CIPD NORTH: REGIONAL INSIGHTS
CIPD NORTH: REGIONAL INSIGHTS
Welcome to the spring issue of Regional Insights. We have strong plans this year to build on the successes we achieved in 2022, and expand our growing regional networks and communities to continue to add value and support the needs, and professional development, of our members’ and stakeholders. This includes delivering online and in-person network and forum meetings to provide insights and knowledge and connect HR professionals with their peers across the region. We’ll also be delivering another exclusive Good Employment Summit with the Northern Metro Mayors – more details on this on page 3. As part of our work with the Northern Metro Mayors, we have developed a Northern Workplace Forum to drive the good work agenda across the Northern England. The forum will connect key stakeholders including the combined authorities, chambers of commerce, Acas and HR leaders, to maximise the impact, and reach, of the good work agenda and fair work charters in the region, among employers.
We are also publishing a Northern report on our Good Work Index for the first time in June this year. The annual CIPD Good Work Index measures a range of job quality aspects, including employment essentials, such as pay and contracts, and the realities of work experienced by workers themselves. As we look ahead, the cost-of-living, wellbeing and hybrid working are just some of the challenges that the people profession is grappling with. In this issue, we will explore how organisations such as Everton Football Club and OpenMoney are responding to such challenges. We are mindful that supporting employees through tough times, including the economic downturn and industrial strikes present many issues for employers and people teams. The need for good leadership has never been more important, and this is demonstrated in a new paper that I contributed to, with recommendations on how leaders and managers can learn and adapt to keep up with changing times. Known as ‘Leadership for Good Employment’ – the paper, produced by the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter includes the thoughts and
findings from Gillian Drakeford MBE, former Global Executive and UK CEO to IKEA, and various leaders across Greater Manchester. We have also created a new online hub full of free guides and resources to help you support your organisation through tough economic times, work with unions, and look after your own wellbeing here. Daphne Doody-Green, Head of CIPD in Northern England
Daphne with Gillian Drakeford MBE, former Global Executive and UK CEO to IKEA.
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News around the region
Celebrating Northern Talent Our regional launch events for the CIPD People Management Awards (PMA), 2023 attracted a strong turnout of the North’s talented people professionals and teams. Taking place in Newcastle and virtually – these sessions provided an opportunity to find out how to make a stand-out entry to the CIPD PMA’s and hear from previous winners about the benefits of entering and celebrating the exemplary talent we have in the North. Catch-up on the virtual session here and enter the CIPD PMA’s, 2023 by 6 April to get an Early Bird ticket rate.
Good Work in the North of Tyne We are supporting the North of Tyne Combined Authority’s ‘Good Work Pledge’ designed to help organisations work towards, and celebrate, good working practices. Businesses that pledge to deliver good work and quality jobs will gain tailored support, CIPD learning resources and networking opportunities to help build a thriving workforce. Join the good work movement here.
NHS workforce strategy inspires senior people professionals Over 200 senior people professionals registered to join us in exploring how
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) – the largest NHS Foundation Trust in England, employing over 28,000 staff – has developed an inspiring people plan to ensure the organisation is a great place to work. Hosted online, by our Senior People Professional (SPPN) Network, delegates heard from Yvon Poland MCIPD, Group Head of OD at MFT, who highlighted the key learnings of developing and delivering an innovative workforce strategy which puts people first. These learnings included the importance of delivering many employee engagement activities to help shape a collective vison on what the workforce strategy and culture should look like. View upcoming SPPN events here .
Northern experts join Student Conference line-up Lynn Ridsdale, Chief Executive at Bury Council and Gemma Berrington, L&D Team Leader at Softcat in Manchester – a former winner of the Michael Kelly Outstanding Student Award - are among the Northern speakers announced for our upcoming Student Conference. Held online on Saturday 18 March (09.30-13.00), the annual conference is free for CIPD members and will address all the big and emerging workplace challenges and themes ahead. Register to attend.
