling that their work affects their mental health positively. A range of recommendations for employers – and
Launch of Independent Consultants Network We launched an
I am incredibly excited about this new network. There
Independent Consultants Network – exclusively
are so many benefits of working independently, but it can also be isolating.” Kay Thompson- Barker, Managing Director, Sea Light Development Ltd
for Northern independent consultants - after listening to
feedback. This new network provides virtual knowledge
policymakers – to improve the quality of jobs in our region are included in the report here .
exchange sessions and networking opportunities tailored to enable independent consultants to connect, share ideas, challenges, and good practice. Register to join the Independent
Consultants Network e: cipdnorth@cipd.co.uk .
July
Manifesto for Good Work
Essential skills in the workplace Did you know that the cost of low essential skills – such as communication and problem-solving - to the UK in 2022 was £22.2 billion? We held an ‘Essential Skills in the Workplace’ think tank - in collaboration with Skills Builder Partnership - to gain insight from northern people professionals about what opportunities there are to develop and sustain essential skills across the workforce.
We gathered valuable insight from northern members during a roundtable discussion - held in collaboration with the CIPD in Manchester Branch - to help form our Manifesto for Good Work . The Manifesto calls on the next UK government to introduce a strategy for skilled, fair, and healthy work, that will help change the world of work for the better and drive economic growth. It also contains a package of reforms to increase investment in training and skills, improve productivity and living standards, and support the move to net zero.
The lively discussion and insights shared will enable Skills Builder Partnership to develop learning assets and tools to help HR and L&D professionals build and measure essential skills in the workplace.
August
Exclusive Yorkshire Post Column We secured a fortnightly CIPD column in the Yorkshire Post, enabling our senior experts to reach over 105,000 readers with their insights on all things future-of-work and working lives. Published every other Tuesday, the column focusses on our latest work to deliver on our purpose of championing better work and working lives. This often includes our policy influencing work such as our calls for better rights for parents and carers, and recommendations for the government to make work, and working conditions, fair and healthy for everyone.
Engaging HR Leaders across the North
We kick-started our series of exclusive engagement activities for senior HR Leaders in the region.
Held in Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester, the networking events provide HR leaders – from various sectors – with a unique opportunity to connect, share stories and experiences. They also provide an opportunity to find out more about the benefits of CIPD membership, and how we can support organisations in improving their HR function and teams. Each event also focusses on a topic or challenge that senior HR professionals are likely facing such as hybrid working, future HR operational models and leadership. To apply to join the HR Leader Network e: cipdnorth@cipd.co.uk
September
Wellbeing support for everyone Our Senior People Professional Network attracted a strong turnout at a networking and panel discussion which focused on wellbeing and psychological safety. The event, held at Choapraya in Newcastle - in collaboration with the CIPD North East Branch - highlighted how senior professionals can, and should, set boundaries and look after their own wellbeing. The session also revealed findings from our annual Health and Wellbeing Survey which found that UK workers were absent an average of 7.8 days over the past year. This is the
Driving the good work agenda We enjoyed contributing to an important discussion and agenda to embed good work across the north and wider UK at the Good Employment Conference in Manchester. Daphne Doody-Green, Head of CIPD in Northern England joined a range of influential experts from across the worlds of local government, academia, think tanks, and unions to speak about the profound impact of good working practices on employees and on local economies. With falling living standards and poverty set to rise, the conference - hosted by the Inclusive Growth Network in partnership with Acas and Manchester Metropolitan University - raised the urgent need to focus on strengthening job quality across the UK.
highest level of absences reported in over a decade. Register to join the SPPN here .
Read more insights from the Good Employment Conference here .
October
Preparing for AI Our Senior People Professional Network held a lively session on all things AI . It explored how AI may impact their organisation and people, and what AI tools or progams senior people professionals and employers are already using and benefitting from. Among the concerns that senior people professionals expressed around AI was the potential for job applicants to use AI to write covering letters and tailor inaccurate CVs. But overall, employers – and people professionals - are keen to embrace AI with one delegate revealing the focus for their company’s staff away day is AI. During the online session delegates were updated on our growing AI in the Workplace Hub which offers a range of resources, research, guides and podcasts to
Passion for public sector excellence We demonstrated our commitment and support for people
professionals in the health care sector at a regional Healthcare People Management
Association (HPMA) branch conference, where we highlighted our collaborative work and partnerships with the HPMA and the NHS. Our partnership agreement with the NHS will play a pivotal role in strengthening their HR, L&D and OD teams. As part of this, we have created a bespoke NHS profession map to help improve the capabilities and impact of the NHS’s 16,000 HR, OD and L&D professionals. We are now supporting the HPMA and NHS to raise awareness of our partnerships and activities to the wider people profession at various events.
help employers and HR to harness the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI.
November
Sky’s the limit for HR Over 70 senior people professionals and HR leaders joined us for an exclusive networking and panel discussion held at the beautiful Cloud 23 Bar, Hilton Hotel in Manchester. As the world of work continues to evolve at pace - admis a growing cost-of-living crisis - senior HR professionals are facing an increasing range of challenges. This event provided a safe space for them to share their challenges, ideas and good practice. Peter Cheese, Chief Executive, CIPD chaired a panel of AI experts who spoke about how the profession is managing, leading, and governing the use of AI. Delegates were then invited to ask any questions to understand the potential opportunities and
Ace-ing the future of work Around 5,000 delegates joined us for our flagship Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) at Manchester Central where the agenda explored fresh perspectives on the future world of work. High-profile and thought-provoking speakers included TV broadcaster, Davina McCall MBE, racing driver, Nicolas Hamilton and Daniel Susskind, author of ‘A World Without Work.’ The Careers Hub proved a particular highlight for many, where people professionals – from various northern organisations - discussed ‘What I wish I’d known before becoming a people professional.’ These personal and inspiring accounts provided valuable insight into what it’s really like to work in specific people roles and specialisms. Read more here .
benefits of AI, for both their organisation and people.
December
Supporting women leaving prison into work
Celebrating our successes and reach Our collaborations with leading organisations such as Acas, She Leads for Legacy and the combined authorities have helped us grow our networks and adjacent communities across the last 12-months. As a thank you to our partners and supporters, we held a regional stakeholder dinner in
The CIPD Trust, HMP Styal in Cheshire and the HMP Styal Employment Advisory Board have won funding from City & Guilds Foundation’s Big Ideas Fund, for an innovative new pilot aimed at supporting women leaving prison into employment. The pilot will use expert mentors from the people profession (all CIPD members) to support women approaching the end of their sentences to develop
December, where we enjoyed celebrating our collaborative successes and making plans for new year ahead. Our shared purpose of championing better work and working lives continues to help inform our activities and grow our media activity. Read our latest news, views and
confidence, employability skills and vocational skills, working with numerous employment partners in the region. Find out more about the pilot and the CIPD Trust here or to get involved as a mentor e: cipdtrustteam@cipd.co.uk
We are delighted to be working with City & Guilds on this important agenda. Our programme will connect women with employers that have job opportunities on release.” Peter Cheese, Chief Executive, CIPD
policy recommendations here .
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