Fastnet Sponsor CIPD Event - Future for HR - Peter Cheese CEO CIPD

CIPD’s Chief Executive addresses CIPD Event sponsored by Fastnet Recruitment & Search

A packed room of more than 90 HR professionals attended the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) Southern Region breakfast briefing at The Clarion Hotel Cork this morning, sponsored by Fastnet Recruitment & Search.

The guest speaker Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of CIPD and voted as the UK’s most influential thinker in HR by HRM Magazine in 2013 delivered a highly engaging and thought provoking presentation on the Future for the Human Resources profession. Peter spoke about ‘Megatrends’, a new set of ‘norms’ including: economic volatility, a shift towards a recognition of the intangible value in organisations; more collaborative, networked & flexible ways of working and a more diverse and demanding workforce. He believes that while there are significant and complex challenges, this is “an inflection point for business and HR” and “a tremendous opportunity for HR as a key enabler”.

Peter spoke about the changing demand for skills and skills mismatches in OECD Countries quoting McKinsey analysis which validates an increasing shift towards a demand for highly skilled workers. He advocated the necessity for more collaboration between educational institutions and industry in particular highlighting the gap between supply and demand in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) areas and the deficit in career guidance and asks: “where will this talent come from? In China 45% of graduates are STEM graduates with only 12% in the US and 16% in Western Europe”. The shortage of skilled graduates is now impacting on business growth.

Closer to home, Niamh O’Driscoll, Managing Director Fastnet Recruitment & Search and event sponsor cited the 2014 PwC Irish HR Leaders survey which revealed that 78% of Irish HR Directors are currently experiencing some levels of skills shortages with almost a third reporting that such talent constraints significantly impacted business performance. “For most organisations we work with, building a sustainable future necessitates defining and developing a unique selling proposition and creating and managing a robust talent pipeline to support the business objectives. Sourcing, attracting and retaining the best leaders who can drive exceptional performance is a business critical issue for all our clients”.

On a practical level Peter questioned “are our People Management practices good enough?” He talked about the generational diversity in the workforce and the need for HR professionals to understand and relate effectively to new generations who think differently and have new expectations and demands. Peter also stressed the critical importance of supporting, training and developing Middle Managers who are managing increasingly diversified teams.

Peter concluded by talking passionately and convincingly about the bright future ahead for the HR Profession: “Now is our time to become more strategic, more commercial, more tech savvy and less process centric, more value driven. We need to be stronger on the science as well as the art of HR”

Michael McDonnell - Managing Director CIPD Ireland, Peter Cheese - Chief Executive Officer CIPD, Niamh O'Driscoll - Managing Director Fastnet Recruitment & Search, Liam Linehan - Human Resources Manager - Irish Examine & Evening Echo