Lynn Ridsdale
Gemma Berrington
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News around the region
Yorkshire’s rising young stars We were delighted to support the Insider’s inaugural Yorkshire Young Professionals of the Year Awards, which recognise the region’s young rising stars – across a range of sectors - aged 35 and under. The ‘Young HR/Recruitment Professional of the Year’ accolade went to Navdeep Walker, an in-house recruiter at Hydrock. She is credited with personally saving the Host, Jimmy McGhie with the winner, Navdeep Walker and Daphne Doody-Green, Head of CIPD in Northern England
Menstrual Health Matters An inspiring roundtable hosted by our Northern Policy Forum explored how employers can, and should, improve support for workers experiencing painful or heavy periods, along with other menstrual symptoms (such as fatigue) that may affect their performance in the workplace. CIPD research revealed that 65% of organisations currently make no provision for menstrual health in their health and wellbeing policies. The valuable – and open and honest - contribution from members during this roundtable will help us develop public policy recommendations and shape wellbeing guidance for employers in this important area of women’s health, due to publish in November.
Driving good employment with Northern leaders
Building on the success and popularity of last year’s Good Employment Summit, we’re delighted to bring you another Summit in collaboration with Acas, senior business leaders, and Northern Metro Mayors. The online event – taking place on Tuesday 4 April – 12.00-13.30 - will explore the challenges that employers and line managers are facing in tough times and what the Mayors and senior policy makers are doing to help encourage better working standards, and management practices, in the region. In conversation with Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD and Susan Clews, CEO of ACAS, the summit will uncover the crucial role of the people profession in implementing good employment practices and supporting line managers effectively. Register to attend here.
business £300,000 by recruiting 77 people with only seven identified through an agency. Find out more about the winners here.
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Volunteer Hotseat
clear that I’m passionate about helping people reach their highest potential. I am on a mission to unlock the potential in others so they can achieve extraordinary results and live their best lives - both personally and professionally. The secret to balancing a successful career with young children Having a successful career, five young children, and one on the way is rewarding, fulfilling and yes a balancing act! The secret is, it takes a village to raise children, and my husband and I ask for help from family when, and where, we need it. We also outsource so we have time to enjoy our bundles of joy- we have cleaners and a gardener to save on time. I also take time for my own self-care to stay motivated and energised. It can be as simple as going for a walk or taking time for myself each day to pray. The best advice I’ve ever received Believing in myself has been a key ingredient in my success. As a Christian, the words from the Bible have been instrumental in helping me to stay focused and never give up on my dreams. I’m grateful for this powerful saying - “all things are possible if you believe” - because it serves as an inspiration that drives me every day.
Staying ahead of the industry with an incredible network I am so proud to be part of the CIPD Manchester Branch - it’s truly an incredible network of professional people, development opportunities and a great way to stay connected with the HR world. I’ve had the privilege of hosting and attending various events and workshops, which have all been incredibly inspiring, informative, and empowering. It’s amazing to come together with like-minded individuals and learn from one another while discussing key HR topics. It’s an opportunity to stay ahead of the industry, stay up-to-date with current trends, and deepen our understanding of best practices. My passion for inspiring change and helping people achieve As the Chair of the CIPD Manchester Branch and a Career, Business and Diversity & Inclusion Coach, championing women of colour and advocating for allies, I am known as an inspiring force for change. Previously selected as part of Linkedin’s inaugural UK accelerator program in 2022 to share my unique expertise - plus recognised as one of Manchester’s top DEI coaches and Neurodiversity Evangelist in 2023 – it’s
My volunteering journey: promoting diversity and inclusion Before being elected to Chair of the CIPD Manchester Branch in July 2022 I was a Branch committee member for ten years. I remain focussed on raising the voices of our diverse and vibrant community, as well as providing our members with a lasting and real sense of belonging and inclusion. As a proud black, neurodiverse mother of five children, I understand what it means to celebrate and promote inclusion and diversity in our community and leading the CIPD Manchester Branch - one of the most diverse CIPD Branches - provides many opportunities to achieve this. Meet Chair of the CIPD Manchester Branch, Samantha Lubanzu, a committed volunteer, passionate Career, Business and D&I Coach, and busy mum of five young children - soon to-be six.
Find out more about the CIPD Manchester Branch and its events here .
