2012 Annual Seminar

 

 

 

Full Steam Ahead...

  

 26 and 27 April 2012 at Paragon Hotel - Birmingham

 

It’s a time of unprecedented challenge for HR in the public sector. From the austerity agenda and its impact on staff and services, to the effect of the ‘consumer society’ on customer expectations, to public services policy reform (including education changes, localism, open government and health reforms), the context for HR practitioners in the public sector has become highly complex and unique.

 

The PPMA is committed to the development of world-class HR practice in the public sector. We seek to act as a voice of the public sector HR community, influencing the debate and contributing our point of view. We provide opportunities for people to come together throughout the year, both online and through the events that our regions and interest groups organise.

 

In 2012 we’re once again running an Annual Seminar, entitled Full Steam Ahead. The name reflects our intention to focus on the challenges we all face here and now and to provide practical solutions.

 

It’s very appropriate this year that we’re meeting in Birmingham, a city that has regenerated itself several times, demonstrating its ability to be innovative.

 

 

Our theme has been chosen to reflect our intention to seek to re-energise the public sector HR community. 2011 was in turns tough, challenging and energizing as the scale and pace of the change gained momentum.. This seminar is about looking beyond the immediate financial challenges and the downsizing that has already taken place, to the agenda for 2012 and beyond. We’ll be focusing on what we need to do to support our organisations as they strive to change and adapt.

 

Throughout the event we’ll get the ‘view from the top’ from a range of Chief Executives from all sectors. The PPMA has in the past year supported a number of key pieces of research around the issues that are important to people management in our sector: the state of the ‘deal’ that we have with our staff and how the leadership requirements in our sector are changing. We will use the seminar to report back on that research.

 

Alongside this, we’ll be looking critically at issues around reward, the future of industrial relations, how we can continue to attract talent into the sector and how we position HR to ensure it makes the biggest impact.

 

We aim to create a sense of a journey within the Seminar. The stops en route will comprise workshops, debates and case studies from those who have already made progress – and some who have tried and are honest enough to talk about both what worked for them and what went wrong! There will also be opportunities to meet with suppliers. 

 

We recognise that this is a tough time for people working in HR in the sector. Money is tight. But we believe it’s even more important to come together and debate the issues that matter. Collectively, we can develop better solutions to the problems we face than we can individually. The Annual Seminar provides a great opportunity for learning and debate through our seminar sessions and networking. Over and above that, though, it will be a forum in which we can collectively develop some solutions.

 

Come and join us on that development journey. The Annual Seminar is an important stopping point, but even Birmingham was not built in a day. Around the seminar and its content we are creating an online resource, where people can continue to collaborate, share best practice and ideas and help develop solutions to our ongoing challenges.

 

We hope to see you in Birmingham. These are challenging but exciting times for all of us and we think, together, we can be stronger and more successful.

 

Anne Gibson, President PPMA                                                                                                          

 

 

 

Martin Rayson, Vice President PPMA