Hello PPMA members and friends

In the last two years I’ve seen the best of our HR/OD profession in supporting our organisations to manage and overcome the challenges thrown at us by the Covid 19 pandemic. How we have found innovative ways to engage our workforces and keep them focussed on producing and delivering in support of the communities and people that as public service organisations we serve.

As we move forward, we must get used to living with COVID-19 and our leaders are starting to look beyond safeguarding lives and livelihoods to set their sights on a more profound challenge: bettering them. We need to build on what we have already achieved and focus on enabling our organisations to achieve growth, sustainability and inclusion.

These 3 elements can be viewed from the perspective of individuals, so developing a growth mindset and learning organisation, whilst facilitating a sustainable model of supportive wellbeing to aid individuals and ensure that equity and inclusion is embedded in the culture and values of what we do.

However, they can also be viewed from a wider organisational perspective with a focus on what our workforces need to achieve to deliver for the communities and people we serve. So, creating a growth mindset and learning organisation needs to be focussed on developing the skills that the organisation needs going forward and ensuring performance outputs/outcomes are measured, monitored and assessed. We know that the world of work is constantly changing and that digital innovations mean that the nature of many jobs and roles will change or disappear and that many people will need to develop new skills if they are to remain employed and engaged, so we need to consider sustainability of our workforce through proper workforce planning based on data and evidence to identify the organisational skills and jobs and structures need for delivery.

Also, the way in which work is organised taking account of recent approaches to agile/flexible working where our organisations have embraced a stronger emphasis on work-life balance and different approaches to how, when and where work is done based on individual/team/service approaches to get the most effective and productive work, as opposed to one size fits all approaches that may have been taken in the past.

Interwoven with these key organisational props must be a focus on inclusion so that we are promulgating understanding and appreciation of difference and finding ways to address inequality through equitable opportunity and development and stimulation of inclusive cultures.

Finally, it is also possible to broaden out these concepts of growth, sustainability and inclusion into wider societal drivers that focus on growth of economies and jobs, providing sustainable systems of infrastructure, housing, transport etc. that support healthy living and environmental sustainability; and inclusion through the narrowing of inequalities among genders, ages, ethnicities, family backgrounds by health, living standards and opportunities for work/development.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic so why not leave a comment.

Steve Davies, PPMA President

Hello PPMA members and friends

For many of you the above statement will seem pretty obvious and yet quite broad. Whatever your role in the HR/OD profession, I can’t imagine that your focus isn’t shaped in some way by Covid 19 still.

Whether your attention is on a return to the office more regularly, hybrid working, support on wellbeing, recruitment challenges, organisational development planning, ongoing monitoring of absence or mandatory vaccinations, there’s not much HR/OD work that isn’t still impacted in some way or other by Covid19.

We know that Covid will be with us for a long time still but given the relative success of the vaccination programmes it is starting to move from pandemic (where growth and spread is exponential) to endemic levels (where the spread and growth is more predictable and manageable). Our organisations are inevitably still guided by government and public health advice and general caution in protecting the health and safety of our staff, but I’m acutely aware that as an HR/OD profession we are already promoting ways of working and doing things that are both supportive and innovative.

Through necessity, our workforces have learned to better utilise technology to undertake their roles, even those roles that might be deemed more frontline and manual in nature by having team, colleague or client meetings online. And we are using these experiences to promote new hybrid and agile ways of working for our teams and services going forward, with a focus on work approaches that better fit flexible and different ways of working to achieve outcomes and not promoting a one size fits all approach to the whole organisation.

Many of these innovations and organisational development approaches from across the country, are showcased in the entries we’ve received for our PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 22. They will also be subjects that the speakers at our #PPMAHR22 conference in Manchester on the 27-29 April will talk about. At the Conference we’ll also be announcing and celebrating the winners of the People Management Awards.