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The hybrid boost: Opening doors for a greater pool of talent
colleagues understand their working options, and how these need to be mindful of the needs of their team and customers. We also adopted a light touch policy with principles that allow both colleagues and the business to respond to any challenges or learnings as they arise. The results Initially we saw a lot of homeworking, but now people are recognising the role the office plays over time in relationships, organisational culture and team and individual performance. Our labour turnover is 2% lower than pre-pandemic, and our staff are happier with a better work-life balance. I’m super proud to say that 75% of our internal promotions, since implementing agile working, have also gone to women. This shows that in an automotive sector, which is traditionally represented by male leaders, agile working has opened up opportunities to a much greater pool of talent – and we are a better business because of it. We’ve got some phenomenal
Our hybrid journey first started during the pandemic when a staff survey told us the majority of our people wanted to have the option to work from home after lockdown. We needed to find a solution that suited all of our colleagues and the business, so we spoke to our people about the pros and cons of hybrid working in their specific role and area of the business. This led to us developing an agile concept, where our people could choose when, where and how they work, around the needs of the customer, their team and themselves. We trusted our people to work from home 18-months prior, and the business and our profitability had grown. But in order to make this work we needed to invest in the right technology and equipment to make hybrid working effective, regardless of location. Implementing agile working Firstly, we implemented operational guidance and manager training. The vast majority of this training was around practical scenarios that leaders would face, like how to have conversations with colleagues that perhaps want to work more from home, but need to be in the office if they have a customer or team that needs it. We did a huge amount of work around communication and provided lots of examples and scenarios to help
Zenith - an independent fleet management and vehicle outsourcing business – has seen 75% of internal promotions go to female talent since implementing more flexible ways of working. Stuart Price FCIPD, Chief People Officer at Zenith joined the CIPD Northern Policy Forum for a session on hybrid working where he explained more about the organisation’s journey to adopting more agile ways of working, the benefits, and lessons learnt along the way.
female leaders who are now running significant operations within the business because we’ve enabled them to successfully balance family and work.
Catch-up on the CIPD Northern Policy Forum session here .
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Achieving a better work-life balance with ‘people perks’
Clair Staines, Group People Director at OpenMoney
• Satisfy Curiosity – feeling inspired leads our people to greater innovation. These perks are built to make sure our people are continually learning new skills and developing their career. • Collaborative Community – these perks help our people feel part of a bigger team, whether they’re working from home or in the office. Trialing a shorter work week With the launch of People Perks we also trialed a 4.5 day working week which was very successful and allowed our people to have a better life balance. We saw no dip in productivity across OpenMoney, which was the key metric that was measured, and at the same time we saw a 50% reduction in sickness absence. At OpenMoney we regularly review pay and benefits, and don’t wait till the end of year to approve pay rises and promotions. We ensure that we have honest conversations with our people about their career paths and what is required to move forward. Helping our people through the cost-of-living crisis We give our people access to a benefits platform called WorkLife, which offers numerous benefits across five pillars of wellbeing (financial, mental, environment, physical and social).
These benefits include financial coaching, mortgage advice, retail discounts, discounted home insurance, along with critical illness and income protection, a health cash plan and discounted bikes and gym memberships. But we also go above and beyond this to help our people through the cost-of-living crisis and add additional benefits to support our people’s financial wellbeing, including: • Access to a bonus scheme of up to 10%, which is based on monthly performance reviews. This can be used to recognise and reward someone when they have gone above and beyond on a project. • Delivering workshops on how to deal with the cost- of-living crisis, and how the markets are impacting first time buyers etc.
It will be no surprise to anyone that the cost-of-living crisis and retaining our people are the biggest challenges for our organisation right now. At OpenMoney, we strive to create an inclusive, positive workplace that thrives on collaboration and innovation. We’re continually improving the perks we offer our people to make sure they have a work-life balance that suits them, feel empowered and inspired, and secure in their role. People Perks We launched People Perks, which breaks down our offering into four key features: • Financial Freedom – making sure our people are paid fairly and can make the most of their money. • Life Balance – we never want work to get in the way of life. This perk offers flexible working, to allow staff to create a life balance that works for them. Continually improving ‘people perks’ helps financial advice and investment firm, OpenMoney, provide their people with a work-life balance that suits them, says Clair Staines, Group People Director.
Caring and retaining our people I care about our people. I want them to feel
OpenMoney is a place where they feel supported, learn a lot, and enjoy their time here. I understand that it is likely our people will move on to other organisations throughout their career, but I want it to be a career highlight on their CV. Creating this environment is what I enjoy the most about my role.