As HR/OD professionals, we are all facing continually challenging and changing times and as such it’s never been more important for us to learn from and share best practice with each other. Our conference is the perfect opportunity for you and members of your teams to do this. So why not come along and hear some great speakers, network with like minded colleagues and exhibitors from around the country, enjoy a fabulous awards gala evening and even spend some time exploring the amazing city of Manchester. All the details you need to know are on our website – www.ppma.org.uk/ppma-conference-2022

We look forward to seeing you there!

Steve Davies

PPMA President

Hello PPMA members and friends

At this festive time of year, I know that many of you will be looking forward to seeing loved ones over the next few days (fingers crossed).

Let’s hope that your plans are fulfilled, that you will have opportunities for fun, a meal, drink and to share reflections, thoughts, experiences which can mean so much more than presents.

From a professional standpoint, I know that so many of you have been delivering great services in support of your workforce so that they can deliver to our communities.

So, why not consider treating yourself and your teams, by entering our PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2022. It is a great way to reflect on and acknowledge the amazing work that HR & OD colleagues have continued to provide throughout the pandemic and celebrate your successes, achievements and dedication.

You can find details of the award categories and how to enter on our website

Best wishes for a great festive period.

Steve Davies, PPMA President

Hello PPMA members and friends

Last Thursday, the 9 December, we held our first face to face event for over 2 years to celebrate the achievements of the winners of the last 2 years PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2020 and 2021. We also want to thank our fantastic sponsors for continuing to support us during the last 2 years – Penna, Crown Commercial Service, Matrix SCM, Oracle, Tribepad, Commercial Services Group, Salary Finance, Greater.Jobs, Osborne Thomas  Hammond Clarke, Real World Group, Rainmaker Group, The MJ Innerprofessional  Working Families #letsimproveworkplacewellbeing, and last but not least Rest Less for hosting the event.

The event was held at London Scottish House, in London and was a fitting venue to host our first get together and celebrate, here are some photos from the day and a video will be following shortly. A full list of award winners can be found on our website.

Apart from having a get together and celebrate with our winners, sponsors, friends and colleagues we also wanted to say a special thankyou and farewell to a couple of PPMA stalwarts for many years.

Stuart Elrick, who we said a fond farewell to in 2018 at our annual conference, held in Newcastle, with a lifetime achievement award, but who came back in 2020 to help with the Treasurer and Secretary roles in the PPMA. Stuart has finally said enough is enough, and is formally retiring. He has been a fantastic contributor and supporter of the PPMA for over 40 years and the association cannot thank him enough for everything he has done. Happy retirement Stuart.

The other key member of the PPMA that we need to say au revoir to is Leatham Green, our Executive Director.

I met Leatham when I joined the PPMA board back in 2012 and I was immediately struck by this incredibly dynamic, flamboyant and yet sensible, pragmatic and extremely switched on individual. Leatham was promoting the virtues of social media to PPMA board members long before it became as prolific as it has. He has managed the PPMA talent programmes – Peer into the Future, Rising Star, Apprentice and Ones to Watch – so brilliantly and through their unique structure furthered the careers of so many HR professionals over many years. He truly is a warm, fun, generous and inspiring person.

In the last few years, when Leatham left his Director of HR/ OD role at Orbis he set up his Mindful HR Centre and at the same time agreed to become PPMA part time Executive Director responsible for handling not just our talent programmes, but our commercial sponsors and interests and our awards and conference programmes. It is no exaggeration to say that without Leatham’s drive, enthusiasm, work ethic and commercial savviness that the PPMA would probably not have survived the last 2 years of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Leatham has now secured himself a fantastic new role with Oracle which will take up all his time, but he will remain a friend and advocate of the PPMA. So, it is an honour to give Leatham a coveted and well-earned PPMA Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you Leatham for all that you have done for the PPMA over many years.

The PPMA without Leatham Green and Stuart Elrick

Although we have lost two great supporters and contributors to the PPMA we have put in place arrangements to cover the work that they did. I will be covering the Honorary Treasurer & Secretary role, and in May after our conference it will be easier to do this because I hand over the Presidency to Gordon McFarlane.

Julie Biggs has been a board member for many years and has supported Leatham on our talent programmes and she will be managing our talent and awards programmes going forward.

Some of you will remember Barry Pirie, past PPMA president who was a long serving board member as well. He knows the workings of the association well and he has agreed to take over the commercial duties that Leatham undertook.  Therefore, together with our office admin, experienced finance officer and strategic management board we consider that the arrangements we have in place readily compensate for the loss of Leatham and Stuart.

We look forward to working with all of our members, sponsors, supporters and friends for many years to come.

Steve Davies, PPMA President

Hello PPMA members and friends

On Friday, 9 July, I had the privilege of judging The MJ Award for Workforce Transformation along with my fellow judges Tom Black and Anthony Francis, from Hammond Clarke, Caroline Nugent HR Director at Financial Ombudsman and past president of PPMA, Shawna Gleeson, Deputy HR Director at Manchester City Council and joint PPMA Peer of the Year 2020. Unfortunately, the final member of our judging panel, Charles Obazuaye from London Borough of Bromley and PPMA Ambassador wasn’t able to make it because of a last minute work commitment. I would also like to give a special shout out to Leatham Green our Executive Director, who hosted and organised the day.

This was a tough category to judge since there are always lots of entries for this award and this year there were even more than usual with 25 entries in total, all showcasing the great work that public service and HR teams have been doing over the last couple of years.

A few weeks ago, I read through all 25 submissions and with great difficulty, managed to whittle it down to 12 entries and then with the help of Leatham, we managed to identify our six finalists – London Borough of Harrow, London Borough of Hounslow, North Tyneside Council, Somerset County Council, South Kesteven District Council and Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. Below is a snapshot of the finalists from The MJ Awards 2021 brochure with a brief overview of each entry.

We had a diverse range of entries relating to workforce transformation and I’m pleased to say it wasn’t completely dominated by Covid 19. The Pandemic has of course been responsible for many changes, but there has also been lots of great transformation work done despite this.

All 25 submissions demonstrated great engagement with their workforces and powerful stories of change and transformation. There were some great examples of innovation as well, with Portsmouth City Council developing a digital work bulletin with online content and you tube videos to maintain the fun and engagement with staff during the pandemic; Aberdeenshire Council created a bespoke digital platform to allow staff to work remotely, but effectively manage, support and deploy a humanitarian hub during the pandemic for its residents; Swansea Council showcased a new homes project building energy efficient homes with a workforce that provided over 60 apprenticeships; and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Services combined their services with the help of innovative ICT and telephony, to enable the effective joining of both services staff to work as one coherent service.

Because of this great work, the above 4 organisations were COMMENDED, but didn’t make our final six. Each one has a great story to tell, but what also struck us, was the strong level of workforce engagement they had from top to bottom and the way they outlined the benefits that their transformations brought, to not only their workforce, but the wider communities they serve.

At the end of the day there can only be one winner though, but you will have to wait for the announcement on 17 September when The MJ are hosting an awards ceremony at London’s Hilton Hotel.

Congratulations to all of the finalists for this Workforce Transformation award, as well all of the other MJ Award category finalists, we wish you the best of luck for the finals on 17th September.

As I said earlier, it was a privilege to judge the work of these incredible public service organisations and I know from the record number of entries we received for our own PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2021 that there are many more examples of fantastic work that’s happened over the last couple of years and I hope that you will join us on 14 & 15 September at our virtual conference when we will be announcing many of the winners.

Steve Davies

PPMA President

Hello PPMA members and friends

A couple of weeks ago I did a vlog about happiness and how the spring season with flowers and trees starting to come to life is so positive and makes me happy.

Now, I know these last few days have felt particularly wintry, but we have also experienced some lovely sunny days as well recently. The spring season is full of renewal and vibrancy. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the last year and consider all that you have achieved in supporting and helping your organisations to cope, manage and support the communities that we serve in public service.