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We pride ourselves on our ‘One Club’ vision and this led to our women’s team moving their entire operation to Finch Farm, the training complex that houses our men’s senior team operation and Academy. We support and work with other
Everton FC: The People’s Club
“Everton is affectionately known as The People’s Club. It’s a fantastic moniker that perfectly sums up our values and acts as the standard for us to live up to as a people and culture team,” says Kim Healey, Chief People and Culture Officer at Everton Football Club Everton Football Club (FC) has been named one of the best places to work in the UK for five years running, and recognised as one of the fairest employers in the North West, following its inclusion on Liverpool City Region’s Fair Employment Charter. Kim Healey, Chief People and Culture Officer at Everton FC tells us
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and we recently recruited an Equity and Inclusion Lead for Accessibility and Wellbeing. We offer a wealth of health and wellbeing benefits too, but this is very much an overview - our teams are constantly working to make Everton a truly attractive and inclusive place to work.
partners and awareness campaigns, including Her Game Too, Women in Football, Stonewall and No Room For Racism. For our staff, we have created, and are developing, a series of staff networks and educational events that will further reinforce our commitment to true equality and inclusion at Everton. Our goals for this year One of our goals for 2023 is to build on the ‘aspiring’ status we were awarded on induction to the Liverpool City Region’s inaugural Fair Employment Charter, and further our reputation as one of the fairest and most conscientious employers in our city and the wider region. More broadly, we will continue our focus on evolving our staff offering and continuing to shape our people and culture operations in advance of the move to our stadium on the banks of the River Mersey – the biggest project in the Club’s history and one that will deliver huge public benefits for North Liverpool, our City Region and the UK.
Managing a HR operation across multiple sites
Football is Everton’s primary output but within the people and culture team, we also look after an award- winning charity, a Free School and a Football College. Those teams are based at multiple sites across Merseyside and Cheshire, and we have many staff that are working from home two days a week. Managing that HR operation and ensuring we are successfully and fairly catering for the needs of staff across all our sites is a huge challenge in itself. Looking ahead, our employee numbers are set to grow as we prepare to move to our new 52,888 capacity stadium. We want to make sure we are recruiting and retaining the very best talents to help us deliver, while creating pathways for all our staff to develop and grow. Tackling equality and inclusion Equality and inclusion is an integral part of our culture at Everton. In 2018, we launched All Together Now, a campaign that outlines our commitment to make Everton a place where everyone feels respected, celebrated and empowered, and that they belong.
more about the club’s inspiring work and ambition to be one of the most inclusive and conscientious employers in the region.
Creating a great place to work Our family-friendly policies include generous maternity and adoption leave packages and shared parental leave options, and we have a hybrid working model that allows staff to work more flexibly.
Read the full article here .
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Get involved: Events and networks
CIPD Northern Policy Forum
Tues 23 May – 12.00-13.00, online
CIPD Student Conference
Attracting & Retaining an Inclusive & Diverse Workforce Established in 2021, the CIPD Northern Policy Forum gives HR and people development professionals an opportunity to find out more about our policy influencing work, and help us shape and recommend vital changes to public policy to improve the future world of work. Register to become a member of the forum here and join upcoming online sessions:
Senior People Professional Network (SPPN)
Sat 18 March, online – 9.30-13.00
Free for CIPD members, the virtual CIPD Student Conference provides opportunities to hear from experienced professionals, build your confidence, focus on your personal growth and capabilities to support your studies and progress your career. Register to join here.
April – July
Our Senior People Professionals (SPPN) Network connects like-minded peers through regular virtual and face-to-face sessions to discuss key topics and share challenges. Become a member here and join upcoming online SPPN sessions: • Mon 17 April – 12.00-13.00 - Spotlight on Digital Skills • Mon 22 May – 19.00-20.30 – She Leads for Legacy collaboration • Wed 24 May – 12.00-13.00 – Discussion on Organisational Development and Design • Wed 19 July – 12.00 – 13.00 – Open Discussion Forum
CIPD Festival of Work
Join over 5,000 people and exhibitors at the Festival of Work, to explore the future trends and workplace themes affecting the world of work. You’ll hear from industry leaders on how to adapt and implement an innovative people strategy to stay ahead of challenges and unlock the power of your people. Book to attend for free here.
Tues 23 May – 12.00-13.00, London
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