The past year has been one of the most challenging for public services, but we have witnessed many of our colleagues go above and beyond to continue to deliver services. This spring I want you to not only reflect on your achievements but also commemorate them and what better way to do this than enter our PPMA awards to celebrate and share the fantastic work that you have been doing every day in our organisations.

The PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2021 acknowledge and celebrate success, achievement and dedication. There are many categories to choose from including recruitment, transformation, development, diversity & inclusion, partnership working and wellbeing.

Our fantastic sponsors are supporting and helping to judge each award. And we hope to have a special celebratory event for all our winners at the end of the year, where we can all meet and join together to celebrate.

So why not take this opportunity to make an award entry and showcase the great work you and your teams have been doing.

The closing date for PPMA Award entries is 28 April.  You can get full details here.

We’re really looking forward to seeing the exciting example of the innovative work that’s taken place during the last 12 months.

Steve Davies

PPMA President

At the end of World Happiness week, Saturday the 20th March is the UN International Day of Happiness. In the video blog below, Steve Davies, PPMA President talks about the 5 ways we can all celebrate and give thanks tomorrow. He also talks about the Seven Habits of Happiness as well a sharing the simple things that make him happy.

Have a great Day of Happiness.

Steve

Hello PPMA Members and Friends

Spring is such a fantastic time of year. Coming out of what seems like a long dark winter, which has been exacerbated by the impact of Covid 19 and lockdowns, with daylight already getting noticeably longer and wildlife starting to burst into life, there can be a sense of optimism about the future.

With the continuing successful rollout of the Covid 19 vaccine and the recently announced government plan for easing and coming out of lockdown our organisations are starting to look forward to different models of operation and service delivery and asking us as HR&OD professionals to start planning for such changes.

The public services that we work in have done a brilliant job in supporting communities and going forward the challenges will possibly be even greater, with the likely impact of economic constraints, rising unemployment, continued coronavirus deaths and continued social distancing.

I know that HR/OD professionals are already looking at new ways of working. I said in my new year’s message that we need to continue being resilient but also need to stimulate and drive innovation and continue our focus on supporting our workforces in the right way, addressing any bias or discrimination, and looking after their wellbeing.

I said that we can WIN – with a focus on Wellbeing, Innovation and New thinking, ideas and technology.

PPMA colleagues are already collaborating in the Shires network and with South East colleagues to explore these challenges and new operating models, with a view to sharing the learning. This is a great example of what the PPMA is about and how we as community of HR/OD professionals benefit from the networking events and linkages that we make through the association.

The PPMA Peer into the Future programme launched last week with 15 participants from a range of public service organisations and with a range of skills, strengths and experience. I’m sure they will all grow and benefit from this great development programme and the mutual learning/sharing they get from each other.

We have launched our Apprentice of the Year search and will be announcing HR Rising Stars and Ones to Watch later in the year.

We are continuing our great programme of regular webinars with the help of our fantastic sponsors.

Our PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2021 and currently open. Please encourage your organisations and teams to enter and showcase the great work you have been doing over the last year or so. Here is the link to the page that provides you with the full details:  Excellence in People Management Awards 2021 – PPMA

We will celebrate our awards winners at our Virtual Conference which will take place on 14 & 15 September.

We have also launched PPMA:SOLVE, an HR/OD consultancy offer at competitive rates which we are looking to you and your organisations to use, commission and benefit from. Full details can be found here: PPMA:SOLVE – HR Consultancy – PPMA

So, with the onset of spring let us look forward with the hope and renewal that this season brings and utilise the benefits and opportunities that the PPMA gives us.

Steve Davies

PPMA President

Hello PPMA friends

As we come to the end of this very challenging and tiring year, in the video below, Steve Davies, PPMA President, reflects on events and how both the HR & OD communities have come together to deliver vital services to our local citizens and how the PPMA has adapted to support our members during this difficult time.

We wish you all a peaceful and healthy 2021

Steve Davies